Monday, February 7, 2011

Milestone #2




For milestone #2, I chose Glogster as my web 2.0 tool.  As a teacher, I have noticed that most students love to "show off" what they know and have learned.  As I was exploring what Web 2.0 tool to use, I thought, "What better way to have students show off their knowledge than to use Glogster- an interactive multimedia poster?" Glogster is my "tool of choice" to show others what students might use for future classroom projects.

For my sample project, I created a multimedia shape poster. One of the many math units that I teach for first grade is shapes.  Students are required to recognize and name shapes, along with, knowing each shape's characteristics/attributes.  I thought a hands-on, student-centered project would be the best way for students to learn about shapes.  Students would have to take pictures of shapes found in their environment, upload them to glogster, and use them in their glog.  They would also be required to make a video using a webcam or their digital camera to reflect on the project or identify shapes they find in their environment. In addition to pictures and videos, students would also be required to describe/define each shape in their own words.  Students can also link other websites pertaining to shapes that they found on the web, too.  Glogster allows students to create a unique, multimedia poster that not only shares information they have learned, but also a bit of their personality. 

This project puts learning on the students. They are required to seek out and apply their learning. This type of project can benefit students because 1-they are in charge of the content. 2-They can create a unique piece of information using a variety of tools that enhances their technological learning and math skills.  I would assess this project by looking at the content they provide- did the student include all the shapes? Did the student provide ample examples of each shape through video or pictures?  Did the student identify the "key" elements that define each shape?  Another aspect of the assessment would be to check and see if the student was capable of uploading digi pics/ videos, create links, and have a quality aesthetic look to their glog and not just "thrown" together.