Glogster

The Paint Branch High School is special. Years ago they decided that their annual science fair shouldn't just be a checkoff on a list and started redesigning their event.

They looked at why no one came and decided to move it from the middle of the day to the evening to make it easier for parents, friends, and the community to join their celebration.

If you're going to have an audience, how about entertaining them? So they began offering their Science Expo.

They started designing projects that people would be interested in knowing about, and assembling them in ways that would draw a crowd. The halls are full of all kinds of people, looking for their student-stars.

This year, in an effort to compete with their Advanced Placement projects, some of the younger students at Paint Branch High School got a new option, Glogster.

Glogster is an internet platform that provides an environment to allow students to create interactive project posterboards. They can use tools to create breathtaking graphs and illustrations, include videos and any other content they want. And just like a computer spreadsheet is much faster and more useful than handwritten balance sheets, Glogster cuts the time required to create an interesting, polished presentation.

I wished my first website looked that good. Heck, I wish my current websites looked that good!

Granddad can't come across country for the science fair? Send him the web address!

I spent some time talking with the creators. Two months ago they had never done more than look at web content. Now they were evaluating everything they saw, looking for ways to improve their own web real estate.

I think there is a good chance the internet might play a role in their lives. What a wonderful gift to go from consumer to creator early in their education.

Letters To A Young Scientist on Junior Academy.