Wordle

I created this Wordle by linking it to my blog. It was really interesting to review what words I use most. I am very happy to see that STUDENTS are number one!
On the wordle blog a lady mentioned that she uses it to edit her manuscript... she can clearly see what words she may have overused and adjust them accordingly. I thought this was a really good idea. Looking at my Wordle it appears that I might need to cut back on the etc's and try and be a bit more adventurous on the adjectives, what a GREAT help this tool could be, haha.
I found it funny that easy was one of the larger words... this course has been anything but!

Amazing Wordle Ideas!
http://www.slideshare.net/mberner/38-intersting-ways-to-use-wordle-in-the-classroom?src=related_normal&rel=585291
http://www.slideshare.net/murcha/using-wordle-in-the-classroom-presentation

PMI -
Pluses
- Great visual impact
- Suits visual learners as well as those who are word smart and aids those who are not by highlighting important words
- VERY easy and VERY quick to use
- Scales word size in relation to how often it is used in the text. This can be useful for either recognising key terms or highlighting a need for variety in word use.
- Free to use
- Allows students to be creative and change fonts, colours and words to their liking
- It picks up on “stop word”(s) (a frequently-used, but unimportant word, such as “the”, “and”, or “but”) http://www.wordle.net/faq#content
- Gallery allows students to model their work to the world
- Can be printed out to display in the classroom


Minuses
- Can not mould the cloud to a particular shape or theme
- Once the word cloud has been created it can not be edited to add in more words or change them
- Obscene language and inappropriate Wordles are not monitored - this is where safe, ethical guidelines need to be adhered to. Students need to ensure they do not put personal information, or inappropriate language into Wordle box
- Some computer systems require extra software to use Wordle
- Sometimes stop words and not picked up and word cloud can contain many words that do not reflect the most significant terms
- Can't repeat words because it just makes them bigger
- Forum allows for problem solving when issues may arise

Interesting
- Gallery appears to be a model only of what you can achieve and not a chance to collaborate as there is no search bar to find specific Wordles and no comment box to reflect and evaluate the work of others