Using Wordles for Analysis in Social Studies

I like to read other blogs - for information, ideas, and/or pure enjoyment - and the Speaking of History blog had an entry recently that started some ideas in my mind. Eric Landhorst's blog article was titled Wordle of Obama's Speech on Afghanistan. Eric uses quite a bit of technology in his middle school classroom, and its having an impact of the education of his students.

I ran across the concept of wordle's last year, thought they were nice, but put no real thought to applying them in Social Studies. What is a wordle??? From the Wordle website:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

We talk about the Gettysburg Address, and in days past (and perhaps today in some areas) had the kids memorize either all or portions of that momenteous speech. But while we read what Lincoln was saying, what was he saying? What were points of emphasis that he continually brought to bear? How can you visualize what is being said? What are the major ideas expressed in the words from the Gettysburg Address (picture to the right). A wordle can help with that. It's a great tool for analysis and could encourage a conversation.

How difficult is it to create a wordle? Humm. With the examples above, I searched (for instance) for Gettysburg Address Text, copied the first one that came up, and dropped it into the box on Wordle. Then I decided how I wanted it to look (there are choices after you have the wordle that can be found under the Layout button). Also - do I want this for my own purposes, or to share on the Wordle site? All told - from search to final product - about one minute, two at the tops

Other ideas? What about a comparison of presidential inaugural addresses in similiar times, such as FDR in 1941 (Wordle on the left) and President Obama in 2009 (Wordle on the right)? Are there similiarities? Differences? How does their perspective tie into the reality of the times, or was the speech simply rhetoric designed to placate the audience and the nation? What was the emphasis of these men in their speech? Words just leap out that can be used in a class discussion, Venn diagram, or in a comparison of one historical era to another. Wordles can help.... and it's a free, easy to use program.

By the way - what were the major word points made in Washington's Farewell Address?

More on Wikis

THE Journal (April 2009) had a useful article on the use of wikis in the classroom as part of the Web 2.0 concept.

Why Wikis? by Dr. Ruth Reynard, provides an excellent overview of the rationale for the use of a wiki in the classroom. She concludes with:

"The wiki, then, is a great tool to help facilitate students collaboration and knowledge construction, however, teachers must be aware of what that process looks like so that is not shortened or diminished in any way for the students. Additionally, assignment must be designed in such a way that students can demonstrate the kinds of skills necessary for true collaboration and sharing of the learning space to occur. Once the learning process has room to take place and is truly valued and facilitated by the teacher, students will feel empowered and successful in their learning."

I would encourage all to read this article, which provides a foundational aspect to increased use of technology in - and outside of - the classroom.

Essential Question: Are our schools and personnel prepared for Web 2.0 technology in education?

Citation: Ruth Reynard, Ph.D., "Why Wikis?," T.H.E. Journal, 4/15/2009, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/24279

Wikis in Social Studies

I am quickly arriving at the firm belief that there is definate spot for the use of wikis in the Social Studies classroom.

What is a wiki? Well, it’s not a 6’11” native from the planet Kashyyyk that is distrustful of strangers, but loyal to friends. Of course, they (wookies) could be useful in the classroom as well - as long as they were a friend of yours.

In plain English, a wiki is a means of communication between individuals in an editable web format.

Huh?

Imagine this – using Geography for an example. You – as the person in charge of the wiki (called an organizer) go to http://www.wikispaces.com/ and create an educational wiki. You register your students on that wiki. Your assignment to the students: create a country report, providing whatever guidelines and choice of countries you currently use. Each child can create a “page” on the wiki with the name of their country. Then, following the format you provide for the report, they can incorporate text, images, video, sound media (how about the national anthem of the country?). If they work in groups – of say two or three – on a specific country, they can add to/edit/delete whatever is on the page. You could have students from different classes working together. They could communicate through the web (it has email capabilities), and you can communicate with all of the wiki members (students)

The reports would be there for all students to see and learn by – perhaps to fill in a “10 things I didn’t know” handout on someone else’s report OR even make a (gasp) blog entry – but blogs are another story for another time.

You, as organizer, can track any edits made, and who made them – which should limit horseplay on the project.

It’s a project that the students would enjoy, would work at, and would be successful at. The biggest problem I see is access to computers for children who do not have a computer at home. But, problems are made to be overcome, and the wiki is a tool that I believe has a place in our scheme of things in the Social Studies classroom.

Our Social Studies webpage has a Web 2.0 link that guides you to a page with some resources on wikis – all the way from what they are to how you use them, to examples. Check it out and think of the possibilities.

Essential Question: What is the role of technology in today’s classroom?