- Describe the topic. Enter the unit or course title and the topic, then add your learning outcomes, the level of your students and your discipline. Outcomes make the biggest difference. “Explain how compensatory mechanisms worsen heart failure over time” produces a far richer map than “heart failure”.
- Ask a focus question (optional but recommended). The focus question is the question the whole map answers, such as “How does heart failure lead to fluid overload?”. A “how” or “why” question gives the richest map, because it asks for mechanisms and connections rather than a list. Leave it blank and the AI will write one for you.
- Say what the map is for and how big it should be. Explain how the ideas connect builds a teaching map. Revision pulls together what students should already know before an exam. Tackle common misconceptions builds the map around the links students most often get wrong. Then choose the size: Small (10–14 concepts), Standard (15–22) or Large (23–30).
- Add your source material (optional). Under “Source material and more options”, paste lecture notes or key points, or upload a PDF (up to 40 pages and 15 MB), such as a reading, guideline or chapter. The PDF is checked, read securely by the AI and then deleted; the file itself is never stored. Reading costs a few credits per 10 pages, charged only if the read succeeds. You can also add notes about your cohort and anything else the map should include.
- Create the map. Choose “Create concept map”. It usually takes under a minute, and you’re charged once, when the finished map is saved. If something goes wrong, you aren’t charged.
- Read the map. The focus question sits at the top and the most general concept beneath it. Arrows show which way each link reads. Solid lines form the main hierarchy, and dashed amber lines are cross-links between branches. Use −, Fit and + to zoom; on a phone the map scrolls sideways. Below the map you’ll find every link written out as a numbered sentence (a proposition), a note on each concept, and ideas for using the map in class.
- Edit and rearrange it. Choose “Edit map”. Click a concept to change its label or note, add a linked concept, make it the top concept or delete it. Each of its links is listed, so you can reword the linking phrase, mark it as a cross-link, reverse its direction or delete it, and you can add a new link to any other concept. Drag concepts to wherever they make most sense; “Tidy layout” puts everything back in automatic order. Choose “Save changes” when you’re done. Editing is free.
- Suggest cross-links. Cross-links are the hardest part of a concept map to write, and the most valuable. Choose “Suggest cross-links” and the AI reads your saved map and adds two to four new ones, shown dashed. Keep, reword or delete each one. The price is on the button, and if the AI finds nothing new, you aren’t charged.
- Make a student version. Use the Version menu. Fill in the linking phrases turns about half the links into numbered blanks, while every concept keeps at least one readable link as a clue. Fill in the concepts blanks about a third of the concepts, never the top one and never two concepts that are linked. Build your own shows only the top of the map and a list of concepts for students to add, link and cross-link. Tick “Word bank” to list the missing words under the map. “New blanks” picks a different set, for example a fresh one for each tutorial group.
- Download it. Downloads match the version on screen. PNG image suits slides and your learning management system (LMS). SVG stays sharp at any size. Word puts the map on a landscape page, followed by the focus question, the propositions, the concept notes and the answer keys. Print / PDF opens a print-ready page that you can save as a PDF.
- Build on the map. From a finished map you can generate 10 MCQs that test its links, up to three case studies that apply its connections, or a hybrid AI activity built around it. Each is priced on its own button and pre-filled from the map. You can also start here from a finished Mind Map or PDF summary. Every map is saved to “My Concept Maps” and to “Everything You’ve Generated” on your User Hub.
Every action’s credit cost is shown on its own button before you commit to it. Nothing is charged silently.