Glogster is an old favourite for teachers and students alike that is used to create and publish online interactive posters or ‘digital canvases’.
Until now, this functionality has been only available through browser-based access on computers. However, with computer labs on the decline and new technology making its way into classrooms, the development of a new Glogster app for iPad and Android is a welcome addition to the learning environment.
The app can be used to access, create and share multimedia in the form of interactive posters or multimedia content using the ‘glog’ canvas interface. Teachers start by creating templates as learning scaffolds with instructions - or as students develop skills and focus, encourage more open-ended glogs.
The app makes Glogster more accessible for younger students and extensible for older students and the 'drag-and-drop' nature makes it easy for students to curate their own creations and web content.
Students need a teacher-created EDU account to use Glogster. Social media, online images and video are also openly accessible. This may pose a challenge for teachers in providing guidance to emerging digital citizens when it comes to copyright ownership and internet safety. There is the benefit that photos include attribution, but the ability for parents or teachers to exercise some control and choice of photo sources would be an added improvement.
Glogster allows you to curate web content by dragging and dropping to your glog.
Your school’s tech team will be pleased to know the Glogster app no longer requires extensive port opening and other workarounds to enable camera and video access. However, depending on your environment, you may need to check content filters to enable access to online images.
Students develop their own creations by adding images, voice recordings and videos.
Pricing on Glogster is a bit complicated as it is on a subscription basis. Individual teachers can manage a basic classroom subscription for free or premium for $39 per year. Premium features make it easier to manage school or district accounts to meet the needs of multiple teachers, classes and students - at approximately $2 per seat or slot.
The app is available as a Canadian-based cloud solution, which will appeal to schools with BYOD programs, but may be inaccessible to others based on regional policy and will require privacy law compliance. Legalities aside, Glogster will be an appealing way to use ICT capabilities across the curriculum as it combines multiple literacies and modes – and it is fun!
The app is still in Beta testing with a few glitches and product enhancements to be worked out. You can look for it soon on iTunes and Google Play. Meanwhile, you can check out extensive examples of student published work at Glogpedia.
The views in this article are those of the author. Teacher magazine does not endorse any particular supplier.
Have you used Glogster in your classroom?
What did you hope to achieve through its use?
Did the outcome match your expectations?
