Wordle Up

I have used wordle before and enjoyed the functionality and concept.  Just recently I used it to create a list of terms related to biology.  The nice part of wordle is that the text is sized based on the number of times a word shows up.  Simply BRILLIANT.

The layout for these wordles was created using a "randomize" function.  Basically, I typed into a text box and then hit "go."  After hitting "randomize" several times I settled on the layout and colors.  I must admit, I got caught up just hitting randomize for awhile.

 

I liked having a dark background vs. white.  The words are easier to read.  After hitting "randomize" I noticed that it would take me longer to read or take in the "art" when there was a light background.  Also, I didn't like it. 

Wordle is a lot of fun, and the art can be used in just about anything.  In my biology classes, I sometimes start a concept off with a wordle.  The main concept of scientific process will be the largest and then the surrounding words are relative based on the concept.  The students seem to like it and I felt like it was easier to start a conversation this way.

Another thing I liked was that you can randomly view other peoples' wordle.  In most cases I could understand the idea or message the creator wanted to convey.  Even the ones I didn't understand-I felt like they were fun and entertaining to look at.

Wordle began as creative waste of time and now I look to wordle first when I want to create something text based but with better graphics.

Here is a link to my cms site with examples of my wordees.