Glogster Word Wall
Consider TeachNet.com's description of a word wall; "a systematically organized collection of words displayed...in the classroom. It is a tool to use, not just display. Word walls are designed to promote group learning." Typically, word walls are a collection of index cards with various words the class comes across in their reading, as well as unit specific vocabulary. It is essential to present vocabulary in context and a word wall is a great strategy to present this difficult vocabulary. While this is a good strategy for vocabulary acquisition, I don't see the interactive use in its current form. The interaction between the students and the wall seems to be students physically putting the words on the wall. Using the website Glogster, the students will create a glog for one of the words from the word wall. But what is a glog?
Essentially, a glog is an online multimedia poster. Users can embed video and audio, upload images, manipulate text, and display graphics and animations. This is a great medium to present vocabulary words, though. Flashcards and word walls are good tools, but they are limited. A glog for a specific word allows the student to find multimedia relating to various aspects of the word that cannot be expressed as clearly in written form.
Merging word walls and glogster, each student will select one word and create a glog which includes the definition, a graphic representation of the word or related words, images related to the word, and at least one of each of the following: video, audio, hyperlink. This multimodal depiction of the word will provide a better understanding and help the student internalize the vocabulary better.
Here's my example.