Week 1 Assignment: Head in the Wordcloud!

I am so glad that Ien submitted this Visual Assignment to create a Wordcloud! I remember the first time I ever created one; I believe it was in 6th grade computer class, basically eons ago at this point (*pardon me as I indulge in a brief moment of nostalgia). I thought it was the absolute coolest thing, and then proceeded to make a giant one of all my favorite Jonas Brothers lyrics — who, by the way, marked the beginning of the steep, slippery slope that became my boyband obsession.

This time, however, I used it to further introduce myself in yet another über creative way. It was, after all, the introductory week to Digital Storytelling!

To begin, I took to Microsoft Word and began typing out some of my favorite things and some of the most important things to know about me. If you look closely, you will find those little gems, such as a few of the most important people in my life, my dream travel location, my values and beliefs, and a few favorite mottos and mantras. I purposefully made the focus of the Wordcloud link back to the “theme song” that I made for my introduction post, and edited the it to reflect my favorite color palate [with a slight touch of red, just because :)].

So there I was, already to cut and paste my about-to-be-a-Wordcloud into Wordle, and upon pressing the “Go” button, my masterpiece was born!

Right? I mean, of course it should be that easy, right?!

Nope. I’m beginning to learn, nothing’s ever quite that simple when it comes to DS106.

The result was a beautifully blank screen, and I will admit that I did fret for a few. But then I took a step back to re-evaluate, and clicked the “Not Working?” prompt that lie underneath what was supposed to be my Wordcloud. Turns out, all I had to do was download Java to my computer, since it is what the website uses to generate the Wordcloud.

And WHA-LA! Problem solved!

After finding out from Professor Groom that we are supposed to 2-4 of these assignments a week, as well as 2-4 Daily Creates, I know that there is not a lot of time to spend stressin’ out! For my fellow DS106ers that either have felt or will inevitably feel that stress, IT IS DO-ABLE! There are so many resources available to us, including the good old Google, the UMW ITCC, and the godsend that is the #ds106 hashtag!

So don’t make stress … make art!