Wordle

Wordle is a Web 2.0 tool for creating word clouds.  It's a free tool with a variety of possible applications for educators.  I created this Wordle for a lesson on the Prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  My intent with including the use of Wordle in this lesson was to make students aware of the importance of the words Chaucer chose and emphasizes throughout the prologue.  Words that are emphasized frequently throughout a text tend to be the most revealing about the author's intention.

Wordle creates word clouds by taking a section of text, which the user must type or paste into the website, and jumbles the words creatively in order to create an attractive word cloud.  These word clouds can easily become educational because Wordle will automatically emphasize words that are used more often by making them bigger and/or bolder in the word cloud. While these word clouds can be an interesting visual display, they may also provide a quick snapshot into the author's intentions.  Wordles would not supplant any type of deep study of the text, but they may assist in starting students on the right path to a greater textual analysis.

Creating my Wordle was relatively easy.  I simply used a Google search to obtain the full text of the Prologue, read it over quickly for errors, highlighted and copied, and then pasted it into the text box provided on the Wordle site.  Once an initial Wordle has been generated, you may use simple editing tools provided on the site to change the orientation or the words, the overall layout, the color and style of both the text and the background, as well the font used.  While they are useful, the purpose of the tools is primarily aesthetic.  Once you have completed your Wordle, you may save the document on the site only and print it out if you choose.  Unfortunately, Wordle does not allow users to save the document to their computer, although the website will provide users with a link to embed and access the Wordle online in the future.  For me, not being able to save the file was a significant draw back for this tool.  I really enjoyed using it but I would have liked to be able to save the picture file on my professional website instead of taking a screen shot and loading onto my website.  However, I would definitely use the tool again.  In particular, I think a tool like Wordle could be very helpful when initially introducing students to older texts such as works by Chaucer or Shakespeare.  Wordle may also serve as a significant tool in evaluating the intent of historical texts.  It would be interesting to see Wordle incorporated into a history lesson on the Constitution or the Gettysburg Address.  Such a tool may reveal both the intent of the document, but also the concerns of the time from which the document arose.