Glogs for Engagement

About four years ago, while attending the WEMTA (Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association) Conference, I was introduced to Glogster EDU. Since then I have been using blogs in my teaching.
If you aren't familiar with Glogs or Glogster, let me tell you a bit about it first. Glogs are interactive posters. When making a Glog you can add text, pictures, video, and graphics. What makes it interactive is that you can link any of these items to outside sites.
I have used Glogs a lot for curation purposes for my students. I would create a Glog when beginning to read a new story where background knowledge is needed, while studying a specific topic, or learning about certain holidays. This was a fun, exciting way for students to explore information and engage in activities I had found that were appropriate for them. For some of the exploration activities, we would complete KWL charts as a way to show what we had learned. (Normally I use KWHL charts but the how piece was already completed for them)
Just this week I finished working with fourth graders who were created their own Glogs. Their goal was to research a specific storm or severe weather event. They answered questions using the Big 3 Research Model. The questions addressed defining the storm or event itself and how it's formed, where it could happen, and what could you do to prepare or survive it. Once their research was competed, they then had to share their information on the Glog. We went over the rubric and what the expectations were. The purpose of it was to share their information with others, and remembering to make it look like a "reputable" source. They were given copyright/royalty free websites (morgueFile, Creative Commons, Pixabay, and Icon Bug) where they could gather images and graphics to use on their Glogs.
I always love watching the students begin the creation process of their Glogs. They are so engaged and excited.
I found Glogster EDU to be one of my favorite Web 2.0 Tools. Over the years it has never lost interest or appeal for me. Even when they made it a fee paid service in order to create students under your account, I find it worth the money, as so my teachers. They are always changing, making things more user friendly, and adding different graphics, and walls to keep if it fresh and new. I know this is a tool that I will continue to use for years to come.