Week 5...Glogster

Remember my Mum from Week 3? 

She's a teacher.  I vividly remember the one weekend she brought home Year 5 posters to mark. 

They took up the ENTIRE lounge room, and meant my brother and I had to pack up the Ping Pong Table and postpone our tournament. 

Introducing Glogsters...

Glogsters are virtual posters; on line posters for the 21st Century learner.  They have all the same affordances as the typical 90's poster, without compromising the teachers' lounge room...as well as some additional benefits:

• worldwide audience
• students can focus attention on providing quality information as "pretty-ing up" is built into the templates and features
• on line accessibility (any where, any time)
• promotes higher order thinking as students need to make the most of the space available (eg comprehension and understanding of available resources, evidenced by summaries or bullet points of key ideas)

While this presentation tool enables users to hyperlink and embed digital media, its ability to facilitate collaboration and interaction is governed by the design and use of the finished resource, and how the activity is scaffolded. 

Imagine you are a Year 9 Accounting student. In your head, formulate your response to the following question:

What are the elements of a tax invoice?

Now open your eyes. 



Imagine how different (and rich) your response would have been if the teacher had lead your thinking by providing an example such as this.

The above Glogster demonstrates examples of all learning theories at work; transforming rote learning - the elements of a tax invoice (Behaviourism), building on student experiences and prior knowledge (Cognitivism), collaborating together - provided the class engaged in discussions or the task was completed in groups (Social Constructivism) and creating depth to the learning experience by tapping into the plethora of resources and information around us (Connectivism).