Wikibrains is a neat brainstorming website that I tried out a few months ago. Since then it has been revamped to make it easier to navigate and organize ideas.
The concept behind Wikibrains is this; when you brainstorm on Wikibrains you’re also performing a basic Internet search at the same time. To create a brainstorm web on Wikibrains start by entering one word or
phrase. When you enter a word you will be prompted to add more words by
completing the phrase, “Makes me think off…” Each new word or phrase
that you enter will be added to your web. As you enter words on the
right side of the screen you will see links to search results about each
word. All of the words in your brainstorm web appear as circles on the screen. You can rearrange the circles however you would like.
Wikibrains has private and public brainstorm webs. You can browse the public webs to see how others have organized information around the topics that you’re exploring.
Applications for Educations
Wikibrains could be
a great tool to have students use as a story starter. Have your
students pick any word or phrase to get started then build a web of what
they think are related terms. After they’ve built the web ask them to
create a narrative that explains all of the connections between the
elements of the web.