BP3_Tag Galaxy

EXPLORE with Me - "TAG GALAXY"

This is a Web 2.0 tool Review….

New to Web 2.0? That’s ok; I’m still a rookie as well but to put it simply:

Web 2.0 tools are more user-centered interactive sites that are suited towards giving the control back to the user rather than the host. There are a variety of tools/sites available for almost anything you can think of, from custom search sites to blogs :), yeah! But for the most part the reviews here will be focused on their use in an educational setting. 

Today I’ll be reviewing a Web 2.0 tool Wikipedia has defined as, “folksonomy” – fun word right? No, just me…ok. Any-who, it’s basically one of those search sites that are arranged and tagged (labeled) into various categories by the users (Open to the public of Flickr). 

*drum roll*       TAG GALAXY (http://taggalaxy.de/)  

This collaboration/tag site is sometimes described as a “tag cloud” because it’s a visual search, which is my favorite! I’m that visual learner so I apologize in advance for being bias with some reviews. :) Back to the folksonomy - i still say it's a fun word. Users/students can use this site to search the tags for visual representations.  It can be used to look up vocabulary words, key words for presentations, or to give them that visual connection they may need for comprehension.   The following is an example using the tag “technology”.

First it takes you to a solar system based on your tag.  The "sun" is the original tag and the planets orbiting it are possible narrowed ideas of the tag.  (I then clicked “MAC”, which then becomes the center.)

…then “Computer”,  becoming the center again.

Once you are have it narrowed down and click on the center planet, pictures (provided by Flickr) surround the planet.  Each picture is interactive…

For instance,  I clicked on Steve Jobs and he floats off the planet of pictures accompanied with a informative summary box.  The summary pertains to your tag and links you to the page on Flckr where it is located.

Dragging the mouse back and forth near the planet will spin it accordingly revealing more pictures.  Need even more? Just click the right arrow at the top of the screen and a whole new “layer” will encompass the planet again. The animation during the whole process is just down right awesome in itself, and worth exploring for that fact alone! :)

I hope you enjoyed the review and hope you check it out.  There are many ways students can use this site and I encourage you to share it.  

*IMPORTANT NOTE* you may want to search the words/tags before your students because the pictures are tagged by the public and you may not know for sure if anything inappropriate for their age will come up. A pre-approved list is a great idea that the blogger/teacher below suggested.

(I was introduced to Tag Galaxy via: http://ilearntechnology.com/

  one of my favorite go-to blog/sites for a great technology resource.)

Please comment, suggest, and follow if you like. :)

"Knowledge is of two kinds; we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it."

-Samuel Johnson