4 Word Cloud products reviewed

The post is going to be a little different from my others. Today I am going to be talking about Word Clouds. For those of you not to sure what a Word Cloud is, here is an example.

Word Clouds are quickly becoming a great way to gauge student knowledge on a subject (KWL charts), questions they might have, or show what they know. With this great increase on Word Clouds there are many different websites out there to use for Word Clouds; but which one will work best for me? This is the reason for this post. I am going to go over some of the top searched and used websites.

1.) ABCYA.com- This website is REALLY geared toward younger grades of students. The set-up, colors, and how to use their word cloud is great for primary. While this does allow younger students to create their word cloud it does not offer as many options as other sites. In addition, you do not need to sign up to use it, however it is suggested since they have a class login button. Please click here to check it out.

• Glitchy Rating: I give this a 4 since this really works for primary grades, NOT suitable for upper grades.
• User Rating: Level 1 since it is so user friendly and no videos are needed to start using this product.

2.) Tagul- This is a more detailed site for students and teachers to use. While this offers multiple different ways to customize the word cloud for the students to choose from, it can get overwhelming. This is NOT a product to use with younger grades because of all the options. Should your students be able to figure it out (and let's face it they will) the results are great! This seems to be a product where the students would be able to finish in a short amount of time (20-30 minutes) Please click here to check it out.

• Glitchy Rating: I would give this a 3 because it does take time to be able to know and use all the great benefits of the program. Again, this is great for upper grades not for primary grades.
• User Rating: This would be a level 3 for teachers and a level 2 for students because it does take some finesse to understand and access all the different customizations available.

3.) Tagxedo- I would not recommend this program to teachers. This program is confusing and would take a lot of training not only on the teacher's behalf but students as well to use this system. I struggled to access the system myself.

• Glitchy Rating: I give this site a 1 because of the lack of user friendliness and confusion to work the product.
• User Rating: This product is a level 3. You would need to watch videos and spend a lot of time to understand how the program works (let's face it, do we really have that kind of time?)

4.) Word Cloud- This program seems to be one of the most interactive of the products. There is still customization available, but is user friendly with some play around. Your students would be able to figure out this product quickly. There is one warning I would say to this is when inputting words make sure to click paste/type text to make the process easier. Other than that is product is a great level 2 product for students and teachers who have more tech experience. This product allows you to make your Word Cloud in different shapes, animations, colors, and themes. This product would take a good amount of time for students to make their Word Clouds, but the end result will be worth it! Please click here to check it out.

• Glitchy Review: I give this product a 4 since there are still parts which would be difficult but not enough that a few videos couldn't fix.
• User Rating: This product would be a level 1 and the advanced options would be a level 2 since you would need to watch videos.