Let’s Start With Some Fun

Glogster

My 6th grader came home the first week of school desperate not to bend a 24” x 12” sheet of green construction paper.  He guarded it like a secret service agent on a presidential candidate.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“My ‘All About Me’ project,” he replied glumly.  “I’ve got to cut and paste all about me.”

The next three days were spent printing and cutting out pictures and text, getting mad at dysfunctional glue sticks, and discovering ever more sticky spots all over the dining table.

Why, in 2008, would a 6th grader need to waste so much time on glue and scissors skills?

Why not do an online poster that required 21st century multimedia skills?

Glogster is a terrific site that lets kids (and grown-ups) transform a blank page into a creative wonderland. You can choose from a variety of wallpapers and graphics.  You can upload, manipulate, and play around with pictures. You can use your wecam to grab live stills, video, or sound, or link to youtube or other sites, or upload your own mp3 files or videos. And then you can think about layout and design to create a multimedia collage that can be made public or left private.  It can be shared via all the usual sites.

Much more interesting than construction paper and pictures, no worrying about bent paper and goopy tabletops.  A much more fun and 21st century-productive ‘all about me’.

(Make sure to click the play button–that’s him playing!)
This post first appeared at Tech Savvy Mama.

Share on Facebook