About this series
Inside Innovative Classrooms is a series of occasional articles that will
mainly appear on the district's Web site about the varied creative and
powerful ways BC students are being prepared for an ever-changing world. Stories from around the district will be highlighted on this
Web site throughout the year. Click
here
to see archived articles.
Inside Innovative Classrooms
Eagle fifth graders turn to 'glogging' to learn
more about the natural world
Release Date: Jan. 14, 2010
First there were blogs (short for "Web logs"). Then there were vlogs ("video blogs"). Now, students at Eagle Elementary are heading to the library to learn about the latest means of collecting and displaying their research -- glogs.
"In our library at Eagle, fifth graders are are
working on an online poster site
called Glogster," said librarian Kristy Goss. "Glogster is an
innovative approach to the
old 'poster presentations.' The students are using this to create
'glogs' about different subjects they are covering in class, such as
whales and crayfish."
Glogster allows students to view and comment on each other's work, and to create posters that include text, pictures and video.
The students gather around laptops and desktops -- one for each glogger -- and search the Internet to learn about their research subject. Once a students finds an image, fact or video to use, he or she can add it to the glog with the click of a button.
One fifth grader, Michael, said he was studying the dugong, an aquatic mammal.
"I have to get pictures and facts to make my glog," Michael said, "and I have to remember the facts I find so I can write them on my glog."
Michael said he had also used a glog for other topics, such as "all about me" and to talk about books.
Sarah was studying the Dall's Porpoise, and said she likes using glogs because "you can see what they [the porpoises] actually look like and picture a real one in your head. We find lots of facts and pictures by looking them up with Google."
Goss said the technology is a big hit with her students.
"The kids are loving it," she said, "and it's a great way to get away from the typical presentation format."
Examples of student 'glogs'
Click on the student's name to visit his or her glog:
• An overview of Glogster created by Eagle librarian Kristy Goss
photo gallery of student 'gloggers'
