Learning by tagging: The role of social tagging in group knowledge formation 1

This research presents a case study on the use of Social Tagging in an undergraduate classroom at the University of Michigan during the Fall 2005 semester. Students were between 20 and 22 years of age. Stude- nts tagged their individual blog posts to contribute to themes and conversa- tions in an online learning environment. Using content analysis of the blog posts and tags as well as semi-structured interviews, the study examines the role of online social tagging for tracking and aiding group knowledge formation.