I enjoyed learning more about word clouds by exploring the different websites. The picture above is the word cloud that I created on Wordart.com. I chose this website because I liked that they had the option to change the shape of the word cloud. This is a fun way for people to choose a symbol that best represents themselves or the word cloud. For my own word cloud, I chose the dog shape. This shape reminds me of my own dog. I also liked that if you are viewing the word cloud on their website you can hover over each word, and it will highlight it and make it easier to read. The website also had multiple fonts to choose from. I decided to choose the font “Chrysanthi” I felt that this font was easy to read. The website also gave the option of using contrast, which I believe made the text easier to read. The light blue background makes the darker blue font easier to see.

 I could see myself using this took to engage students in what they learned or took away from a certain lesson. They could also do a similar assignment as we are and use the word cloud to represent themselves. I think it would be fun to see how students might describe what the library means to them. They could start by choosing an image to symbolize they school library and then add words to describe how the space makes them feel.

One of the other word cloud options I enjoyed using was Monkey learn. I like that this website was easy to use and straight forward. There were not as many options as worldart.com. I enjoyed the different options but I it might be easier for younger students to navigate a website with less options. Monkey learn also gave you the option to upload a document of words instead of typing them directly into the website. With fewer options students will be able to concentrate on the words they are using instead of concentrating on what the word cloud would look like.

References:

Reynolds, G. (2021). Presentation Zen Design Tips. Garr Reynolds. https://www.garrreynolds.com/design-tips