Talking Tech

Ages ago, I posted about tags.  These were keywords that allowed information to be organized and better yet, accessed in a variety of ways.  Sites then were often represented by tag clouds which created visual representations, using size to indicate importance, i.e., the bigger the word, the more often it was used.

Today, I share with you a new related tool with powerful visual implications.

Wordle is an awesome online tool that allows users to create word clouds based on the user’s choice of words.  You can enter a web address and get the cloud represenation of that site.

Imagine an in-class visualization of how certain news agencies cover the news.  How would a word cloud of CNN differ from one of BBC for example?  What words would stand out?

Imagine pasting in a chapter or more of a piece of literature.  Visually and textually, how would Pride and Prejudice look?  Find out.

What would a student’s own essay look like?

We have often argued that Visual Literacy is at the core of a successful 21st Century Learner.  In a world saturated by visual representation, here’s a great tool to expose students to some.

And imagine the discussion that will occur as classmates argue the merit of the cloud and the “worth” of the words that were selected as descriptors.

Do they convey the message of the author?

How do they change or support the way you thought about what you read before you saw the cloud?

What words stand out to you?  Why would that be different to my own?

For fun, I “clouded” a graduation speech I gave years ago.

Cool.

More powerfully, here’s Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Give it a try.

Images created using Wordle