Here is an interesting post from Beyond the Reference Desk blog [http://beyondrefdesk.blogspot.com/] so you can check out “Visuwords”:
“This is a neat little tool that I came across while doing some research today. From the Visuwords website:
Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.
Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections.
It’s a free to use tool, and a great product for students, teachers, writers, and librarians alike.
Here is a screen shot for my search of pedagogy:
Here is a zoomed-in shot, providing a better idea of how the results look:
I’m definitely going to point this out to students. I think it’s a neat way to assist with brainstorming those keywords. Plus, the dictionary feature when you hover over a word or phrase is pretty nifty!…”
