A visual depiction of the words in a text'. That's the formal definition of a 'wordle'. For me it's a lot more than that. It's a way of quickly getting to the heart of the strengths of an organisation, the needs of customers, or the preoccupations of a writer.
Take the 'wordle' on the left. This is the result of a 10-minute exercise with a group of 11 Sixth Form students. They were simply asked to write down three words that described the advantages of studying science at that particular school. Putting the words directly into wordle.net (and a bit of enjoyable playing with fonts and colours) generated the picture on the left.
What stands out? 'Supportive', 'challenging' and 'fun' spring out - followed by 'good relationships' and perhaps unexpectedly 'explosions'. From here you're already half way to the key messages. I'd start with 'X school gives a lot of support to students while challenging them to succeed - and it does this in an exciting environment'.
Now you just need to find the evidence to back it up - case studies or blogs from current students (and former students who have achieved success), details of the support given (such as small class size, revision sessions or online support), profiles of the teachers who provide the academic and pastoral support - and of course photos and videos of those explosions! And there's your website/prospectus/direct mail piece (which can of course incorporate the wordle as a piece of art!)...
Finally, one other advantage is that you can directly feedback the findings to the students - and show them how they've directly contributed to the research and how much their opinions matter to the school!
Take the 'wordle' on the left. This is the result of a 10-minute exercise with a group of 11 Sixth Form students. They were simply asked to write down three words that described the advantages of studying science at that particular school. Putting the words directly into wordle.net (and a bit of enjoyable playing with fonts and colours) generated the picture on the left.
What stands out? 'Supportive', 'challenging' and 'fun' spring out - followed by 'good relationships' and perhaps unexpectedly 'explosions'. From here you're already half way to the key messages. I'd start with 'X school gives a lot of support to students while challenging them to succeed - and it does this in an exciting environment'.
Now you just need to find the evidence to back it up - case studies or blogs from current students (and former students who have achieved success), details of the support given (such as small class size, revision sessions or online support), profiles of the teachers who provide the academic and pastoral support - and of course photos and videos of those explosions! And there's your website/prospectus/direct mail piece (which can of course incorporate the wordle as a piece of art!)...
Finally, one other advantage is that you can directly feedback the findings to the students - and show them how they've directly contributed to the research and how much their opinions matter to the school!
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