1. Russ O’Brien LIS 724 Instructional Project October 2011
An Intro to Wordle
Russ O’Brien
LIS 724 Instructional Project
October 2011

2. What is Wordle?

3. Wordle’s Origin
Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg while at work at IBM in 2008.
It uses algorithms and tag clouds to select and display content
A text cloud or word cloud is a visualization of word frequency in a given text as a weighted list. The technique has recently been popularly used to visualize the topical content of political speeches.

4. You can type or paste any text into the “create” box.
An algorithm is a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process.
Wordle is very easy to access. Type wordle.net in your browser. Then click on “create your own”.
You can type or paste any text into the “create” box.
An algori An algorithm is a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process.
Wordle is very easy to access. Type wordle.net in your browser. Then click on “create your own”.
You can type or paste any text into the “create” box. thm is a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process.
You can type or paste any text into the “create” box.

5. Editing Wordle
Wordle is edited by using the light blue bar that appears after you have created the image.
Change fonts, colors, and text layouts by clicking on this bar.
Use the “randomize” button to change the look of your design

6. Wordle and Speeches
In Wordle, frequency of words determine their size. Below is President Obama’s inaugural in Wordle. What do the words tell you?

7. Other Wordles
Wordle constructed from Wikipedia’s top 1000 vital articles, sorted by number of views. What can you learn from this?
Wordle data cloud showing the population of each of the world’s countries. Data algorithm uses country population.

8. Experiment with Wordle
Experiment with Wordle. It has applications in geography, math, science, language arts, social studies….
Use Wordle to learn about graphic design. Good design is essential to communication. It also expresses your taste and individuality!
Wordle is a free app. Use it to create school spirit or for personal gifts by featuring it on t-shirts, mugs, or posters. Images can be printed by CafePress or other vendors.
Above all, Wordle is Fun!

9. Class Wordle

10. Class Exercise Go to Wordle. Google “Wordle”. http://wordle.net
Minimize Wordle window. Now Google “Guardian Great Speeches”. atspeeches
Select a speech that interests you and paste the text in the Wordle “create” box. What words stand out? What does this tell you?

11. Sources