Grokker is a search engine that returns results "in topically organized visual maps." So instead of a long list of text with links, you get a relevancy-ranked map of circles. Think junior high math class and Venn diagrams.
[Go grok something, then come back and geek out about it with me.]
Neat, eh? It may have taken me awhile to find out about Grokker, but today I've more than made up for my ignorance by subjecting students to their inaugural Grokker experiences. Most of them indulge me with a muttered "cool." But a few have truly appreciated the power of a visually-based, relevancy-ranked search tool.
And this leads me to some questions for you, my loyal commentors:
- Which would you rather search, a list of text or colorful circles?
- Could you tell right away bigger circles contain more info?
- Does Grokker help you visualize how much information is out there?
- Do you love this ... or is it just pretty circles?
2 comments:
Sorry, I had been meaning to devote time to this response, but time has made itself scarce. I did not like Grokker as it was not intuitive, and the pretty circles did not give me enough information. With the text list, I can read a line or two about the site and decide if it's worth my time. With Grokker, I would actually have to visit each site.
Hmm...
Well, "They're sorry, but Grokker BETA does not fully support Mac platfom." well...
It crashed my connection. I had to restart in order to comment.
I'd say it's poo.
But if it's anything like "mind-mapping" et al... I don't really think I'd get into it. My brain doesn't work in pretty little circles... I'm much more linear. So... The normal "Google" thing works much more like my brain does, anyway.
I'll be sure to remember "Grokker" for anyone on a PC, though... I promise.
Smiles,
T
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