Unzip and copy the mindmap directory into the /moodle/mod/ directory then visit the Notifications page.

Once installed, a Mindmap can be added from the Add an activity... menu, while editing is turned on. You will then be asked to edit the settings for the activity.

A Mindmap activity must have a name. This name becomes the link text to the activity from the course page.

Unfortunately, there is no potential to add a description to the Mindmap, so if it is being created as an activity for students, task instructions will have to be communicated elsewhere.

There is a second setting, labeled Editable, that controls who can edit the mindmap. When checked, students can edit the mindmap. This would be appropriate if the Mindmap activity is being set up for students to complete. If the teacher merely wishes to express concepts related to a course diagrammatically and not allow student editing, this checkbox should be left unchecked.

In the Common module settings there is a setting labeled Group mode; however, the Mindmap activity does not allow students to work on mindmaps in groups. Nor can the activity be used as an assessable item.

After the configuration for the activity is set, the mindmap can then be edited.

Initially the mindmap text appears quite small. You can zoom in and out on the mindmap using the slider control on the top-right of the mindmap window. Zooming affects the current view only; when the mindmap is reloaded, the default zoom level is used.

The text inside a node of the mindmap can be edited by clicking inside a node. You will then be given the potential to type and alter the node text. Be aware that the focus of text editing will stay with that node until you shift it to another (even after creating new nodes).

To add a node, click the plus icon at the top-left of the mindmap window. Alternately you can press the Enter key.

To remove a node, click on it then click the minus icon. Alternately, you can press the Delete key after selecting a node. Holding the Ctrl key while clicking also deletes a clicked node.

Nodes can be moved by clicking and dragging them. A line should appear between linked nodes to show their relationship.

If the mindmap begins to grow off to one direction, you can move the mindmap within its window by clicking in an empty part of mindmap window and dragging the mindmap. Like the zoom, such shifting only affects the current view as the mindmap re-centres itself around the central concept node when it is reloaded.

Within a mindmap, nodes can have parent-child relationships. An existing node can be made a child of another node by dragging the first onto the second. To add a new node as a child node, select the parent node and press the Insert key.

On the toolbar at the top of the mindmap window, there are some controls for fonts and colors. Clicking the layout button in the centre of the toolbar causes the nodes to be rearranged into an even and symmetrical layout around the central node.

Once you have added the nodes and organized the relationships you wish to express, click on the save icon (which appears with a floppy disc icon). The module uses Ajax to save the current state of the mindmap in the background.

With the Editable setting turned off students do not have editing control.

In earlier browsers, such as Internet Explorer 6, functionality is limited. In such browsers there is no capacity to zoom or move the mindmap. Nodes can still be added and moved, however.

Parent nodes appear with a button on their right-hand side. Child nodes can be hidden by clicking this button. Another way of simplifying the mindmap is to show child nodes up to a certain level. There is a control for this next to the zoom slider on the right of the mindmap toolbar. Hiding child nodes does not have a lasting effect on the mindmap, even when the mindmap is saved after hiding nodes.

Of course the real potential of a mindmap is only realized when it is used to bring together the ideas of the collective mind. For this reason, the Mindmap module is an excellent tool for "encouraging student interaction", as the title of this chapter suggests.

According to Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, commonly referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy, the exercise of synthesizing separate ideas into a new pattern of thought is a higher level cognitive task. Being asked to contribute to the creation of a mindmap can promote synthesis and cause learners to reflect on concepts and relate them to others. Asking students to work collaboratively on such an exercise will allow the sharing and reinforcement of understandings.

Here are some ideas for how teachers could employ mindmaps in a course:

$mindmap->editable = isset($mindmap->editable)?'1':'0';