Glogster

I explored Glogster for today's class. Glogster is virtual poster building website for teachers and students.

 This website is not free!

There is, however, a 7 day free trial which I will try to take full advantage of. Once registered, click on create new glog. From there you may pick pre-planned layout. These layouts have areas for text, pictures, videos, and titles. Since I decided to make a poster on the Diary of Anne Frank, I chose a layout that looked old and worn out. 

From there most of it was easy. In order to add text, you click on a text box and begin typing. You can change the font, the color, the size, etc. There is a black tool bar along the top of your project. 

From this toolbar you can add other things to your glog. Instead of opening a new window to search for videos or images, this step is available in the toolbar. The text feature allows you to add text boxes in all different styles. The graphics features has graphics in all subjects including a graphic of the human heart of anatomy, shapes for geometry, and flags for languages. If what you are looking for is not available in graphics, click image right next to the word graphic. In the image section there are two categories: my images (pictures that are saved on your computer) and google (search for and directly insert images). I used this tool to find images of Anne Frank, concentration camps, Hitler, etc. 

You can also change a few other things from your toolbar as well. You can change your wall from this toolbar. The wall is just the backdrop for your poster. Once again there folders of categories to choose from as well as an option to search google for another image. The toolbar also allows you to add other features. Audio lets you add sound or music, but only things saved on your computer (there is no google or youtube option here). You can add videos either from your personal collection or from youtube. The last tab is reserved for data, which I assume means including charts or excel sheets from your computer. 

Here is Glogster I found on how to use Glogsters:

Most of this website functions like the settings in our blogs. You may change appearance including the background, the text itself, etc. You may add pictures, video, or audio to make it more interesting. Or you can just leave the original format and simply type! For ease of use I give this tool 4 stars.

Why use Glogster?

This website allows teachers with few resources to inspire creativity and interest in any topic. If students chose a layout and stick with it, it is very simple to use. Adding videos and pictures are made easy with the tool bar connected with Google and Youtube. The only problem I encountered was when you change the size of a text box, the font size does not change proportionally. Due to this feature, I often had to re-size the font. However I am sure many students will not encounter this issue.