Visual Representations with Word Cloud Generators

Text from Cell Phones=Learning article (Tagxedo)

Recently a teacher asked me to recommend a "word cloud" generator.  In its simplest form word clouds are graphical representations of word frequency in text passages.  Copy and paste some text into the creator and the resulting image shows the frequency of word use by word size.  Wordle has been around for a while but it has Java issues with our image so I did some research for alternatives.  I discovered that word cloud generators have come a long way and are now an even better educational tool! 

Word Cloud Comparison of Two Speeches (Tagxedo)

Clearly word cloud generators are fun and engaging but they can be so much more.   

5 Ways Your Students Can Use Word Clouds has suggestions and ideas for getting started. An example to the left shows two speeches with all words in common in the same colors. This  visual representation of two texts makes comparing a very different student experience.  Imagine using word clouds to initiate student discussion and engagement prior to interacting with challenging text. 


Check out 9 Word Cloud Generators that Aren't Wordle to see some of what is available.  I liked Tagxedo because it was so easy to use and had several fun features that that did not detract from the educational value of word clouds.   

Tagxedo can browse directly to a URL and create a word cloud from the website text. Options include many shapes and orientations, other photos and images can be added, font and color can be changed, particular words can be emphasized more.  I used to think that one or two "wordles" were plenty but after flipping through 101 Ways to Use Tagxedo my mind is changed!

Text from SDMS's URL (Tagxedo)

Text from SDMS's URL inverted (Tagxedo)

More Resources

Tagxedo's FaceBook page

How to Create a Word Cloud at Tagxedo.Com