This is a Solar System poster I created using Glogster. Glogster is a free tool that can be used to create posters online. Creating this poster was interesting, and can be fun for older children to showcase some interesting things that they have learned.
Glogster is one of the more difficult tools to use I have learned about so far. Thinking of ideas to create a poster and collecting the materials was simple, but navigating the Glogster tool was fairly confusing. It took a lot of time to learn how to use it and to get everything to work the way I needed it to, such as moving and positioning objects. I doubt general education teachers would have time to navigate this tool with their students, but it may be a fun project for a technology type class, if available. Next time, if I use this tool, I will give myself more time to work with it, since I now know how much effort it takes to create a Glogster poster.
If I were teaching a little bit older children, I would maybe try to have them create a Glogster about their family or a project they have done. We could even create a class Glogster about a topic of their interest. However, since I will be teaching younger children, I doubt I will be able to do those things with them. I could possibly try to create a Glogster with them altogether, but I think it would be to difficult and time consuming for them to try themselves. With everything that needs to be accomplished in school, I doubt the time that would be needed for such young children to figure Glogster out would be available. However, playing with this tool in free time at home is very enjoyable and can be helpful in developing a deeper understanding of a certain topic. If I have time outside of school, I could even create a Glogster for my students to learn from that we would explore in the classroom.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wordle!
I've recently had the pleasure of exploring the Web 2.0 tool Wordle and creating a wiki to help teach others about it with my partner in class, Taryn. This tool is used to create interesting word clouds that can be filled with any words you choose. Check out the Wordle wiki to learn more about how to use it. Here is an example of something that can be created on Wordle.
Wordle is very simple to use and the website can be easily navigated. I easily figured out how to enter words and create the word cloud. While exploring this tool, Taryn and I also ran into a few difficulties though. We could not figure out how to find word clouds we created after saving them to the public gallery. Therefore, I suggest printing or saving them somewhere else if you would like to keep it for future use. Another tip we later learned was to add a ~ between words in a phrase to keep it together in the cloud. Next time, I will definitely use these two hints to make a better Wordle, and to be able to use the same one more than once. I can use this tool when I begin teaching young children to create name clouds of every student in my class, and even alphabet charts with words that begin with each letter. This can also be very intriguing for children to help create as well.
Wordle is very simple to use and the website can be easily navigated. I easily figured out how to enter words and create the word cloud. While exploring this tool, Taryn and I also ran into a few difficulties though. We could not figure out how to find word clouds we created after saving them to the public gallery. Therefore, I suggest printing or saving them somewhere else if you would like to keep it for future use. Another tip we later learned was to add a ~ between words in a phrase to keep it together in the cloud. Next time, I will definitely use these two hints to make a better Wordle, and to be able to use the same one more than once. I can use this tool when I begin teaching young children to create name clouds of every student in my class, and even alphabet charts with words that begin with each letter. This can also be very intriguing for children to help create as well.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Website Evaluation
I recently did a website evaluation on Funbrain, an educational game site for children in preschool through 8th grade. You can visit the site by clicking the picture above, but I'm going to share a little about evaluating websites.
Evaluating websites is not a very difficult task, but it is very important and can take some time. Before exploring a website with students, you should first explore the website yourself: learn if and how it works, check out the accuracy and credibility of the information and authors, and decide if it can be used by everyone (including children with special needs). This was a simple task for me with the funbrain site. I was able to easily navigate the site and figure it out. However, I had difficulty finding contact information for the authors and editors of the website. Next time, I may try exploring the website more before actually doing the evaluation.
This evaluation tool will be very useful for me in the future. I will need to use it when trying to assess if a website is worth having my students spend time with; educationally, interest and usability. Funbrain is one that is good for a variety of ages, but I'm sure there are others out there that are not.
Evaluating websites is not a very difficult task, but it is very important and can take some time. Before exploring a website with students, you should first explore the website yourself: learn if and how it works, check out the accuracy and credibility of the information and authors, and decide if it can be used by everyone (including children with special needs). This was a simple task for me with the funbrain site. I was able to easily navigate the site and figure it out. However, I had difficulty finding contact information for the authors and editors of the website. Next time, I may try exploring the website more before actually doing the evaluation.
This evaluation tool will be very useful for me in the future. I will need to use it when trying to assess if a website is worth having my students spend time with; educationally, interest and usability. Funbrain is one that is good for a variety of ages, but I'm sure there are others out there that are not.
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