Word Cloud Tools

Wordle vs. WordItOut
Tag and word clouds are all the rage these days and help us ‘see’ important ideas that ‘bubble up to the top’ of the cloud. Wordle.net has always been my chosen tool of the ‘word cloud trade’, until now.
Enter WordItOut and @rmbyrne ‘s blog post Word It Out Like Wordle with more Options

Wordle.net word cloud of this blog:

WordItOut word cloud of this blog:

I agree with @rmbyrne that this new tool has a lot of potential. The fact that you can omit some of the words, like pronouns or other ‘non essential’ words is a great feature.  I also like that Word It Out also sends you a url link to your word cloud so you always have reference to it on their site. (Wordle gets published, but is impossible to find since you don’t get a direct url and you can’t search the site)

The other thing I like about WordItOut is that it does a better job of controlling inappropriate language and content. Many schools have found issues with the gallery at wordle containing inappropriate words.  To get around that feature I have always had my students link directly to the ‘create’ page http://www.wordle.net/create, that way you don’t take the chance of students seeing random wordles created by others. WordItOut has a more strict user agreement that states:  User Content will not contain any item that may be unlawful or otherwise unfit for publication, including but not limited to items that (1) may be defamatory or injurious to another person or entity, (2) may cause harm to any person or property or otherwise defame or harass any person or organization, (3) may violate any legal rights of any person (including right to privacy or publicity), (4) are pornographic, obscene, profane, vulgar, indecent, or threatening, (5) are culturally, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable, or (6) suggest or encourage any illegal activity. This keeps the finished word clouds more G rated.

Whether you choose Wordle or WordItOut, the purpose will probably be the same, here are some ideas:

• Have students put their writing pieces in and see if words like ‘like’, ‘and’, ‘but’ come up more then they should (note: you would want to make sure you don’t omit words when doing this)
• Have students determine main ideas of text, then put them through these programs to check
• Analyze major speeches, editorials, or other text written or spoken by prominent people to see if various themes come up
• Create visuals of text and/or blog posts
• Create a word cloud of your next subject and have students predict what you will be learning/reading about.
• Have students create word clouds of descriptive words to describe an object, then see if others can figure out the object they are describing
• Create a word cloud with words that have something in common, so students can figure out patterns, or concepts.

If you have any other ideas, feel free to add them here.