Glogster - Week 4 Activity Reflection

Check out my Glogster I made. I'm pretty darn impressed with myself, with much thanks to the technology available to me. I will mention here that I have also made a short (incomplete) video using Windows Movie Maker and added it to my Glogster. It is called Rainforest Destruction. It is short, because I am already spending way too much time on this subject. You might also notice, if you press play on the media player, there is rainforest sounds; this is from a podcast.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF GLOGSTER (EDU version)

Strengths

• Very easy to use interface (caters for beginners to experts) that allows to you to upload all different sorts of media from YouTube videos, to mp3's to pictures and even files
• Colourful, engaging interface
• Ability to customise the wall in endless ways
• There is no set rigid structure (unlike Wiki's and Weeblies), it is just like cutting and pasting items on a wall
• Students whilst using EDU Glogster, do not have access to the mainstream Glogster site which prevents them from seeing unsuitable content.
• Glogs can be embedded onto a wiki or a blog
• Glogs can be made private and password protected

Weaknesses

• Students may get distracted by the endless amount of possibilities

Opportunities

• Glogs can be shared among teachers, providing inspiration and ideas for lesson planning
• Students can use them for portfolio's, assignments or for uploading onto their wiki's or blogs

Threats

• If Glogs aren't made private, there may be privacy issues

As you can see with Glogs, the strengths and opportunities far outweigh the weaknesses and threats, and are an excellent resource for teaching with ICT. They can be both static (teacher controlled) or collaborative (student controlled). They support a range of learning theories/behaviours including; Social Constructivism, Cognitivism and Connectivism.


How would you apply these to your teaching context?

The possibilities are endless, they are in a sense a digital scrapbook. I would use a Glogster in my classrom by two means; firstly to engage students on a new topic by means of exploration of video, sound and imagery and secondly; as a group activity where students and the teacher would collaborate together to create a poster on a given learning activity to encourage scaffolding and reflecting as a class. Here are just a few examples :

• As the example above, a scrapbook resource on the rainforest
• Teachers can use them to create audio/visual interest on any given topic; such as Papau New Guinea or Ancient Egypt. They are interactive, and create an interesting starting point for a topic.
• Teachers can use them to give instructions on an assignment in a more interesting format by linking videos or examples for assessment. An example of Glogster used for assessment can be found here: http://bdyck.edu.glogster.com/Assignment-Sheets-1
• As a class (teacher and students), creating a scrapbook page of an excursion for peers, parents  and community members to enjoy and reflect upon
• Students could also use it to create interactive assignments, encouraging creativity.

Other examples of Glogsters used in education can be found here:
http://nnorris.edu.glogster.com/ReadingPractice
http://cybrarian.edu.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions
http://justintoney.glogster.com/Research-Project-1


Learning Theories Underpinned:

Using Glogsters encourages both cognitive (engaging with materials) and constructivist learning styles (by building on previous knowledge by designated activites). They also encourage social constructivism when used as a class activity.

References:

bdcyk. (2009). Assignment sheets - 1. Retrieved from http://bdyck.edu.glogster.com/Assignment-Sheets-1


cybrarian. (2008). Decisions, decisions. Retrieved from http://cybrarian.edu.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions


justintoney. (2009). Reasearch project 1. Retrieved from http://justintoney.glogster.com/Research-Project-1


nnorris. (2011). Reading practise. Retrieved from http://nnorris.edu.glogster.com/ReadingPractice