Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff!

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

I’m particularly fond of Web 2.0 applications that offer me the opportunity to express myself effectively with a variety of media. Prior to the advent of affordable digital technology, I was completely incapable of putting together anything presentable. I do not have the aptitude to be an original creative artist in any traditional medium. Now, however, if I put in some time and effort with readily available online tools, I can hold my head high when I share my graphic or multi-media work.

In my own k-12 years, I would have given my left arm to have access to digital options for creative expression and presentation that are now available. As educators, we need to ensure that ALL learners have ready access to the tools they need to be successful communicators. For many, success and a satisfying sense of accomplishment are achievable only with some of the new digital tools that are becoming available.

Glogster is an online option for presentation and for sharing creative effort. I believe this application has a wide range of potential classroom uses. Glogster’s slogan is “Poster Yourself”, and it has provided a platform for creating single page “posters” that can incorporate a variety of media–graphics, text, audio, and video. Although each “glog” is a single page, you can include links to other glogs.

Glogster encourages users to share their work “with friends all around the world”. Work can be shared in Glogster’s own gallery, via email, or embedded on other web pages. As long as there isn’t audio or video content, work can even be printed on paper to be put up on the wall at school or the kitchen fridge at home.

Glogster may be a bit busy and confusing at first glance, but it’s really delightfully easy to use. Image, audio, or video files can be uploaded and then dragged, dropped, positioned, sized and edited right on the glog. There is a substantial built-in library of “walls” for the background. There is also an extensive collection of graphics that can be added. Many of these graphics are animated.

The only glitch I encountered with Glogster was an embedding challenge. I wasn’t able to embed a glog in this Edublogs blog or in another WordPress blog. I was able to embed it on a PBWiki page, but I was unable to reduce the large format. Still, all the other usual Web 2.0 ways of sharing work are available. Glogster also encourages users to tag their work.

For an example of a well executed and creative piece of work on Glogster, please follow this link to the “tree of knowledge” The simple greeting below was created in Glogster, but I had to take a screenshot in order to include it here. Here’s the link to the full-size version on Glogster.