Graphically Speaking a Thousand Words

No matter how we look at it, we can only agree that “A picture speaks a thousand words”. Why should we let all those words get redundant if there is a better way? When I was younger, I would be prone to dreaming that somebody would turn all those lines of words in my books into pictures. My teachers would often come to class with charts which filled our entire class with an interest in studies. These were easy to get familiar with and very colorful. What I liked most about them, however, was that they made learning fun.
Today, my kids have finally begun reading long lines of words. I have been trying to teach them to use flowcharts and matrices and make their student lives just a little less difficult. They really relish the time that they spend using their crayons and making their charts brighter and prettier.
Of course, more than being fun, graphic organizers of all kinds help increase learning. They place importance on the important features in a particular subject of study. They reveal the patterns and associations that exist between a number of different aspects. If you are finding it tough to follow the elements of causality between a number of aspects, a graphic organizer makes that easier to understand too.
Brainstorming is made a whole lot less difficult when one tries to use charts and diagrams to pictorially represent the various ideas that emerge at various points of time. Most of the ideas that emerge at brainstorming sessions tend to appear rather random. So, it is greatly recommended to graphically represent the various associations between concepts so as to avoid confusion. If one does this right from the beginning, as the volume of ideas grows, the element of confusion will be inhibited somewhat. So whether it is likeness or antagonism or causality, maintaining a graphic organizer will make life a whole lot less perplexing for you.
The current age is very different from earlier periods when when we had to sit down with our pencils and erasers, rubbing out older lines as new developments emerged. These days both children and grown-ups can gain from computerized graphic organizers. A simple click of the mouse and a little dragging will allow you to make alterations of all sorts to your chart. So whether you are looking for an less perplexing way to study new concepts or are simply trying to thoroughly stud the information that you have collected, graphic organizers are usually a great help.
Of course, for those of us that are not as familiar with the world of computers, it is sensible to opt to stick to the good old crayons and sticky notes. Make the best use of charts and diagrams to represent data graphically.
Ajeet Khurana recommends that you find out more by reading: Graphic Organisers, Flowcharts and Decision Making, and Software.