Social Media Reflection
I chose to use a glog to display my social story because I believe that this multi-media tool has great potential for students to demonstrate their knowledge. I have used a glog before, but I don’t have extensive experience. Part of using this tool is so I can get a first hand experience of using a glog, and so I can learn how it might be used with school projects. I have seen glogs used for research projects in science and history, and I believe the applications are endless, including student portfolios.
Glogs are free to use and the skill set required to use them are minimal. Students create a digital poster of their knowledge and are able to easily add text, video, audio, and graphics to a digital poster. This tool really takes poster projects to a current and authentic place. If a teacher is using glogster.edu, then students can be linked to each other in a class. Students sharing a class in a glog are able to view each other’s work in progress and provide peer feedback through the internal electronic message system. I would expect that the multi-media features of a glog, combined with its ability to provide students with digital feedback, would greatly support imagination, creation, and high quality artifacts of knowledge.
Telling my story through a glog added a sense of vulnerability that I had not felt when composing this narrative in text. My story is about my sexuality and a tale of coming to terms with who I am. When I composed this in text, it felt good, and I enjoyed reflecting on the past and celebrating how far I have come in my life. Re-telling this story on video exposed my life to a different level that I have not felt before. I caution my students about publishing private information, and this example certainly puts my life out there.
Stephen – this was a very very moving story and I am so glad that you felt comfortable enough with us to share it – you are so right in that it offers an opportunity for education – As I viewed your story, I had several young men in mind that “came out” during their final year in high school in my own classroom and suffered with them as they faced the consequences in our small community. Bravo to you – I wish I could have had a story like yours to show them for comfort.
As for your format, I had no idea that Glogster could be so enriching – I have seen examples of static posters that I thought were a bit too simplistic, but your addition of videos – created by yourself at that – made for a much more enriching experience.
Thanks again for sharing your story – it was great to see your face “live” as I could only hear your voice and view a photo of you during our Skype sessions.
Stephen! excellent work on many levels. I really liked how you laid out the different media on the poster. Plus, your story is powerful and meaningful. Thank you for this contribution.
Stacey