Creating Multimedia Online Concept Maps

Inserting visual elements into maps is one of the best ways to stimulate memory through memories associated with perceptual sphere. In simple terms, through charts, photos, and drawings, every created path can become a personalized study tool that follows the didactic inclinations of each individual student without making the tools homogeneous, which must be useful to the individual by definition.

Based on a concept map that you have already created from an idea or study material, adding images with Algor Education will be a piece of cake. The same process also allows you to insert video content, allowing you to expand your knowledge without overloading the final result with textual nodes.

Let's see how to insert images and videos step by step:

First step to introduce images with Algor Education.

• ‍Take a map that you have already created, preferably not too expanded so that even visually the added materials do not result in confusion; ‍
• Add a node connected to the branch where you want to add the image or video:
• After creating the node, select it, opening the specific multifunction bar. On it, click on the "toolbar_multimedia" icon;

The three icons of the camera, image, and microphone indicate the section for adding multimedia files.

Third step to introduce images with Algor Education, search online or upload the image from your device.

• ‍‍‍Decide which multimedia material to include: images can be uploaded from the device you are working on, but you can also search for them online, as well as for videos;

• Once you have entered the search (here: "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" and a Geopop video on oil fields) or chosen the image from the device, you will automatically have the desired result in a few clicks!

Example of a mind map for an environmentalism essay integrated with multimedia materials, entirely created with Algor Education.

This is how, in a few simple steps, your map can be integrated with stimulating and non-dispersive visual content, lightening both the creation and study phase. Remember that "images" also include screenshots, which you can use, for example, to take a photo of content from a PDF book to integrate the concept map with a part of the reference teaching material.

Although the concept of "multimedia material" is often associated exclusively with visual media, it is important to emphasize that all senses can facilitate the didactic path. In particular, modern AI tools applied to education allow the full exploitation of the potential of auditory memory, especially through the functionalities of speech synthesis and voice recording. Needless to say, this type of multimedia integration is particularly useful for students with learning disabilities (specifically, especially Dyslexia). Dyslexia is particularly challenging when it comes to reading, but it can be overcome with the use of recorded or automated elements.

Text-to-speech tools are especially useful when it comes to reading out loud pre-existing materials, such as study documents or nodes created through Algor Education's automatic features. For example, you can:

• Expand your concept or mind map by hovering over the nodes with the cursor and using the robot icon next to them.
• Select the node you want to have read out and click on the speaker icon, also marked with the word "listen," to activate the automatic text-to-speech feature.

The same text-to-speech functionalities can also be applied to documents and entire maps, providing a 360° solution for students with reading difficulties.

Adding audio to your concept map follows the same steps as adding visual multimedia materials, but you need to click on the microphone icon:

• After clicking on the "Insert audio" feature, your microphone will start recording.
• Remember to give consent to Algor Education to use your microphone, which can be done through the dialog box that automatically opens when using the "Insert audio" feature for the first time.
• Once you finish recording, the map node will automatically store the result, saving the note for future use.

As we have already mentioned, all the functionality of inserting multimedia materials into concept maps is unlimited for paid accounts Algor Education. Although subscribers can have infinite multimedia maps, it should not be mistaken that free accounts are completely excluded from these features: the Free plan allows you to create 3 maps, deciding gradually which ones can be more useful and integrating crucial materials for that moment of individual educational path.