Web 2.0 Tool: Glogster

Hello everyone! Recently I've discovered an awesome tool for the classroom called Glogster. Glogster allows you to create a multimedia interactive poster with images, audio, video, text and many other tools. Click here to see a quick 5 minute tutorial to learn more about Glogster and how to use the key tools offered.

After being able to dive more into what Glogster is and know more about this great resource, now I'm going to show you one of my personal favorite key tools that Glogster offers. The search engine offer allows you to select images to add to your poster directly from the web, not just from what you have saved in your photo library. This allows for you to save time rather than searching the photo, saving it onto your computer, then searching for it amongst all of your other documents when it's time to add it to your product. Another great thing about this feature is that it automatically cites any images you pull from the web for you, again saving you so much time. Below you can see a screenshot of this feature and how to get to the search engine to look for images from the web directly off of Glogster.

 As you can see, Glogster is a great resource not only for teachers to create posters for their students, but for students as well to create a poster based off of information they are learning in the classroom or an endless amount of other ideas. This interactive multimedia tool is great for informing as well as engaging the reader. I hope you enjoy this wonderful resource in your classroom!

Podcasting In Education

Podcasting in education opens the door for both teachers and students in many different ways. For both parties, the options are endless when it comes to podcasting. Thanks to podcasting, teachers are able to share lessons and information with not only students, but parents and other educators as well. One of the wonderful things about podcasting is that it is open and available to anyone. Teachers can also subscribe to podcasts where they are opened to new ideas for the classroom and are able to learn for themselves more information the world has to offer through this great resource. As for students, there are so many benefits and skills they can receive from listening to and creating podcasts. Technology skills, communication skills, and collaboration skills are just a few of many great skills our students can learn from podcasting.

A great podcasting tool that can be used in the classroom is the website called Spreaker. In summary, this website enables you to create your own podcast with many awesome features. The website is simple to sign up for and easy to navigate through, making a great resource for the technically inclined and those who are not, like myself. It allows you to choose from many different packages, the free package allowing you to create a podcast up to 15 minutes in length but still including several of the great features. One unique feature of Spreaker is that you are able to access it through many different outlets, one being your smart phone. This makes it quick and easy to create podcasts in a convenient and simple way. Another unique feature of Spreaker is that you can add sound effects into your podcast to make it more appealing and interesting to your viewers. Spreaker has many different options for sounds effects you can add, as well as enabling you to add music into your podcast also. When adding music, they again have many options to choose from and also allow you to upload your own music from your device.

To create my own podcast, I first used iTunes to watch some educational podcasts on my own. After exploring the large library of podcasts covering many different topics that iTunes has to offer, I chose one to discuss about on my own podcast. I chose one by searching for podcasts, then choosing my genre as education, then going even more specific and chose K-12 education, and finally chose my podcast under the "What's Hot" category. After choosing the podcast that I enjoyed the most, I then headed on to Spreaker to create my own podcast summarizing the one I had just listened to. Using the different tools that Spreaker has to offer, I was able to add intro music, record myself discussing the material, and at the end even add a sound effect to end the podcast.
To access iTunes, click here.
To access Spreaker, click here.

Posted below is my podcast summarizing the education podcast I found on iTunes talked about above. In my podcast, I share what podcast I listened to along with specific examples of what was discussed. I hope you enjoy.

Listen to "ITunes Summary" on Spreaker.

Creating a blog for your classroom can be helpful for many different reasons. While communicating with parents is one, and a great one at that, it goes much deeper than this. Students are also able to check the classroom blog to check in on upcoming events and assignments in the classroom. They are also being opened to a new and different way of interacting with their teachers and with their peers. An article tiled, "9 Reasons Why Teachers Should Blog," listed "Showcase Student Work" as one of those reasons, and I could not agree more. Students deserve praise and recognition for their handwork and they will feel noticed and important when they see their handwork showcased on their teachers blogs. It will also be a great resource for other teachers to be able to see how different classrooms tackle assignments with various approaches. To read more about that article and the other reasons why teacher should blog, click here. 

Having students create their own blog could be beneficial in multiple different ways. Giving them the freedom to write about a topic that they choose will allow them to let their creative minds flow. Allowing them to put their thoughts and feelings down and share them for the world to see in an appropriate manner is a great skill to have. They will carry those skills with them as they grow throughout schooling and into adulthood. We need to encourage our students more often to run with what they are passionate about, and something as simple as having them create their own blog is planting the seeds for those creative minds to run. 

Palmer, Tsisana. "9 Reasons Why Teachers Should Blog." Edutopia. Edutopia , 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.