Look out for the Glogster!

I stumbled upon a new web 2.0 tool the other day. Glogster.com is currently in Beta and followed by the tagline "Poster Yourself". I find it an interesting twist on social networking, but also had to explore the possible educational aspects of the tool. Within a few minutes I had signed up and was trying to create my own poster or "glog". There are many design elements to play with on the site to make your glog interesting and unique. It was fun to create my first glog with all the different objects. After I was done playing, I got the basic understanding of how this could be used in a classroom.

1. You could have students create "posters" of the topic of interest which would include links, pictures and videos.
   
2. A teacher could use a glog as a teaching tool. He/she could create a glog with all the different parts of the lesson (again: links, videos, pictures, etc.). Think of it as a new-age outline.
   
3. A technology specialist such as myself could use the glog as an advertising tool for an upcoming workshop.
4. Along the same lines, a club or group could use a glog to promote an activity or even they are planning.
   

After thinking of it's uses on my own, I went out in search of those glogs that were already being used in education. Here are a few good ones I found:

• http://andifeyrtr.glogster.com/The-Civil-War-for-what/
  A Glog on the Civil War
  
• http://joshisawesome457.glogster.com/Abraham-Lincoln/
  A Glog on Abraham Lincoln
• http://cybrarian.glogster.com/glog-701/
  A Glog on technology uses in the classroom
• http://cybrarian.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions/
  A Glog on travel by 3rd graders-great way to show videos.
  

Administrators Get Organized with Google!

Administrators in my school are constantly trying to balance calendars. In a school with around 2000 students and over 100 teachers, there is always something going on in the school community. How can you keep everything straight and make sure that major events don't overlap? I suggest google calendar.
Google's calendar is not only easy to use and edit, but it is also easily shared amongst your fellow administrators and staff. In as few as 3 clicks, you can share your calendar. Each administrator can have their own calendar and then there can be just a general school calendar that everyone can update. All calendars are separated by colors and are easily turned on or off depending on what information you need to see.
To add an event is as simple as a click. You can create a bubble that allows for basic information such as meeting at 3 or you can even add additional information such as how long the meeting will last and where it is located. Events can be shared too. If an administrator schedules a meeting that is to involve the other administrators in the school, he/she can share the event with the others and they will be notified of the added meeting.
The person that is in charge of the overall school calendar can also publish to the web so that the entire staff can access the information. This can all be shared via hyperlink and does not require a google login for your entire staff.
Google calendar can also be easily synched with Microsoft Outlook, ical and several phones.