Wordle: word cloud creator

What is Wordle?

Wordle is a very easy to use word cloud creator. It makes your text look funny and exciting. You can create word clouds with any type of text you might choose. The main feature of this tool is that the more frequent words in a text increase in size and the most common words are left out by default but it also gives you the chance to include them if you want to. You can also customise the colour, font, and lay out. Besides, it allows you to randomize with the same text and get new clouds with just one click. The word cloud you create, you can either print it out, save it as public gallery into a webpage or copy the code and paste into your blog, so you can have access to it afterwards 

You can find Wordle in the following link:

wordle.com

 How to use Wordle?

You can watch this video to learn how to use Wordle:

Why is Wordle relevant to language learning?

• It is an attractive tool to present new vocabulary to students, therefore it encourages motivation and engagement.

• Wordles can be used as warm ups, and activate previous knowledge.

• It favors the practice and development of the reading language skill.

• It can support not only linguistic skills but also the development of cognitive ones. For instance, students can identify some words, select and classify them, analyse or infere the meaning of them as well.

• Teachers can also ask their students to reflect on the content of the wordle and discuss with other peers about it. Therefore, it favors interaction among them.

• Wordle can also be used to teach grammar. 

How might you use Wordle in class/outside the class?

1.   Within the classroom

• Teachers can present a list of verbs or vocabulary in a more interesting way.

• They can also use a wordle as a hook for the class and enhance inference from students. For instance, teachers might start the class showing a wordle made it intentionally by adding the main words of the topic he/she is going to talk about during that class.

• Students can use it to find the biggest words in a text given either by the teacher or found by themselves. Then, the teacher can ask them to make a list of them and look up the meaning of the different words in a dictionary, and write some sentences using these words.

2.  Outside the classroom

• Teachers can ask their students to choose part of a description of a place, such as country, monument, or famous landscape, put the text in wordle, find the adjectives, nouns and their meaning that describe it, print it out and bring it to class. In class, students can be grouped and asked to describe the place they chose by using the most prominent adjectives and nouns found.

• Students can also include a wordle to start a presentation, and then lead the audience to some specific topic, such as the biography of a favorite singer.

• Teachers can ask some students to create a cloud with different doubts in form of questions for a future test, and they can discuss and clarify them in class. The discussion through this tool can be more meaningful and rewarding for the students. 

What limitations can you see with the use of Wordle? 

• When you save your wordle in the public gallery, it is difficult to find it again because there is not a search engine. You might have to look it up by yourself in different pages immediately or you may lose your wordle forever.

• It is hard to control the lay out, because it changes when you edit it.

• It is just a visual aid. It mainly favors this type of learning style.

• It does not provide the meaning of words.

• Words are not seen in context.

Wallwisher or Padlet: An incredible online board to create your 'wall' as you wish!

What is Wallwisher/Padlet?

Wallwisher or Padlet is a free online electronic board (wall) that you can create, share it with people and they can add sticky notes, comments, videos, links, any content you wish them to incorporate into the wall. It is a great interactive tool and promotes collaborative work.

You can find Wallwisher/Padlet in the following link:

wallwisher.com

How to use Wallwisher/Padlet?

You can watch this video to learn how to use Wallwisher/Padlet:

Why is Wallwisher/Padlet relevant to language learning?

• It promotes collaborative work in the classroom. Teachers can ask students to group themselves, discuss about a topic and add their comments to the wall. 

• It also enhances interaction among students in groups by favoring the practice of speaking to get to some agreements on what they would write or include on the wall.

• Students can develop their critical thinking by expressing their opinions.

• It can be used as a warm up to engage students' attention and they can start thinking in English.

• In the same vein, teachers can also use it to brainstorm and activate some previous ideas. Therefore, it favors constructivism view of learning a language, because teachers consider some previous students' knowledge.

• It contributes to interactive teaching and learning.

• Teachers have the possibility to use it in many different ways to promote the socio-cultural view of learning. This theory states that learners can acquire a language through the interaction with other 'more capable peers'.

• Teachers can also create a real need to communicate in the target language by contextualizing the topics to discuss.

• It is also safe for teachers and students. Teachers, can control what it is seen on the wall after they give their approval to students, so they can participate.

How might you use Jing in class/outside the class?

1. Within the classroom

• As I mentioned before, teachers can propose a topic, for instance, 'environmental issues in my country' and ask students to add some causes and consequences about this problem.

• Teachers might also ask students to describe some traditional food in their countries, add some pictures of it, recipes, or videos on how to prepare it.

• Teachers and students can summarise together the main topics for a particular test.

• Teachers may stick some pictures on the wall and ask students to create a storyboard with these pictures.

• Students can also give some advantages or disadvantages about any topic such as, having a pet, watching TV, playing video games, helping with the house chores, etc., any topic that may be relevant for them.

2.  Outside the classroom

• Students can add some reflections about their learning of a particular content.

• Students might also make a list of the different things they have to do during the week.

• Teachers can ask students to add some pieces of homework to the wall and then they can give them some feedback.

• Students can always use this tool to complete a variety of activities as homework. Some other examples are in the paragraph above or you can adapt them as you wish.

What limitations can you see with the use of Wallwisher/Padlet? 

• It is not appropriate for large classes, because the wall may look busy with too many comments on it and not all of them could be readable.

• The wall you created is not downloadable. 

• Students have to manage well their time because the internet connection may be slow at that moment and they may not be able to edit every post they made.

Here you can find an example of a wall that my colleagues and I created when our tutor Russell Stannard presented us this tool:

TodaysMeet: A simple tool to share ideas in realtime!

          

What is TodaysMeet?

TodaysMeet is a backchannel tool through which people can exchange ideas about any topic in immediate time. As a backchannel tool, it enables to engage everything that may happen in any room or classroom but that it is not provided from a 'presenter' or a teacher. It is a simple tool to be used by teachers and students in the classroom, and it allows them to ask and answer questions, share ideas or notes and give feedback in 'realtime'. 

You can find TodaysMeet in the following link:  

 TodaysMeet

How to use TodaysMeet?

         You can watch this video to learn how to use TodaysMeet:

Why is TodaysMeet relevant to language learning?

• It is a useful tool for language learning because students can use it to work collaboratively by leaving some comments about a certain topic.

• It is motivating and interesting for students, because it breaks with the traditional method based on the behaivourist view of teaching-learning.

• Students can work in groups, share ideas and get to agreements.

• Students can practice and develop the writing skill of the English language.

• It favors some other higher cognitive skills such as critical thinking because they are required to reason, argue, question and give their opinions immediately about some topics they are discussing during the class. 

• There are also some approaches to language learning that support the use of TodaysMeet such as the Socio-Cognitive view of the language which establishes that students learn better through social interaction with their peers.

• It is also based on the constructivism view of the language which states that students have their own knowledge about language, and from there, they can construct some new ones in collaboration with others classmates.

• The chats or conversations can be saved, therefore any students in the classroom can revise them whenever they want to.

  How might you use TodaysMeet in class/outside the class?

1. Within the classroom

• Teachers can propose a subject of relevance to the class, for instance, current and controversial issues such as, the abortion, racism, the use of drugs, etc., ask them to discuss with their group of classmates, be able to support their answers and then share with the class as a whole in the TodaysMeet chat room. This also allow other students to add some comments on it, and get everyone involved in the subject, as well as in the classroom, and the discussion flow will be fast.

• Teachers can see and listen what the students are expressing by writing and speaking about different subjects. Therefore, they have the chance to praise them by using the correct vocabulary and grammar, help them when they might have a problem on how to express themselves or correct their mistakes immediately.

2.  Outside the classroom

• Students would have the opportunity to revise the different discussions after the class because the conversations can be saved, they are organised as the form of a transcript, very clearly, so students can have access to them in the future.

• Teachers can also choose for how long the room will exist, therefore, it  is not only limited to class time.

What limitations can you see with the use of TodaysMeet? 

• The users can not send or receive files while chatting. This can be a barrier when students are working together online because they can not share documents, pictures, power points, links of webpages, etc. Whilst other softwares such as Skype allows them to do it. Therefore, the efficiency of the online communication can be disrupted and students can end up using another virtual tool.