Mind maps and flashcards are excellent study tools. But how can you switch from one to the other without wasting too much time?
Bruno Martin has come up with an elegant solution: an application that converts XMind mindmaps into Anki flashcards in just a few clicks.
I have already spoken at length in previous articles about the use of cognitive maps to study. I also presented the flashcards and design software - Studyblue - in previous articles. Flashcards are those cards that help you memorise lots of things: mathematical formulae, vocabulary words, chemical formulae, and so on. The question is on one side, the answer on the other, and the best flashcards are those that also contain a picture.
Today I'd like to tell you about an application that bridges the gap between the two: an application that lets you convert elements of a mindmap XMind in a set of flashcards Anki. And so save precious time!
My friend Bruno Martin, a doctoral student and member of the Hack your PhD group who created this application. Mind maps are excellent for understanding and analysing a subject, for working out its structure and for initial memorisation. Flashcards are ideal for studying according to the theory of spaced repetition: you memorise vocabulary words, facts, dates, mathematical formulae, etc. more easily and more quickly. But all without structure: you study separate, unrelated elements.
Bruno's application allows you to combine the advantages of both methods Learning objectives: understanding, structuring and creating links using mind maps. Efficient and rapid memorisation of the constituent elements of the lesson using flashcards.
That's exactly what I give to participants in my Learning To Learn workshops.
How to move from mindmaps to flashcards
I tried it out with a map of the Presidents of the Fifth Republic. You can download for free since Biggerplate (Double-click on the image to enlarge).
I then downloaded the XMind2Anki.
The application is downloaded as a file rar. So you need to unzip the whole thing and click on the file XMind2Anki.exe to launch it under Windows or the jar if you are using Mac or Linux. XMind2Anki works with all three standards.
When the file opens, the following window appears:
First click on the button in the top left-hand corner with the red file: enter in the red box opposite " input file (.xmind) " the name of the XMind file to be converted - my mind map with the presidents.
Then choose the name and location of your Anki file in the field opposite " .anki location" .
And choose an XMind file name for " output file (.xmind) ".
From the topics on the card to the questions and answers on the flashcard
The application allows you to add options and filters, but for the purposes of this article, we'll limit ourselves to a very simple export.
I want the main topic of my mindmap to become the name of my flashcard - First, Second, Third, etc. - and the sub-topics to become answers to the question: who was the first president, etc.? - and the sub-topics will become answers to the question: who was the first president, etc.?
With what we've entered in the XMind mindmap and in XMind2Anki, that's enough. Now click on the button with the green arrow.
The next step is conversion, which takes time depending on the size of your file: in this case, I have eight main subjects, so conversion takes a few seconds.
If I now look at my XMind mind map, I can see that the central topic now has a hyperlink in the shape of the Anki logo.
Just click on it to open my new Anki flashcard game.
Here is an example of the eight Anki flashcards generated by XMind2Anki: the fourth card. In the title - for the question - Fourth. And the photo, the president's name, date of birth and death, start and end dates of his term of office, and the party to which he belonged.
The main topics became the headings for my flashcards and the sub-topics, the response elements, arranged in a bulleted list:
All that's left is to study the elements of each flashcard according to Anki's principles of spaced repetition.
Enjoy the benefits of both methods
Combine these memorisation exercises with the construction of mind maps, concept maps, serious games, storyboarding, etc. Explain the material to someone else. In short: never be satisfied with just one technique or one tool. Vary the techniques and tools for each subject as much as possible. In this way, you will learn in depth, over the very long term.
I'll be coming back to these applications in other articles: XMind, Anki and XMind2Anki. Because they offer some very interesting options and filters for students at both secondary and university level. And even for primary school, after all.
You can also learn these techniques during my Learn To Learn workshops.
What about you? What techniques or software do you use for these techniques?
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