

To share this add-on with students, use the How to Create a Word Cloud in Google Docs video and instructions. Word Cloud Generator includes the unique ability to add a table of the most frequently used words and their frequency of use to the end of the analyzed document. It’s not a hard change to make, but it is an extra step. For instance, to switch to the landscape layout shown for The Waste Land example above, I had to open the image in Photoshop and rotate it. Word Cloud Generator (for Google Docs) is limited in the ways that you can manipulate the layout of the words. These three tools create word clouds easily, giving the user the same basic settings. Pro Word Cloud, which is an add-in for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint 2013 and higher.Word Cloud Generator, which is a Chrome add-on for Google Docs.Word Cloud Alternatives to TryĪfter testing several options, I found three alternatives that seem useful: I need to find tools that students can use easily and reliably. Wordle has been my favorite and the tool that I have seen other teachers use most frequently, but with the end of Java support, I can’t rely on Wordle anymore. When I follow their troubleshooting instructions, I end up finding this Java error: My go-to tool, Wordle, is no longer working consistently. So word clouds can be a fun tool to use in the classroom recently, however, I have run into trouble when assigning word cloud activities. Problems with the Most Commonly Used Word Cloud Generator

Once a word cloud like the one above is generated, students can talk generally about the frequently-used words, and then search for the words in the original text to see how they are used. Here’s the word cloud for the 50 most frequent words in T. The resulting word clouds can help students identify themes and symbols in the texts, just as a concordance might. In classes that focus on reading, students can use word clouds to analyze passages from poetry, essays, fiction, and other readings. In technical writing classes, I ask students to create word clouds from their job application materials and then evaluate whether the words that they use the most project the image that they want potential employers to see. In the writing classroom, word clouds can help students identify words that they have overused or identify themes in their writing. As I explained in my previous post Word Clouds as Revision Tools, “Word clouds highlight the most frequently used words in a text, using larger font sizes for the words used most often and smaller sizes for those used less often.” Using Word Clouds

Word clouds can give writers helpful information as they revise their work.
