Cool Tool #2 TAGCROWD a Word Cloud
TagCrowd (https://tagcrowd.com) is a free app developed by a Stanford University student named Daniel Steinbock. By using a "paste text', "website URL" or by uploading a file, TagCrowd can detect word frequency. By showing the word frequency of the text, it gives the reader a general idea what the text is about. Here is what the TagCrowd home screen looks like with my Copyright blog pasted-in:
For example, below please review my Copyright blog from last week in TagCrowd form.
The bold larger words are the most frequent words in my Copyright blog. By reading these words in the TagCrowd form, the reader knows what the blog is about without having to read the whole blog or the reader can decide if the blog is worth reading. This type of app saves time for the reader because they may or may not be interested in the blog topic,
In the classroom this app can help students complete their research faster. Once the student has found a source, they would copy then paste source into TagCrowd. TagCrowd will give them an idea what the material is about. TagCrowd can also help students compare and contrast sources. For example, a teacher gives a reading assignment for students to compare and contrast two continents' weather, location and terrain; below is an example of how TagCrowd can do the work.
The negative to TagCrowd is that students will do less reading. In the compare and contrast example above, TagCrowd has done the work for the student, which could be considered cheating by the teacher.
For example, below please review my Copyright blog from last week in TagCrowd form.
abiding apa article assumed assumptions author avoid aware bailey
became believed blogs breaking broken cc cite classroom colonies comes
commons copyright course creating creations
creative derivative developing different digital downloading
educational else entire etc example facebook fact fair finds
formats furthermore game ideas important
information keeps knew knowledge laws
learn lesson licenses material means
middle movie music needs news novella original people perfect pictures
plagiarism plan possibly posted public reading
regarding responsible reviewing rule school share
simply smartphones spend starting students taught teach
teachers test thereafter therefore trouble
understanding usable used video watch
web work world wrong years youtube zhtwh
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The bold larger words are the most frequent words in my Copyright blog. By reading these words in the TagCrowd form, the reader knows what the blog is about without having to read the whole blog or the reader can decide if the blog is worth reading. This type of app saves time for the reader because they may or may not be interested in the blog topic,
In the classroom this app can help students complete their research faster. Once the student has found a source, they would copy then paste source into TagCrowd. TagCrowd will give them an idea what the material is about. TagCrowd can also help students compare and contrast sources. For example, a teacher gives a reading assignment for students to compare and contrast two continents' weather, location and terrain; below is an example of how TagCrowd can do the work.
https://www.livescience.com/21677-antarctica-facts.html
ago along although america andes antarctic
antarctica area australia averages block circle climate
coast coldest contains continent contributor
covered credit dash divided doubles driest earth east entire et
expanding extension facts fifth floe free frozen globe half hand higher
ice ipy-caml islands kilometers known largest level live lying miles
million mountain nasa nearly nola nz penguins
percent pm prominent range redd regions rings sat
science sea seasons separated series sheet sits size
sometimes south southern southernmost states stretches taylor
thick times tip today toward transantarctic two-thirds united varies vast warmer
west wilderness windiest winter years
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http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/desert.html
deserts driest dry earth encompass ethiopia
evaporates example expect extremely fairly falls faster fifth followed found
greenland ground hitting important inches including known largest life light location
major millimeter moderately moist mojave nice outside parts places plants
possibly pretty rain rainfall ranges rates realm reason recorded rest
sahara santa seasons short sometimes sounds south southern sparce
summer supposed temperature type usually
vegetation vital warm weather winters world year
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The negative to TagCrowd is that students will do less reading. In the compare and contrast example above, TagCrowd has done the work for the student, which could be considered cheating by the teacher.
There are other advantages and disadvantages to using TagCrowd or other word cloud apps (like Wordle, Tagxedo, Tagul, ABCYa). For instance, keywords/frequent words in a resume may not correspond with the keywords/frequent words in a job description, thus an employer may not consider you for this reason. Another example, if you are advertising your business online, your keywords/frequent words may not correspond with the consumers' needs. Finally, word clouds can make presentations more animated and fun. Overall, word clouds are here to stay.
The copyright on TagCrowd is 4.0 Attribution as found on the website and
Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://tagcrowd.com/#tagcloud
I appreciate how you articulate the negatives of students using a tool like this - it helps too much and limits their critical thinking training. I could see the teacher creating and displaying to word clouds on desert and Antarctica during a class room discussion on the students own compare and contrast work -- sort of like a quick and dirty lesson specific word wall.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
Thanks for your comment, you hit the nail on the head
ReplyDelete