I think I am a fan. Basically, it is like Wordle, but you have more control. The best part is that you can choose a shape for the words to form into. You can use one of the various ones included on the website or you can upload your own picture apparently (haven't quite worked that out yet...) As with Wordle, you still have control over colour scheme, the orientation of the words, and the font.
I find that this program is a little more complicated to use than Wordle, but if you can figure it out, then its worth it. In addition to the ability to control the shape of the words, you are also able to save your image in various formats (jpg, png, imgur), create a URL to share on a website, or print. There are some advanced saving settings for users more comfortable with technology. It is a little more visually stimulating as well if images are shared directly from the Tagxedo website because the words will pop out as you move your cursor over them. (This feature works when I click on the following link, so I hope it works for you as well.)
Let's see if this work. This is a link to one of the pictures I made -->
http://www.tagxedo.com/artful/3ad12bac019a45aa
Here is an image of another:
I think in some ways this website would be more useful than Wordle, and in some ways less useful. It is nicer in that you have more control over your creation as well as greater ability to save/share it. However, the user interface is quite a bit more complicated and hard to understand.
One idea I thought about using this for would be to have students upload an image of themselves and then fill it with words to represent them. These could be posted around the room to show what each individual is bringing to the group. As well, it could be used in a similar way as I have done - to have students brainstorm what music/band (or whatever other subject area) means/what it involves.
If anyone else does some playing around with this program and finds some useful features that I missed (or figures out how to make uploading pictures work) please let me know in the comments!
