Web 2.0

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming increasingly popular in the classroom. Reasons for this include ease of accessibility (all you need is a computer and access to the internet!) and cost generally free). They also offer teachers the ability to incorporate technology into their existing curriculum - a big bonus in this increasingly techno-world that we live in.

In my experience, the most difficult part of the process is selecting the right tool. Teachers tend to have very little free time to dedicate to sifting through all of the available Web 2.0 technologies out there to discover what they do and then, more importantly, how to effectively make use of them.
As an example of a very useful Web 2.0 technology for nearly any classroom level and any subject area, let's take a look at Wordle - one of my favorite tools to use for kicking off the school year.

What is Wordle?

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

How does Wordle work?

Here is a short video that demonstrates how to create and use Wordle in the classroom: 

There are so many uses for Wordle - the video just names a few. Here are a few more examples of Wordle being used in other subject areas.

Wordle examples:

To visit the Wordle website, and create your own Wordle, just click here. 

Here are some additional resources that offer great ideas for incorporating Wordle into your curriculum:

More Wordle in the Classroom Ideas
The Top 10 Ways to Use Wordle at School
How to Make Wordle Safe for Classroom Use