When I logged on to edu.glogster.com this morning, there was a notification concerning the number of students individual teachers can register. Currently, the number is 200 but that number will change to 100 after February 28, 2010. After you register, add all 200 students to your account. You do not have to put in individual student data – you can edit the student accounts later. If you do this now, your account will retain the 200 student capacity even after the February 28 change. Even if you currently have one of the old Glogster.com accounts, you will still need to register at edu.glogster.com for the educational version. Below, I have included the notification from Glogster. You might want to encourage all of your teachers to go ahead and register.
Dear Glogster EDUcator, FREE registration numbers are changing! After February 28, 2010 all new Basic Free teacher accounts will be limited to 100 student registrations. The new registration limits will not impact existing accounts created prior to the deadline. Register your FREE 200 student accounts NOW! If you know someone who might be interested in Glogster EDU, please tell them to register soon, before the student account number goes lower! The 200 student accounts will still be available in Glogster EDU Premium!
According to the February 2010 issue of eSchool News, digital media use in the classroom is on the rise. Research has shown that teachers who integrate multimedia and technology into instruction can have a greater impact on student learning than if multimedia and technology aren’t part of their educational environment. The use of video segments, as well as student-produced media, is especially on the rise. This would imply that through professional development, such as that offered by Discovery Education, teachers are becoming more aware of the importance of targeting specific chunks of electronic content to achieve mastery of targeted student learning expectations. Likewise, one quarter of K-12 educators say they belong to an online community specifically for teachers. The push is to develop these online communities through shared interests and expertise rather than geographical location. It’s nice to know that the DEN was aware of the need for a shared community of teaching expertise well before its time.
Some of my brightest students have told me for years that their obsession with video games was actually beneficial to their academic endeavors. While I always thought there was a connection between gaming skills and test scores, recent research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) states that “games, when developed correctly and used appropriately, can engage players in learning that is specifically applicable to school curriculum-and teachers can leverage the learning in these games without disrupting the worlds of with ‘play’ or school.” According to Meris Stansbury in the January 2010 issue of eSchool News, students are spending as many hours engaged in media activity as in traditional educational settings. For this reason, if none other, educators need to focus on making the curriculum more media-based. Through the use of appropriate games, it is believed that students will increase their 21st-century skills and their skill at creating educational media. Perhaps, the most interesting aspect of the research dealt with how gaming affects the brain. There is evidence that gaming increases the brain’s plasticity (its ability to change throughout life) and one’s perceptual processing. By taking the violence out of video games and using the same brain-building characteristics, makers of educational games hope to translate the research findings into successful classroom learning. According to MIT researchers, game developers should consider learning and entertainment simultaneously when developing games. Stansbury stresses that “innovative partnerships also should be created to help fund and stimulate creative networks that have varying levels of expertise.” Doesn’t this sound like the perfect undertaking for Discovery!
