Two of my favorite freebie web-tools are
Tagxedo and
Wordle. Yes, I know
everyone knows about Wordle, but most are unfamiliar with Tagxedo. They both are similar - tag cloud generators - however, Tagxedo makes the coolest shapes with their tag clouds, see?
In case you aren't sure what a tag cloud generator is it basically takes words and phrases (that either you enter yourself or you tell it to grab from a URL) and displays them in a "word splash" form based on frequency. For example, if you say "Butterflies" 100x in a website, it will make the world "butterflies" bigger since you used it so often. This
video helps to understand Tagxedo. Here is a
slide show which shows the many uses of Wordle (which can also be applied to the lovely Tagxedo).
I like to use either web tool for:
- Get to know you introductions
- Debriefing a concept or lesson
- Assessing prior knowledge on a subject
- Just to be cool (since they are so pleasing to the eye)
Special tip: To enter phrases, use the "~" sign (the tilde sign) in between words. Not a hyphen, the ~ sign is the one you need. You know, the one you use in Spanish? If you think of other creative uses of Tagxedo or Wordle, do share them in the comment section below.
Happy Tech Day,
Jen
