Blogging about Glogging

I posted this Glogster poster straight from the Glogster site and linked it to my Facebook account! Awesome fun. I really enjoyed this activity!  I reckon other mum's might like Glogster too as there will be no mad dash to the newsagent at 7pm because your son/daughter only remembered their SOSE project the night before it was due!!

This is something I would have LOVED in school. I remember doing a big cardboard poster project on China when I was in primary school. I glued money, pictures and all sorts of things onto the cardboard. I neatly hand wrote all the captions to the photos and maps. There probably would have been a couple of errors in that writing too. I must have pulled out the liquid paper a few times! Now, with Glogster you can fix errors before you publish the poster, you can upload videos, images, pictures and text with groovy animations straight from your computer - no glue or scissors required!

Plus, Minus & Interesting (PMI)

PLUS:

• Students can embed movies, different backgrounds, music, pictures and lots of other creative ideas into their posters; 
• Less time consuming then paper based posters where you may have to spend time looking for a photo, printing it onto quality paper, cutting it out and gluing it to card;
• Environmentally friendly – Glogster uses less paper based resources and you don’t have to drive to the shop or library to purchase equipment and do research.
• Great way for children to express their feelings creatively as well as for curriculum based activities  
• They can be shared on interactive whiteboards as a way to present an interactive presentation to students
• Glogsters are private by default to stop any unnecessary or undesirable activity.
• Can be a great way to encourage collaboration – great group activity.

MINUS:

• The Glogster has the potential to look too busy 
• If unplanned or left to the last minute it can just look messy (this is also a plus)
• Copyright issues ie just copying and pasting photos, and videos from anywhere on the web.
• If Children do not have a computer at home, they will have to do home based Glogster assignments at school during lunch hours etc.
• Some of the templates and content on the Glogster site is not deemed appropriate for children under 13 eg Emo themes.

INTERESTING:-

• Some of the content is not deemed appropriate for children under 13.
• A great tool for kids to use outside the classroom, it is private until made public.

Use in the classroom:-

1) Group activities - designing, building, planning, creating projects based on certain themes, with lots of research and planning to create that deeper understanding that we so desire as teachers.
2) Persuasive and Creative Writing - marketing campaigns, play writing and story writing.
3) Teachers deliver lesson plans in Glogster
4) Students and PC use Glogster for advertising for Fetes etc through websites