Word Clouds and Screen Captures

(Click for a full-sized PDF version)

This post shows an easy way to create word cloud graphics and screen capture video tutorials. The graphic above is a word cloud generated from topics presented at the CUE (Computer-Using Educators) Conference in California this March. We created it in a few simple steps:

• We created a text document with a list of topics  from the conference
• We repeated the topics to reflect how often they were presented at the conference
• We pasted this list into the free Wordle “word cloud” generator at wordle.net
• We chose colors and  a layout for the graphic that worked well for this post
• We took a screenshot of the image (you can also generate a PDF) and inserted it into our blog

These are a lot of words to describe a very simple process. Another way to describe is is by creating a screencast- a short video tutorial that captures what’s happening on your screen. We used the free tool Jing and a microphone to create the video below. Jing is available for both PCs and Macs and allows you to capture screenshots and quickly create and share video tutorials up to five minutes long. You can then post your videos to the free Screencast.com site with just one click. Here are some ways teachers are using Jing.