{"id":2057,"date":"2012-10-24T05:35:50","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T12:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sd41.bc.ca\/learningtech\/?page_id=2057"},"modified":"2012-10-24T05:37:46","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T12:37:46","slug":"word-clouds-visual-thinking","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/blogs.sd41.bc.ca\/learningtech\/web-resource\/word-clouds-visual-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Word Clouds – Visual Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nOnline tools that create word clouds provide a visual organization for understanding information.\u00a0(Great for\u00a0Reading!) \u00a0There are many options from simple to complex (incorporating other tools) that you may wish to consider.<\/p>\n

Wordle<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a web-based program that allows for open creativity in the literacy process.\u00a0 Words are typed or copied directly into the program and spectacular word clouds are created.\u00a0 The resulting visual give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.\u00a0 You can tweak your clouds with a variety of fonts, layouts, and colour schemes.<\/p>\n

Tagxedo<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0offers tag clouds with style.\u00a0 Each word\u00a0 flips horizontally when a mouse hovers over it.\u00a0 Shapes include a variety of options from oval, heart, star, cloud and even use shapes from custom images (eg. photos).\u00a0 Fonts can be locally downloaded or hand-drawn. Each cloud can be downloaded as a jpeg or for sharing.\u00a0 (This site requires Silverlight to be installed.)<\/p>\n

ABCya!<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a site similar to Wordle but much simpler to use.\u00a0 This would be great for students in primary.\u00a0 It allows options for background colour, choice of fonts and the ability to delete words from cloud. The image can be saved as a jpeg or printed.<\/p>\n

ImageChef – Word Mosaic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>This word cloud generator provides a variety of shapes for your words and phrases.<\/p>\n

Festisite<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a site that provides layouts in mazes, rebus, spiral, and wave shapes. A definite change when you need words to really pop out.<\/p>\n

Tagul<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is an option that includes an added layer:\u00a0 each word in the cloud opens to a Google search page providing another layer of “go to”.\u00a0 (This site requires that you sign up for an account.)<\/p>\n

Word Collage<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(ipad) offers a basic text box where you can insert words, phrases. The settings area allow modest choices in font and colour.<\/p>\n

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How Can Word Clouds be Integrated in Class?<\/span><\/h2>\n