I started the term with my Year 12 Computing class by using the Web 2.0 tool called Glogster.  It allows you to create online posters which have the ability to combine text, images, video and audio in the equivalent of an online static image.  For a first-time use with students, it went reasonably well.

The first lesson began by introducing the new unit, which also required recapping content from last year’s course.  Once we were reacquainted with the unit’s vocab, I allocated each student a sub topic in which they had to use Glogster to create a poster.  Being older students, I didn’t have to spend too long showing them the ins and outs of the Glogster environment – they were willing (and able) to explore more specific aspects by themselves.  In some respects I was fortunate in this.  Homework was to complete their posters.

Each student gave a short presentation on their topic at the start of the second lesson.  It kind of worked out that they projected their Glogster posters in one hit, as opposed to numerous PowerPoint slides.  The multimedia nature of some of the posters went down favourably with students.  Comments from students were positive and they especially enjoyed being able to link to online images and embed YouTube videos with minimal fuss.  They also had a bit of fun with it – I especially loved the poster on storage devices, created by one of my ESOL students.  She incorporated images of USB devices that had been photoshopped to look like tasty Teriyaki morsels!  It became a great talking point.

The only problem with Glogster is that while students can save their work (only a free registration is required), they can’t export their posters in any form – i.e. everything is online, full-stop.  There is the option to copy embed code or grab a URL for the poster, but when they’re working on their own laptops it’s not so easy for me to display their work in Blackboard.  There’ll be a workaround for this I’m sure, but I just have to investigate a bit more.  The posters became quick overviews on each sub-topic and with exams coming up in a couple of weeks, these will be good starting points.  Perhaps I should have set up a registration that everyone in the class could use (and I could access easily too).  Not sure if Glogster allows multiple logins at the same time though.  In this way I could more easily use the embed code created by Glogster to place the posters into their Blackboard course.

In relation to the idea of digital learning objects, I guess these posters are individual learning objects in themselves.  With a Wikipedia definition in mind, the posters are “digital and web-based” and their aim is to “support learning”.  My purpose was to use Glogster to get students thinking about prior learning before we delve further into the topic.  In this sense, each poster is a [sic Wikipedia] “self-contained, reusable unit of learning” – at least as the inital hook into the topic anyway.  With a broader aim of students being able to view each other’s posters (remembering that each student had a different sub-topic) all my students could benefit from other’s posters.  I don’t think the Glogster posters are comprehensive digital learning objects, mind.  They’re simplistic versions.  Other tools / ideas / environments have the potential to create fully-integrated learning objects that include assessment functions as well.

As an experiment with a Web 2.0 tool that I hadn’t come across before, it worked well.  It may be a bit fiddly for younger students although I think the concept which underlies Glogster is a good one, educationally and socially.  I’ve just noticed (after all of that!!) that there is a separate educational Glogster homepage.  Looks like there’s a concerted effort by Glogster to create something especially with students and teachers in mind.  That’s great!  I definitely look more into this one.  I even see in my profile page that’s there a short online survey teachers can take – always up for giving ideas!  :-)

Jenny