Playing with Words

Here are some word tools to use to create different pictures.  Below are some examples of different tools, both from a website as well as a phone application. 

Tagxedo-http://www.tagxedo.com/


This is probably one of the best of the word tools to use.  This free website allows users to create a word cloud with various formats.  Users can words from blogs, twitter accounts, tags, or  you can type your own words.  Users can change the shapes of the word cloud, as well as the font, color, theme and orientation.  I liked that there is a wide variety of shapes to choose from.  The entire process is not as user friendly as I would have liked, but it is easy enough to play around with. 


Wordle-http://www.wordle.net/





  

Wordle is a neat and free website for creation of word clouds.  There are two ways to input the word selection: manually typing or URL.  Once created, the user can change the layout, delete common words based on language, font or color.  Users can then save or print out their Wordle.  I did like the simpleness of the website but users were limited on choices within the layout, fonts, and colors. 

Tagul-http://tagul.com/

Tagul is another free website that allows users to create a word cloud with a creation of an account.  This was probably the hardest of the three to work with.  Users can enter the text from a URL, from text or from an uploaded list of texts.  I did like that users can create a list of words to filter when creating a word cloud.  There are limited shapes and sizes to choose from, as well as fonts and color.  But unlike the previous two websites, users can animate the picture. 





Quipio-available on

This application allows users to choose a picture and add text to the picture.  It is really a trend right now.  It does not take long either.  You can upload a picture or use one in the gallery.  Then decided on the font and placement of the text.  After it is created, users can share the picture with Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter.  I really enjoyed this one. 

Recite This

http://piccsy.com/post/view/2587427

 

http://piccsy.com/post/view/2587445

 

This is a website that allows user to do what Quipio does with the phone application.  It allows users to write text on top of selected pictures  Users can create and post the pictures via Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and Stumbleupon.  It does give a link to refer back to the created picture.  You are really limited on the selection of backgrounds and you cannot upload your own chosen pictures. 

 

Students could use these websites in a variety of ways.  As an ELA teacher, a student could upload the text from an essay to make sure there are not too many words repeated.  This would be an easy way to check.  As a class, students and teachers could create a word cloud to demonstrate comprehension of a book read.  The more important words would be larger because they would occur more often in the text.   They could also be used for surveys.  The list can go on and on.  Point is, here is another tool for teachers to use some technology in the classroom.