Naraview

Naraview is an interesting new site for Game Based Learning that I found out about from Richard Byrne's excellent blog.  Naraview lets students make connections between topics a teacher selects a topic inside of Wikipedia.  However, what makes Naraview so unique is that the educator can see the pathway each student uses from their starting topic to their finished pathway.  I like to think of it as a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" housed inside of Wikipedia making connections between topics that your teacher chooses.

I highly recommend checking out Naraview by clicking here!!!

Empedia

Empedia is a interesting new (beta) site that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's excellent blog.  This is an ideal site for interacting w/ Wikpedia.  Not only can a user browse through articles they can then add a: post, poll, or a discussion about the information.  I like to think of it as Wikipedia w/ comments.

I recommend checking out Empedia by clicking here!!

Wiki MindMap

Wiki MindMap is a cool site for searching through wikipedia in a mind map style. All a user has to do is enter a term and results are returned in a mind map format.

I highly recommend giving Mind Map a try by clicking here!!

For my top 10 sites on creating a Mind Map click here.

WikiSummarizer

WikiSummarizer is a fantastic site to use to find relevant information on Wikipedia. This is done by entering a term and then having the site search through Wikipedia articles and knowledge base.

I highly recommend checking out WikiSummarizer by clicking here!!!

For a more detailed review check out Free Technology 4 Teachers.

Wikihood

Wikihood is a mash-up of Google Maps and Wikipedia. This is a very nice site when wanting to not only find out details/information about a place but where it is located on a map.

I highly recommend checking out Wikihood by clicking here!!



For a more detailed review check out Free Technology 4 Teachers.

WikiMindMap

WikiMindMap is a visual way to explore Wikipedia. This is a site that I first heard about on Free Technology 4 Teachers which is an excellent blog.

Below is a pic on the search term, Web 2.0...



Give WMM a try by clicking here.

VisWiki

VisWiki is a site which I learned about from Free Technology 4 Teachers and reminds me a lot of Navify. This is a great site for searching through resources (especially Wikipedia) visually.

Below is a search on the term, Technology Integration...



Give VisWiki a try by clicking here.

The Full Wiki

The Full Wiki is a mash-up of Wikipedia & Google Maps. I find this to be a very useful site when trying to find the origin of items/terms. However, when there is not enough data to have a map representation, FW still will display other relevant data such as video/audio/text etc.

Give The Full Wiki a try by clicking here.

Below is a search on the term Thor...



For another excellent review check out Richard Byrne's award winning blog.

Wikify

Wikify is a new site I learned about from Jennifer Dorman's great blog. This is a place where you paste in your text and it auto-generates links to Wikipedia. It is very easy to do and is ideal if you wanted to create your own online encyclopedia/dictionary.

Below is a pic of the Wikify process in action.



Below is a pic of the result after using Wikify to create links to Wikipedia (talk about a time saver).



Give Wikify a try by clicking here.

Citizendium

Citizendium is a new (beta) site that is very similar to Wikipedia. It is trying to become a more accomplished/accurate online encyclopedia. The way this is done is by using accredited appointed people, to "author" content on their site. However, that does not mean you can't register and become a "citizen". This is a community where members can create and collaborate content.

After giving Citizendium a try I feel like it is on the right track. There are a lot of options for a user to choose when using their search. It is a bit more complex then Wikipedia and you may find getting the results you are looking for a bit of a struggle.

Below is an example of my search on the term "web 2.0"

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Give Citizendium a try by clicking here.

Navify

Navify is a fun new site I learned about from Larry Ferlazzo. This site is great to use when you want to search/filter Wikipedia visually. It literally grabs and displays all the multi-media results, of a given topic, inside of Wikipedia.

or

From their site, "Navify is a visual encyclopedia that combines Wikipedia articles with images, videos, and comments."

Here is what a results page looks like when searching the term, Web 2.0.



Give it a try by clicking here.

EyePlorer

EyePlorer is a great new site (still in beta) that can be summed up as a visual search engine for WikiPedia. I just learned of this site on one of my favorite blogs, Free Technology 4 Teachers. This is one of the better online search engines to come around in a long time and deserves a look.

What I love about EyePlorer is how unique and easy to use it is. At first glance it looks like a giant color wheel. All you have to do is type in your search in the "search bar" and watch what happens (ignore the german, the site runs in English).


Surrounding the search bar are your hits. The more you specify your search terms, the less cluttered your "wheel" becomes. This is a great way to show students the importance of "surfing effectively".

Also, another great feature is when you click on a "hit", you can drag and drop it to the EyePlorer notebook which is located to the right of the "wheel". This is a great way for students to organize their results.



For more info click here.