Wordle: Something Fun for your Course

Have you heard about Wordle? It is a web tool that creates fun arrangements of words, which are also called word clouds. I think the program is pretty cool and it is a fun thing to ask students to do or see. Here are two ideas on how to use Wordle in the online classroom. Let me know if you have tried others that worked well.

• Ask students to use Wordle to describe themselves. They can post the link to their creation in the thread, as a way to introduce themselves to the class. They can also use their favorite poems, lyrics, names of people, or favorite foods.

• Summarize the main points of a concept. Here is one that has the characteristics of the Baroque style and post it in the “News” when you are announcing a Unit, or at the end of the Unit to gather all terms students have contributed to the Discussion.


The more times you repeat one word when you are setting up Wordle, the larger that world it will be in the final composition. I heard a schoolteacher say that kids in her class use it to look for redundant words.

Wordle allows you to choose colors, fonts, and directions of how the words will display. The tool is free to use but need to give credit to Wordle.net. Check it out if you haven’t done so yet.