Wordle and Tagxido

Shannon and I presented on Wordle last Thursday. It is a tool that I really like and I think that the presentation went well. Wordle is very easy to use and it does not require users to sign up in anyway. The following are a few practical uses in the classroom: about me projects, presentations of new ideas, fun ways to convey material, spelling or vocabulary words, classroom rules, etc. It grants users the opportunity to choose a text and instantly create a 'word cloud' that can be customized by font, orientation, color, and size according to the creator's liking. Tagxido is VERY similar to Wordle-- I honestly liked it a little bit more. Its based around the same idea. Users type in text or URL's for websites, blogs, twitter, etc. and a word cloud is created. The same customization is available to users. The big difference in these web resources is that Tagxido's word clouds can be shaped like animals, cartoons, objects, or even faces. I will definitely use these resource in my own classroom. I believe that it is very important to present information to students in fun and creative ways in order to grab their attention and keep them engaged. Utilizing these tools in the classroom will do just that!