Wordle!

=WORDLE!=

== toc =What is it?= Wordle, also technically known as a tag cloud or word cloud, is a site that allows users to visually represent data. This idea of visually representing data through tag clouds and word clouds only being around for around ten years. www.wordle.net is one the most popular sites for visually representing user data.

=How can it be used?= Wordle can be used for a wide variety of purposes. First of all, it is very aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes creating a wordle for random words can be a fun thing to do and the program has a variety of recreational purposes. However, Wordle is much more than just fun and games. Many teachers are using Wordle as a tool in the classroom to provide students with a new, unique, and fun way to see certain information. Information is much more likely to stick in your head if it is presented to you in a unique fashion. Sites like wordle are often used to determine "tags" on websites by finding certain keywords that are often repeated, because chances are that if words are being repeated several times they are important.

=Basic Functions of Wordle= Wordle, and word clouds in general, work on the concept of finding repeated keywords and making them bigger than other words to convey importance. This can be done in the basic way by simply repeating a word so that it will appear bigger than the rest. You can also simply copy and paste entire articles into Wordle and hit "create" and watch Wordle tell you what is important. Wordle also offers an advanced function where you can associate words with certain numbers. This feature comes in handy when you want to display statistical information.

=Video tutorial for Wordle= media type="youtube" key="Fo5q386cWuc" width="425" height="350"

=My favorite thing about Wordle= My personal favorite feature of Wordle is what I touched on before, and that is the advanced settings. The advanced settings within Wordle give you the ability to convey a wide range of information in a much less conventional, but more interesting manner. There have many times where I have played with these advanced settings just for fun. Also, if you hit "create" and you don't like the first image they give you... no problem! You can keep refreshing this option as many times as you'd like until your wonderful wordle pops up for you. One of the most unique ways I've seen this feature taken advantage of is a word cloud that displays the countries of the world by population. Take a look! [|Detailed Wordle "How-To"] [|Check out the site for yourself!]

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