I’ve known about the Web 2.0 application called Glogster for quite awhile. It lets you make an online poster. However, I haven’t posted about it because it didn’t allow you to insert images from the Web through use of the image’s url address — all images had to be uploaded from your computer. I don’t post about any web tools that don’t have that ability — in my experience, that shortcoming just doesn’t make it a useful tool for my students.
A post about Glogster at the iLearn Technology blog today reminded me about the site, so I checked it out again. Happily, it now lets you insert images from the Web by just copying and pasting its url address.
It has lots of bells and whistles you can add to your text and images. In fact, it has so many that I suspect they can be pretty distracting for students. Because of that, it won’t make The Best Sites For Students To Write Online, which will be coming out in a few days. But I’m sure students would enjoy making a project using it now and then.
Other teachers, I know, are more enthusiastic about Glogster than I am, so I’d encourage you to try it out with an open mind and let me know what you think.
This site intrigued me so I have played around with it for a couple of days. I agree with Larry that it has so many features that the distraction factor would be high for students. I do truly think that there has to be some GREAT use for ESL kids but I just don’t know what it is!
I hope to see ideas from folks soon!
I agree–It has its limitations. I feel the same way about Prezi for students (only allows pdfs, photos, and video). I also don’t like how difficult it is to find good glogster presentations from a teacher’s point of view. I’m trying to create a lesson and have to wade through too many poor examples to get to the good ones. They are “rated” on the site itself, but who knows what the criteria is.