Mapping Learning Resources - 2026 and beyond

Over the past few years I've devoted several articles to showing uses of concept maps and other visualization tools to help organize information and ideas and create platforms that engage more people in learning and innovating solutions to complex problems.

Here's another example.  Explore this interactive map (created using Kumu.io) on the Landscape of Consciousness website. You'll find four maps like the one shown below that visualize theories of consciousness.

Scroll down on the home page and you'll find this chart, which details the information found on the concept map. 

This page is really important.  The "Implications" section "explores the real-world consequences of theories of consciousness on five profiled and challenging questions".

Now look at my maps.  This shows the full range of information in the library on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website.  click here to open

This shows one of the four subsections of the concept map shown above.  This one shares links to information anyone can use to build coalitions and innovate solutions to complex problems.  click here to open

At the bottom of each node are one, or two boxes.  These include links to external website pages, or to additional concept maps.  click here to view this page

I've built the Tutor/Mentor library over the past 50 years, starting in the 1970s when I was looking for ideas for my weekly sessions with my mentee, then when I began to lead a program.  We accelerated this process in 1993 when we created the Tutor/Mentor Connection, then again in 1998 when we moved the library to the Internet, where it has grown for over 25 years.

I've used cMapTools since 2005 to visualize ideas, strategies and the resources in the Tutor/Mentor Library. And, I use blog articles to "make sense" of the information.  

I don't have the energy or motivation to rebuild all of my maps using Kumu or Gephi, but I keep sharing examples of these tools, with the goal that one, or more, people will use my library as a resource and will use Kumu to map what's available.

Last week I posted this article, showing the visualization below, created by students at Indiana University.  It shows participation in the 1994-2015 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences that I hosted in Chicago. They created this using Excel spreadsheets from my library.

Last April, I used this article to show my 30 years of outreach to local, national and international universities.

On page 39 I showed the 2008 IVMOOC project done by students at Indiana University. 

This shows that I've had success in connecting with universities on short term projects. But I've not been able to build any long-term partnerships.  Thus, while each project was valuable, the potential was lost because they were not part of any university-led on-going effort, or relay-race, where future students took the place of current and past students and constantly updated, expanded, and improved on the work done by previous students.

That will only happen if a major donor provides the money.

So as we enter 2026 I call on readers to share this with their networks, reaching out to people who could make major gifts, to a university, to build on-campus Tutor/Mentor Connections, that build on the work I've piloted for so long.

This invitation aims to reach faculty and/or administrators who might develop programs, and grant requests, that find this money.  If you're interested, take a look at this page, where I outline steps you might take.

I'd be happy to explore this idea with you.  Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, BlueSky, Mastodon, Facebook and/or Instagram (see links here).  

Thanks to everyone who sent contributions in 2025 to help me do this work. Visit my "Fund T/MI" page to offer your help.