Explore this example of a topic map for renewable energy.
With Kialo Edu, you can create a discussion to map a class topic so that your students can explore it at their own pace, make comments and ask questions.
Jump to:
- Why map a class topic with Kialo Edu?
- Steps to create the discussion to map your topic
- Sample discussion
Why map a class topic with Kialo Edu?
Visual learning
- Kialo Edu’s structure allows you to break down a topic into different branches, which helps students visualize it in a structured way.
- The pro and con structure makes the relationships between concepts clear for students.
Mapping student’s engagement
- Students can comment and ask questions on any piece of information (or claim) in the discussion.
- These interactions can be used for formative assessment. Comments will allow you to identify knowledge gaps and tricky concepts and plan accordingly.
Steps to create the discussion to map your topic
- Login or signup for Kialo Edu.
- Create a Kialo discussion by clicking on the ‘Create Discussion’ button on the top-right of the screen.
- Develop the debate! For best results, think of general ideas for the top-level of the discussion, and then develop them in more detail through pros and cons.
- Share the debate with students. To invite students directly to the discussion:
- Click the 'Share' button in the top-right of the discussion.
- Click 'Invite'.
- In the ‘Invite to this Discussion’ section, enter each of the students’ emails separated with a space, or their Kialo Edu usernames if they’ve already signed up
- Click ‘Invite’.
- Alternatively, you can also create a Discussion Access Link for students to click, which is faster to set up. However, be wary of students sharing the link outside the classroom.
As Writers in the discussion, students can add, edit, and move their own claims, as well as comment on each others’ claims to suggest improvements.
Sample discussion
To open this sample discussion in a new tab, click here.
Licensing: This sample assignment is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are free to edit and share this to your needs as long as the appropriate terms are followed.