Tech Tutor Mark uncovers the best and most useful tech sites, resources and tips for everyone from the home user to the educator. Some of these tips are WOW inducing; others life changing. The majority are just plain cool, but all are extremely useful for anyone who uses technology and wants to learn more.
Google Wonder Wheel
Google search is a wonderful tool for students of all ages, but the search giant takes it a step further with Google’s Wonder Wheel. This fascinating visual search tool helps students refine searches, and learn about connections between terms. Using Wonder Wheel is easy! To begin, go to  and type in your search term(s) as you would on any other search. Once you click the Search button, your results will be listed. Above the results list is a small hyperlink that says Show Options. Click on this link to open a sidebar with more options.
Once the sidebar has opened, click on Wonder Wheel under the Standard View menu:
Clicking on Wonder Wheel will open up your search term as the center of the ‘wheel’ with related terms branching off:
Clicking on one of the related terms opens up a new branch of the wheel, and lists search results for that term along the right side of the screen:
You can continue clicking on related terms to expand your Wonder Wheel as far as you want:
This is a great way to help kids expand and refine their searches!