My notes on Popplet: I wanted to use Popplet to reinforce the chapter’s concepts concerning the function of neurons in our learning processes and their effects on the brain’s physical composition. The chapter was rife with material for visual illustration, so I felt that Popplet’s ability to embed images and YouTube videos would be most conducive to this. I considered using Storify, but I found myself letting the stories I found dictate the content I presented instead of using the stories to illustrate concepts from the chapter. I initially constructed this Popplet as a hierarchical mindmap, as I created popples with the main points from each subtitle of the chapter branching off of the center popple/node (Brain Rule #5). As I continued to populate the Popplet (I couldn’t resist the alliterative potential there), I saw how this spatial configuration prompted a hierarchical, chronological reading of the chapter and did not best represent the concepts. Once I began to move popples around and draw recursive connections among them, I struggled with adjusting the sizes of each popple relative to their importance to the chapter as a whole. I began moving popples at random to see how that would alter my reading and understanding of the notes, and I think that I could continue to do so; I think students could benefit from playing with the construction of their notes and presentations this way, as it disrupts or troubles the organization and understanding of how information should be delivered. Aside from the number of connections a popple had, changing the size of the Popplet’s font was helpful in demonstrating relative importance, but I wish I could have changed the font type.

My frustrations are relatively minor; I could not embed multiple pictures within one popple, as I had wanted to with Ohmann, Columbus, and the brain. I felt that putting those three pictures in that order within the popple would provide a visual illustration of the text, which may increase the likelihood that the audience would be able to remember and recall it. 

Students will likely enjoy using this tool to collaborate on a presentation, though I feel that the interface is more informal (more Pop-Up Video than Bill Moyers documentary) than Prezi or even PowerPoint, which may deter some students from using it for higher-stakes presentations or activities. As is evident from my notes, my experience with it illustrated my default organization of information that is provided to me & that I am responsible for reporting; I had to make myself change the sizes of popples, text, and number of connections to illustrate key concepts without necessarily privileging a hierarchical or chronological construction of knowledge.