Wordle

I am researching Wordle to use as my technology. Worldle is a great tool that can be used to create word clouds and promote brainstorming and critical thinking. It creates, what the website calls, "beautiful word clouds" and I have t0 agree.

The programs takes a chunk of text and breaks it down according to the words that occur most frequently. I imputed "The Moon" by Henry David Thoreau and here is what I created. The original text is as follows:

Time wears her not; she doth his chariot guide;
Mortality below her orb is placed.
--Raleigh

The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray
Mounts up the eastern sky,
Not doomed to these short nights for aye,
But shining steadily.

She does not wane, but my fortune,
Which her rays do not bless,
My wayward path declineth soon,
But she shines not the less.

And if she faintly glimmers here,
And paled is her light,
Yet alway in her proper sphere
She's mistress of the night.

The above image was created from that text.

Wordle is perfect for and classroom that focuses on the liberal arts. As I have said, it encourages students to look at words in a new way and to make new connections. One drawback is that the content is not filtered. However, the administrator does provide a way to block these from school computers.

I personally think this a great tool. While this tool could not support an entire lesson, it certainly would be a conversation starter and a great way for students to think about content as well as context.