As Henrika pointed out in her blog, Prezi is non-linear. It lets you zoom all over the place. You can embed video, audio, whatever. You can revisit an earlier segment. You can delve deeper into specific concepts - in a very visual way. It's a complete revision of the tried and true slideshow concept, and somehow, it meets needs I never knew I had. I watched Tina put together a Prezi for a recent group assignment, but I haven't played with it properly myself. I want to, and I will, but right now what I'm most curious about is Glogster.
I want to try Glogster. I'm intrigued by what I've heard... Glogster defines itself as a 'graphic blog' presenting 'interactive posters'. I love words and writing, so if this is more focused on images I'm not sure what I will think of it as far as personal use goes, but I am well aware of the power of visual learning in a classroom.
I had the option to sign in with facebook. My usual policy is to limit the number of websites that have links to my facebook, but I also hate having accounts with so many websites! I decided to let facebook handle this one for me. I brushed up on facebook's privacy policies, but I didn't read Glogster's terms of use. I sometimes do and sometimes don't bother to read the fine print on websites, depending on how much (or little) I trust them. Clearly, if I used Glogster (or any other account-based website) with students, I would need to take a few moments to clarify the importance of terms of use and other policy documents. It IS important to understand what a company intends to do with the information you share, and what your own legal obligations are. It can be tedious but there are keywords (such as '...share your information with numerous advertisers') that can be scanned for to help you decide whether to accept the terms of use or not.
There are several templates provided. I didn't really know where to go from here, because I don't have any purpose for using Glogster. I think that's part of my hesitation in signing up for so many things - I don't really have a purpose for them right now, so I'll sign up and then forget about it. I want a purpose. I guess that's something to remember for my future students.
I found it really difficult working on the Glog using my netbook. The small screen is a disadvantage and would make it hard for students to use the site with a mobile device, unless there is a mobile version available. I switched to using my PC.
The templates are attractive, but full of pink and following a typically 'feminine' scheme for some reason - which may cause some students to switch off. Nonetheless, there are a variety of templates which would be helpful for students because they provide the formatting already done. This means that every student can succeed at creating a nice-looking Glog.
It is moderately intuitive to add an image to the Glog. I can resize it, send it to the back or bring it to the front - layering as I wish. I would like it to have popup tool tips, however, as I wasn't sure what each button would do until I tried it - children may feel intimidated. Perhaps there is a tour.
I found that I could register as a teacher, but was unable to view all the possibilities without taking a free temporary trial (which I prefer to save for a later date when I can take more advantage of it). I spent some time reading about the possibilities instead, and found my head beginning to swim with ideas for Glogster's use in the classroom.
I browsed some Glogs listed under the education section of the site, and found some fantastic posters, such as this one by Kalista Nedoff. People have embedded links, images, audio, videos, scrollable text boxes and cute animations. The results are surprisingly engaging, and Kalista's poster in particular is able to deliver a lot of text and information in a way that breaks it up into bite-sized chunks, and is more visually pleasing than plain paragraphs.
I also had a look at some of my peers' blogs (including some who took eLearning last year).
- Krystal uploaded her own 'online poster', which helped me see a better use of Glogster than I had managed.
- Rohan used his as a digital taskcard! I love this idea. I've only ever created paper-based taskcards (and one webquest), and hadn't seen an example of a digital taskcard before. It's like the lovechild of taskcards and webquests.
- Sarah's comprehensive post showed me a way of embedding Glogster in early years learning, and also led me to this fantastic pdf: 1001 Super Tools for Teachers: Glogster.
After having a closer look, I would love to try Glogster in a classroom. It's an engaging way for me to present information to students, and also seems easy enough for students to get to grips with and create their own posters or pinboards. I can see assessment opportunities here. The posters are easily shared with other people, and can be commented on - which could foster collaboration. The whole concept really is a lot more interesting than I gave it credit for, which just goes to show... I need to take the time to give more of these websites a chance! I'm kind of eager to check out something else now.
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