Using Glogs in the Classroom

When I viewed Krystal's blog regarding glogster I wasn't sure whether this would be a tool that I would like to experiment with and what was it's purpose in a classroom, until I came across a link to a couple of student samples;

http://s7g635q.edu.glogster.com/circulatory-system/?voucher=a8ad940d8dbb87442c0ee4b260c2da22

http://sjrcy4e.edu.glogster.com/the-awesome-glog-about-the-solar-system

I was inspired by these glogs created by Year 4 students so I thought I would have a play. It was a fun tool to use. It took a little bit of time to locate images, backgrounds etc. I have embedded my glogster to my wiki or you can see a  full size view of The Butterfly Life cycle here.

A Glog is a 21st century tool I can see all levels of education being able to use. I can especially see lower primary students having a lot of fun with it,  in place of creating the traditional cardboard poster.

A Glog that is teacher created can be used to introduce content to the class, a ‘hook’, an interactive learning tool for early childhood, a study tool for students, to create and print motivational posters for the classroom, can be used in class to collaborate with students to create class rules, to create subject overviews, as an addition to a Web Quest, word wall to pre teach vocabulary to special needs students, to inspire students to read and to share teaching ideas with other professionals. Again the ideas are only limited by the learning manager’s imagination and creativity.

Students can use Glogs to present research, create posters, present book reviews, to publish poems and written tasks, newspaper or magazine pages, advertising posters, travel brochures, create signs, to complete homework, class projects, character descriptions, presentation of math concepts, as part of an oral presentation,  or any other creative purpose across the entire curriculum.  When using a student centred Glog, thought must be given to what the purpose is. It should not become a cut and paste activity. It should serve a purpose and should require higher order thinking skills.

For an informative tutorial on glogs including podcasts, youtube links, poster etc at Glogster Edu click here.

Thanks to Krystal for introducing me to one of my favourite tools so far.