Of all the programs that we've used so far in my educational technology class, wordle is my favorite. www.wordle.net is a website that generates a word cloud from a section of text. Word clouds, also called concept clouds, are visual presentations of text content in collage form, with words sized according their times of occurrence. They are incredibly useful in business presentations, as summaries of information and as visual aids. Concept clouds also have a place in education.
I'm interested in special education, which means I'll be working with children of varying disabilities. Many children struggle with reading long paragraphs and taking the main idea from a passage. Examining a concept cloud before they read the material will help them to grasp the important concepts in the reading and note when those ideas are brought up by the writer. Looking at a concept cloud after looking over the material will improve their understanding of the material as a whole. Concept Clouds can aid children with other, more severe disabilities as well. The options offered by Wordle allow creations to be stimulating and colorful. This visual stimulation is great for children who have trouble focusing or have a limited attention capacity. It also can make activities such as word recognition and identification fun, which always results in greater learning.
This website has samples of word clouds made from Presidential speeches.
And here is one of the word clouds I've made on my own,
here's one of an album by Owl City:
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