Web 2.0 programmes applied to adult education
Word cloud generators
Targu Mures, 2011 May 25th
Iwona Moczydlowska, MSCDN Siedlce
Word clouds generators as Web 2.0 tools
web based apps
everybody can use them
to create, publish and
share
Word cloud
generators
other Internet users
may comment
Web 2.0 key features
free
Definition of a word cloud generator
Web based application for creating
graphical representation of any text;
the most frequent words from the text
are represented in bigger size.
Word cloud generators
Word cloud of a word cloud generator
Word cloud created by ABCYa
How to make a word cloud?
I.
II.
III.
Go to the word cloud site
Open the word cloud application
Enter your text into the text box
Type
or
 Copy and paste
or
 Specife the URL
or
 Upload a file
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IV.
Click on Submit/Visualize
Word cloud generators
Making a word cloud with Wordle
Description of the ITAAT
project copied from the ITAAT
website
The text to be processed into a word cloud has been copied and pasted into the Wordle text box
Word clouds of ITAAT project description
The same text, different results made by Wordle
Examples of wc generators
Tagxedo
Various applications, different capabilities, different results
Representation of ITAAT website www.itaat.eu (made by WorditOut)
Different results
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Text
Words
Cloud
Representation of ITAAT website www.itaat.eu (made by Tagxedo)
Text settings
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Ignoring words
Common words/stop words/words frequently used
Words containing 1/2/3 etc. letters
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Removing punctuation characters
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Displaying words
Multi-word phrases (add ~ between two words and
they will be displayed together)
Stemming (+language support) – grouping words of
the same family, for example teacher, teachers will
be displayed as one word in good wc generators
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Word cloud generators
Words settings
Entries placed
 according to count
 alphabetically
 randomly
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Case to display
 most common
 lowercase
 uppercase
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Word cloud generators
Cloud settings
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Word size (proportional to the number of
times found or all words are the same size)
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Colours (of background; words)
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Fonts
Layout
 direction (horizonatally, vertically, mixed,
randomly)
 shapes (geometric, organic)
 cloud margin
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Word cloud generators
Advanced capabilities
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Shaping the cloud in a form of your own uploaded image Tagxedo
Connecting words in the cloud to web pages – Tagul
Viewing words definitions in an online Visual Thesaurus WordSift, VocabGrabber
Combining words with Google images and videos WordSift
Word cloud generators – extra
Ways of publishing wc
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Print
Save to the public/private gallery
Save as an image on the computer disk
Paste Print Screen into a Word text or
PowerPoint presentation
Embed
E-mail
Post to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.
Word cloud generators
Why should we bother to use wc?
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attractive
beautiful
fun
more than lists and graphic organizers
informative
stimulating
allow creativity, expression and imagination
enhance critical thinking
simple and easy to use
it’s free!
Word clouds characteristic
Several ideas for using word clouds
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presenting idea/topic/
lead-in to a discussion
prediction
summary
reflection on
prompt to
remember/reconstruct
revision of texts
texts comparison
article introduction
website analysis
poem visualisation
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book/film review
resume in a single glance
topic research task
vocabulary/grammar
language exercise
styling PowerPoint
presentation
conference/workshop
poster
name tags
brand cloud
…………..
Word clouds in adult education
Resources
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http://www.tagxedo.com
http://www.wordle.net
http://www.imagechef.com
http://www.worditout.com
http://tagul.com
http://www.tagcrowd.com
http://www.abcya.com
http://www.wordsift.com
http://www.vocabgrabber.com
Word cloud generators
Resources
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Tim Barret (red.), 52 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the
classroom,
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_157dpbsg9c5&
pli=1
Terry Freedman, Word Cloud Shoot-Out,
http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/vl_blog/?page_id=1049
Hardy Leung, 101 Ways to Use Tagxedo, http://www.tagxedo.com
Nik Peachey, Using Word Clouds in EFL ESL,
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com
(3 Sept.2008)
Shelly Terrell, 19 Word Cloud Resources, Tips & Tools,
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2010/02/14/12
Simon Thomas, Language Activities with Wordle and word clouds,
http://www.efl-resource.com/language-activities-with-wordle-andword-clouds-2
Text + Image = Tagxedo: The Next Generation of Word Cloud Fun,
http://www.tengrrl.com/blog/2010/06/19/text-image-tagxedo-thenext-generation-of-word-cloud-fun
Word cloud generators
How word clouds are used in MSCDN?
Embeded in the
MSCDN ITAAT blog
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to
to
to
to
summarize information,
facilitate learning,
show connections,
decorate.
Mazovian In-Service Teacher Training Centre Siedlce Department
MSCDN ITAAT blog
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Polish website of ITAAT project available only to invited
readers. Address: http://iwonam3.blogspot.com
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aims: 1) provide Polish members of ITAAT with
information about the project (language – Polish);
2) promote Web 2.0 technology
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content: project description, info about the partners,
project materials, current information (topics, tasks,
meetings), intercultural issues
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Web 2.0 programmes used so far: Blogger
Google Docs, Slideshare, You Tube, Podomatic, Picasa,
Survey Monkey, Jigsaw Planet, Wallwisher, Tagxedo,
Tagul, ImageChef (and also other tools like Photo Story 3, Hot Potatoes)
Mazovian In-Service Teacher Training Centre Siedlce Department
MSCDN ITAAT blog
Mazovian In-Service Teacher Training Centre Siedlce Department
Information Technology Applied to Adult Training
iwona.moczydlowska@mscdn.edu.pl
Mazovian In-Service Teacher Training Centre Siedlce Department