Is there such a thing as a “visual learner”? The idea that we are all different when it comes to learning and each of us has a particular learning style is no longer as popular with educators as it once was. Why? Well, the truth is that we are ALL visual learners.
We know that at some point in the not so distant past – evolutionary speaking – that dogs became “human’s best friend”. Like most things that happened tens of thousands of years ago, Popplet didn’t exist and there was no one around who could record these momentous events. So. scientists study the evidence and build theories from what they discover. One such theory is that humans began to rely on the senses of their canine companions such as smell and sound more than their own and that we began to develop other senses more and more and finally we adapted and attained new skills. Our ability to speak is often attributed to these evolutionary changes. One human development that is far less spoken of is sight.
That’s right, when we gave up sniffing everything and cocking our ears at the tiniest of sounds, humans started to take a really hard look at their surroundings. The end result being that as a species we became hardwired to processing information visually. Which is why a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Different Types of Visuals and Infographics
Popplet is often referred to as a mind-mapping app, which it is, but it’s so much more. At any phase of a project or assignment, Popplet can be graphic organizer, collaborative communication tool, note-taker, planner…it’s a long list. Popplet’s powerful formatting features and presentation modes also make it an excellent tool to use when it comes to summarizing all of our hard work and communicating a message effectively and succinctly in the form of a simple visual or infographic.
To demonstrate just how effective Popplet can be one need look no further than Public Popplets, Popplet’s public forum, with hundreds of popplets shared daily. Or, this blog, which is stuffed with an abundance of great ideas for home and classwork. Here are some examples of what you can do with Popplet.
10 Reasons to Carry Popplet In Your Digital Pencil Case
We call this the “Sunburst Style”, as all the information radiates from a central point. This is the most popular Popplet style. It can be found on this blog in the article of the same name.
Project Phases
This is one of our featured Popplets and is a variation on the Sunburst Style, it’s the “Multi-Sunburst”. Popplet’s almost infinite canvas makes it possible for vast quantities of information to be stored on a single Popplet board, allowing you to create an Atlas Popplet, of the type featured in Project Popplet 2: Data Management.
Color Coding with Popplet
There are many different ways to organize your Popplet work and using colors is still one of the most simple and highly effective:
I kind of like how easy it is to use Popplet to make this kind of mind web to document my backlog/game order. For now, blue is what I'm playing/invested in, and red is what I'm hoping to get to this month. I could also add in box art to make it prettier but I'm not there yet. pic.twitter.com/wCsCvpV78Z
— Lens of Truth (@lensoftruth013) May 1, 2020
Lesson Plan
Sometimes, it pays to record our work so we can share it with colleagues or refer to it when we need to. Popplet is perfect for lesson planning. Check out the series of blogs for language learners and teachers.
-ed Endings: Popplets About Rules
Everbody needs reminding of the rules from time to time. A very useful reference popplet for English Language Learners.
Popplet Lists
A fine example of a simple list: color-coded and created by multiple collaborators. If you look closely, you’ll see that some of the popples have little black speech bubbles above them, these are Popplet Comments, translations in this case, but they can be used for anything.
Popplets Within Popplets: Popplet Linker (Popplet Formatting Techniques)
An elegant seamless solution when you have a lot of information to present or store. Use The Popplet Linker feature, which allows you to add multiple popplets to the same Popplet board.
A Christmas Carol: Summary of a Novel and its Characters
How to present a Book Report to your class? One look at the above should be enough to let you know that Popplet can be of great help. You can choose to focus on the story, the plot, a character, or the themes. With Popplet you can do it all. There are quite literally dozens of literacy Popplet articles, why don’t you begin where most people begin by solving the language puzzle: Learning to Read.
Comparing and Contrasting: Football (World) vs Football (USA)
You don’t always need more than one popplet to explain the differences between things. In fact, having all the information in one place is definitely an advantage when comparing and contrasting. Keep it simple is Popplet’s motto and this sporting popplet from Football, The World Cup, and Sporting Popplets is a fine example.
Napoleon: Biography and History: Text Heavy Popplets
Popplet is a visual tool, but sometimes you just have to have a lot of text. Don’t worry if your audience can’t read it when displaying the whole visual, you can pan in or use one of Popplet’s Presentation Modes. You’ll find more history popplets here.
Timelines
Timelines are universal and can be found in the history class, the science lab, and, like this fictional one above, the detectives’ office. Take a look at More Cool Poplet Ideas: Timelines for more of the same
Well, that should be enough to be getting on with. Plenty of ideas but we are sure that you have many more. Articles that will certainly be helpful if you want to try some power formatting are:
Popplet Formatting Techniques: 1. Selecting Popples & Bulk Actions
Popplet Formatting Techniques: 2. Getting Organized With Popple Stacks
Popplet Formatting Techniques: 3. The Grid Layout
Do you have any variations on how to use Popplet to display your work? What are you doing with Popplet, we’d really like to know? If you haven’t already done so, sign up for a Popplet web account and get ten complimentary Popplet boards. For inspiration and to share with the Popplet community follow us on Twitter, and/or like the Popplet Facebook page.
This is one article in a series of four. Click below to read the other three:
Project Popplet1: Research Tools
Project Popplet 2: Data Management
Project Popplet 4: Presentations