Tagxedo

Last weekend I explored the possible uses for the tech tool, Tagxedo.    This tool is much like the Wordle. It visually displays texts by creating word clouds that show the most commonly used words in a document by their relative size, but additionally, it displays them in a particular shape.   There are many shapes to choose from; a heart, football, clover, foot, hand, flower, fish, dinosaur, etc.  The possibilities are endless.    If, for example, I wanted to use Tagxedo to introduce myself to my future students at the beginning of the school year, I could load the words of various things I enjoy doing, such as volleyball, biking, reading, etc. and then choose a shape of something that would provide additional information about me.   For example, I might choose a coffee mug because I am an avid coffee drinker.   (I created one but had difficulty embedding it on my blogJ)

Another great application for this tool would be to use it for an assigned project in the classroom.  Students could be asked to write about a famous figure in U.S. history.  After researching their assigned subject and writing an essay that highlighted their accomplishments, they would be asked to create a Tagxedo cloud.  This cloud would be created by loading various words in a particular shape that would be “telling”of this person’s life.  These Tagxedo clouds would then be displayed around the room and the remaining students in the class would be asked to guess the person being described by looking at its shape and the various word clues. 

I created an example above for Amelia Earhart.  I chose the shape of an airplane because she was a famous aviator.  The words I chose to load were; aviator, missing, mystery, fly solo, Atlantic ocean, set records, American, pioneer, author, Ninety-Nines, Purdue University, Lockheed, Electra, Pacific, Howland Island, disappearance, Kansas, and Canary. 

The Tagxedo I created was truly amazing.  Unfortunately, the embedded image on my blog (above) doesn’t do it justice.  The shading in blue, that formed the shape of the plane behind the words, did not transfer over, so only the words are visible.  (You can tell they’re in the shape of a  plane if you use your imagination!)   The program works great.  I just had difficulty putting it on my blog.  These Tagxedo clouds can easily be printed for classroom use.