Lab 4 - jQuery (a JS Library) & Concept Mapping using CmapTools

Concept mapping is a visual learning tool pioneered by Cañas et al. (2004) and Novak (1991) from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). It utilizes relationship linkage phrases between concepts of systems to make sense of how things are connected.

Using the software CmapTools, and with the provided "parking lot" and "focus question" from Dr. Morgan, I created the concept map above with my own propositions to base my understanding of how the concepts we've learned so far are related and/or connected to each other, specifically within the context of Web GIS in how Leaflet works.

While working on my concept map I realized it was inevitable to connect some of my concepts back to each other using reverse arrow directions. After all, concepts of systems can have various relationships. I think it’s appropriate since Web GIS development overlaps multiple platforms: design, data, interactivity, functions, pattern, and order. In my concept map, you can find Leaflet smack in the middle, not at the top. You’ll see some cul-de-sacs, some dead-ends, and some loops. I used linking phrases that offered certain scenarios different options, for example, a page’s HTML can contain a map, but it doesn’t have to. Also, I added two additional propositions (aside from the provided parking lot concepts), specifically, “Data” and “Object Notations”. I added these because I found them important to highlight how data is transmitted using APIs. This was a great and challenging exercise (and I hope my propositions are correct). 

Speaking of Leaflet, another part of the lab assignment entailed using jQuery on our Leaflet map to toggle between hiding it and showing it. This is how this works: the jQuery functions (within script tags in the body of the HTML page) are written in a way that calls each of the associated event button elements (one ‘Hide’, and one ‘Show’) using IDs to handle the clicks accordingly. The Leaflet map already has an ID of “map” within the div element, therefore the jQuery function’s syntax is set up as if it were saying: When they click the hide button, hide the map on this page called “map”, and when they click the show button, show the map on this page called “map”.