Meet the Glog: The Attraction of Interaction

The Creating and Synthesizing Minds described in psychologist, Howard Gardner’s landmark book, “Five Minds for the Future (2008) are closely linked. One takes what is known and filters what is useful and illuminating to synthesize. To create one builds on synthesis to make something new by pushing the boundaries on what is known, setting forth in new practices and unanticipated directions. At EduGlogster , you create a Glog, a visual communication poster board with interactive web parts. It takes the disciplines of synthesis and creativity and links them to digital media. You get creative with what your mind has synthesized on a topic and build an interactive playground. For the learner, it gives them the opportunity to show not only what they know but just how well they can choose the best of the best and put their own creative spin and mark on what they have learned. It is very easy to get fancy with Glogster without the intellectual depth. It should not be about grabbing things, making them look pretty, and throwing them on a virtual board. The elements of your Glog should appeal to a variety of learners and learning styles. There should be parts that command the learner to interact in challenging and fun ways. An assessment component is crucial to the creation of a Glog. The Glog participant is given multiple opportunities and formats to learn. As an instructor and creator, you need to know if your participants are learning the content with higher level thinking skills. Games of skill or cognition, a song or audio file that delivers a melody or important speech, a visual experiment or visual clip can all be elements that deliver the content to your learner. For my classroom, I created a Primary Colors Glog focused on a 1^st Grade Standard of Learning for the Visual Arts. The student will identify and use the primary colors (in art)-red, blue, and yellow. Colors in pigment vs. light are different so I specified in art. In the Discovery Learning writing prompt, they are writing about what objects and feelings their favorite primary color evokes. They have to know the primary colors and their association with objects and feelings. This particular Standard of Learning is applicable to all of my students, Prek-2^nd grade Art. I would like to start using it as whole group learning tool, whether it be a select group of students or a collection children and adults at back to school night or a shared resource for educators in my building and beyond. I would like to use it as a learning center activity for the art room, their classroom or the computer lab. There is an attraction to hands on technology that goes hand and hand with art. My students would look forward to meeting the “Glog” and making their own.

Gardner, H. (2008). Five Minds for the Future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.