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For many students with learning disabilities, one of the most difficult steps of the writing process is getting started. Generating ideas in their heads may not pose a problem, but somehow getting those ideas down on paper, and then organizing them, can feel like an insurmountable task.
Outlining/semantic webbing software can address this precise problem by creating visual-graphic structures to organize ideas, and then convert those visual maps into outlines. These types of programs can be useful for brainstorming ideas and then arranging those ideas into a diagram, which most programs will convert into an outline showing a hierarchy of ideas.
The concept of creating visual maps to show how ideas are connected, or mind-mapping as some call it, is not new. Many instructors have used these types of visual maps on newsprint or chalkboards, to demonstrate connections between ideas or to brainstorm ideas. The computer software programs that allow this kind of idea generation are useful for students who need to see and manipulate their ideas.
Software programs allow students to brainstorm ideas, without regard to organization. With a few taps of the mouse or keyboard, students can create diagrams, flow charts, mind-maps or whatever they choose to call them. Instructors find these programs useful in creating empty templates that demonstrate specific rhetorical patterns for students to use.
Semantic mapping software provides a flexibility beneficial to many students, in both the generating and organizing steps of the writing process. By mapping out ideas, students can easily rearrange them. Then the software program can transform the semantic map into a Roman numeral outline, which may serve to assist the student in developing a draft of an essay. Programs allow users to move, delete, or add ideas at any point in the graphic or numerical outline layout. At Landmark College, a program often utilized is Inspiration Software.
User Implications
Brainstorming/semantic mapping software can be useful for many types of learning profiles. Since semantic mapping software maximizes the visual-graphic aspects of arranging ideas, this type of program is well-suited for visual learners who need to see ideas mapped out — literally. Traditionally, brainstorming and outlining have been primarily done in text. For students with learning disabilities, who often have difficulties working in a purely text-based environment, using visual-graphic representations of ideas enables students to utilize their visual or gestalt senses to map out an essay.
Another advantage to using a semantic mapping program is that it can help students avoid getting bogged down in the details of an essay. By mapping out ideas in a graphic way, students are able to stay focused on a main idea and get less lost in the details. Conversely, for students who have difficulty generating sufficient details to support their main ideas, using a semantic mapping program or integrated writing process software such as DraftBuilder could also be useful to help students see the lack of supportive material.
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