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

Week 3 - Weebly Reflection

Hi Everyone,

Wow, I have created my first ever weebly, and I just have to say I absolutely love it. What a wonderful tool and interface to use. I will be analysing the use of a Weebly using a SWOT Analysis (by the way, this will be my first SWOT analysis, so please feel more than free to pick me up on where I get things wrong).

First of all, the link to my weebly can be found through my wiki or you can click straight through to my weebly here. You can see snapshots of my weebly below. I'm pretty proud of it :-)

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

• Easy to use drag-and-drop interface (suitable for beginners to experts)
• Content is easily customisable
• Easy to create links between pages
• Layout can be changed (e.g. a picture and a paragraph next to a YouTube video), making the information more readily accessible/easier to navigate
• Much more visually exciting than a Wiki
• Creation of forms (for parents or students to utilise)
• Blogging function
• Password protection
• Easy upload of files such as PDF's, videos, sound files
• The ability to create a picture slideshow without having to use Slide, Flickr etc
• Moderator controls the website
• No advertising

Weaknesses

• Need to pay for membership to use many of the features, such as video, sound etc
• Need to pay for membership to password protect
• Only the moderator can control content
• Limited interaction is provided compared to a Wiki or a Blog

Opportunities

• Could be an excellent interface for which upper primary students could utilise for their assignments to express their creativity
• Could be a great resource/starting point for a subject supporting student learning
• Appeals to the visual/auditory learners

Threats

• Costs involved with membership 
• Without password protection, information is open to the public (minimised with membership)
• Risk of bullying through the blogging pages (however this is minimised if the moderator sets prior-approval of comments)

How could Weebly be applied to your teaching context?

Weebly, I like to think of as a tool that utilises the benefits and features of both a wiki and a blog. It allows users to post comments (similar to a blog), whilst being easily customisable (by adding pages, forms etc like a wiki). It is interesting in that it provides the benefits of a Web 1.0 technology, with main features/layout only being able to be edited by the webmaster, with the benefits of a Web 2.0 technology, with visitors or users like students posting comments under the blogging page.

Here are just a few ways that weeblys can be applied to the teaching context:

• Creating class/home group websites. These can be a main domain that the class can refer to as a group.
• Creating indivdual student pages. Of course these can be password protected. The teacher can maintain these pages for the invidual student and their parents. Grades and remarks can be uploaded and students or their parents can communicate with the teacher confidentially about their grades.

Learning theories underpinned:

A weebly constructed by the educator does not necessarily encourage a constructivist or connectivism approach. It more encourages cognitivism as the information is static. Learners are encouraged to utilise the static material presented and learn. The links in a weebly may however link to sources that encourage other learning styles. The weebly can be social constructivist in the blogging format; where students blog their thoughts or reflections, adding onto one another's previous posts, building knowledge as a social group.

If the weebly is constructed by the individual or as a group it can encourage constructivism and connectivism, as information or layouts may be constructed together (social constructivism) or individually (constructivism) and from a wide array of sources (connectivism).

References:

TechCrunch. (2009, September 30). Weebly launches new managed site builder for educators and students [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/30/weebly-launches-new-managed-product-for-educators-and-students/

Weebly, Inc. (2011). Weebly for education: Our features. Retrieved from http://education.weebly.com/ed-features.php