Week 13: Glogster

Check out my first ever Glogster.  The topic is Diversity in America's Suburbs:

http://www.glogster.com/hbodvd/wide-glog-by-hbodvd/g-6kanp6rg5etqo7uib0f4v63

Introducing Glogster to students is a great way to tap into their 21^st century digital abilities, familiarities and interests.  Upon learning the easy to understand format, today’s students can utilize this site to express their research and knowledge in many creative ways.  They can incorporate static visual elements like text boxes, pictures and charts but also include videos, audios and links to other sites.  This Web 2.0 tool is a neat platform to engage the students in capturing, collaborating and presenting their work.

As an option to a traditional paper book report, teachers can encourage students to create their own Glogsters to summarize a story, highlight details and generate interest among their fellow classmates.  Students can connect their writing with images, videos and audio clips they find on the internet or create on their own.  This will support student learning of ELA concepts by inspiring their creative minds to synthesize and express their comprehension.  As they research artifacts to include in their Glogsters, they will also enhance their digital research skills which will require effective writing and reading skills.  As students incorporate information and different elements in their Glogster,m they are developing important visual literacy and information skills.  Their original Glogsters can be assessed by the teacher and presented to the class in an interactive, multimedia presentation.

Besides book reports, teachers can challenge students to create Glogsters around students’ personal narratives or original poetry.  Teachers can connect with parents with their own Glogster that includes materials that have been used in the classroom.  This could include videos, images and sites that the teacher shared with students.  Parents can stay connected with the teacher more than ever before.

The possibilities of using Glogster as an educational tool are only limited to one’s creativity.  Here is one teacher who found a very engaging way to use Glogster with her fourth grader students:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiS-Mdm3ZXc

Features of Glogster	Affordances
Ability to create a digital report with multiple media.	Students gains valuable digital skills including research and visual literacy.
Ability to perform real time collaboration.	Students can develop effective teamwork skills.  Teachers can monitor and assess student participation.
Ability to give interactive presentations.	Fellow students and teachers can be engaged.  Students can gain important presentation skill using ICTs.
Glogster is a social network with many users around the world.	Students and teachers can view many different Glogsters to learn and gain ideas.

  

Applicable DiAL-e learning designs	Pedagogical affordances available through Glogster
Stimulus activities (designed to engage or motivate learners)	Experiencing the multimedia elements of original Glogsters created by fellow students will engage learners.  The curiosities of the students may motivate them to learn more about a subject matter on their own.
Collaborative (working in groups to construct knowledge)	Utilizing Glogster as a platform, students can collaborate on a digital book report or poster from different locations like their home, library or school. Teachers can also provide immediate feedback to guid the students' work.
Conceptual (developing higher order thinking skills)	Glogster can be used to research information to enhance problem solving skills.  Students can be challenged with creating a Glogster to solve a mystery or a complex problem and show how they employed critical thinking skills.
Empathy (encouraging learners to see the world from alternate perspectives)	With over a million Glogster users from around the world, teachers can search for relevant and appropriate creations to share with students to expand their understanding of a subject matter.
Representational	With the ability to incorporate a large variety of elements including other Glogsters in their own design, students can create a Glogster with information and challenge fellow students and teachers to determine the objective of the new creation.