The goods on Glogster

But how did you do it? What did you do?

It looks so complex, with everything new!

It takes some patience and quite a bit of time,

And to set up a class, takes much more than a dime.

My investigation into Glogster had me initially a bit frustrated. I signed up for an account and was trying to create a Glog, but kept running into errors as I tried to upload a video. The video would not load, so I looked up some further information to see what format the video needed to be in and if I was doing something wrong. Then I realized that I had signed up for the regular Glogster, when I should have signed up for GlogsterEDU.

So, I started over again, this time in GlogsterEDU. But, because I had already created an account using my school email address, I couldn't create another. Ugh!!! I ended up using the library email account to set up the GlogsterEDU account. I then restarted my glog and had no issues uploading the video. Hmm???

Once I had the hang of it, creating my Glog was fairly easy, though time consuming. There are so many choices when it comes to images, graphics and text that it takes a long time to pick the components for the glog. I really like the fact that video, images and sound can all be embedded in the glog. I do think, however, that this is a tool for older students given the complexity of it. I do not think I would try it with elementary students, unless I was working with a small, technically advanced group. I think Glogster is a useful tool for secondary students and great to replace paper posters!

I am a little confused as to the pricing for Glogster as well. I created a "Single Free" account. "Free accounts do not offer any student management features." OK - I see now - I am able to see the tabs for "classes" and "students" but can't actually put anything in there, I just get a pop-up for upgrading my license. If I want students to be managed in classes, the cost is $29.95 for 50 students or $99 for 200 students, for a year. 

So, Glogster is rather costly and complex for elementary aged students. It is something that I may use in the future but can not see myself using it with a class at this point in time.

Twitter in the class?

Hey little spider, what do you think?

Will Twitter in the class push the teacher to the brink?

Baby steps are the way I tend to move,

Before the rest of the school can catch up to my groove.

So I am fairly comfortable with Twitter, though it is mostly to gather and find things. I have retweeted a few times, but do not seem to post that much outright. I am just not ready to put all my thoughts and ideas "out there." If I wanted to, I could tweet my posts for this blog - that would get people looking. But . . . I am just not ready for it!

What about in the classroom - how and why should we be using Twitter?

In How to use Twitter in the classroom, Nancy Messieh points out many uses for Twitter in the classroom including:

• connect students using hashtags
• sending assignment reminders
• creating scavenger hunts

While I can see many of these applications useful in secondary school, I think things are a bit more difficult when dealing with elementary students who do not have their own Twitter accounts.  However, Twitter can still be a useful way of connecting teachers and parents.  Additionally, class Twitter accounts can function to allow students to share with a greater audience.

Kist (2010) sees the benefits in using Twitter to help students engage in new literacies, examining the benefits and constraints of limiting one's writing to 140 characters (p. 42) Here is a Twitter Story Competition created by a teacher that does just that. Preparing them for the reality of this type of communication and guiding students to do it effectively will serve them well as they move along in life.

Here are some other fantastic ways to use Twitter in the classroom:

Given that I am not currently a classroom teacher, but rather a teacher-librarian, I think I will continue to urge the teachers at my school to embrace Twitter to enhance their PLNs. Once they are comfortable with this, perhaps I can gently move them into an arena where their classes are using Twitter in a constructive way as well.

References:
Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin.