Having been introduced to multiple Web 2.0 sites, I find it a shame that it is difficult to share these technologies with students.  Some of these sites, such as Glogster, are tools which can be utilized within the classroom to engage students in new and interesting ways.

Glogster allows students, and teachers, to create digital posters full of mixed-media images and sounds specific to a certain topic.  I believe that these digital poster projects are more engaging than clicking through a Power Point presentation looking at images,  hearing an audio clip and trying to piece them all together.  These compressed, compiled images and sounds are so visually appealing to students.

Not only can students be assigned a Glogster project on any topic relating to their course content, but teachers can use these digital posters to present new information to students.  By using such an appealing and interactive approach to introducing material that may not traditionally grab students’ attention, the information is more likely to be processed, or at least attempted.

Realizing that Glogster is public, and anyone can see it, I understand the importance of protecting the students’ interests and monitoring their actions while on the site.  The first step is making the students aware of their personal responsibilities while using Glogster.  Students need to know what is expected and acceptable.  In addition to this, the caregivers responsible for the students should be aware that their student is working on this site for academic purposes.  This will allow those in charge of the students at home to know what is expected of the students while using this public application.  Lastly, students’ work must be monitored by the teacher, the administration, and the caregivers.  While I do not expect the principal to sit down and look at every student’s Glogster projects, it will be there, as set up by the teacher.  By connecting to each students’ Glogster, the teacher can monitor any activity on that particular Glogster account.  This will guide students to keep the account made for them in class strictly academic.  The account names and passwords will be available for the administration and caregivers at any time.