Classroom Use
How can you use Flickr in the classroom?
The following are examples of what could be done in the classroom.
Single image analysis is an interesting use of Flickr. An Art History class instructor can post an image of a period painting. The students would then, asynchronously, “hot spot” annotate on the image significant points of interest. A running discussion board could accompany the image. I (Lighting for Video instructor) am working on using this technology to promote online discussions to critique lighting qualities for images I upload. This will allow the students to collectively discover the qualities that make for good lighting of an image. I find that most of the time people don’t agree on all the points identified, but tend to agree on most of. Analysis of images could be used by the social and physical sciences as well. There are many possibilities.
Geotagging is another very interesting feature of Flickr. This allows images to be “tagged” geographically, and thus searched geographically. An instructor could develop a slide show, create a gallery, or contribute to a gallery illustrating images of a place or culture being studied. A Fourth grade class studying the Grand Canyon would have access to hundreds of images of the Grand Canyon. The high school social studies class could create a gallery of images found illustrating the life of the people of Kenya. By creating a gallery, the images will still be displayed on Flickr. You just make a collection for easy viewing. There is no need for acquiring permissions to display.
A class can create a virtual field trip to be shared. There are a few approaches to this kind of idea. First, a class goes on a field trip to the Cleveland Zoo. Many of the students, using cameras provided or using cameras of their own, take photos of their trip to the zoo, hopefully, of the animals of the zoo. The class then uploads and organizes the images in a collection or gallery to be shared by any other class that wants to go to the Cleveland Zoo. Secondly, a class can simply go on a virtual field trip. Thirdly, a class can search images in the site’s database of images and create a virtual field trip to a zoo. The class could use the best images of an animal found from multiple locations and bring them into one easy to view location. Other schools would be encouraged to contribute any images they have to the gallery.
I have found many examples of instructors using Flickr and other photo sharing software to encourage storytelling. An instructor shares an image with the group. (As a reminder, photos can be shared so only a specific group can see and comment on the images.) The class can then use the photo to write a short story inspired by the photo; describe in words the photo; or create a caption for the photo. Another option is for the instructor to ask his or her students to contribute to a story being told only by the images.
Students can use photo sharing sites to store and upload images directly into their blogs, e-portfolios, and twitter accounts. Blogging (online journal) and e-portfolios are a growing trend in education. Flickr and other photo sharing sites facilitate the incorporation of images into their blogs and e-portfolios.
Instructors can use Flickr to teach about media itself. The site would be a fun and creative way to explain the power of tagging (metadata) and key word searching for resources. There are countless opportunities to teach media literacy. Flickr also opens the door to discussion of copyrights, licensing, and intellectual property rights.
Single image analysis is an interesting use of Flickr. An Art History class instructor can post an image of a period painting. The students would then, asynchronously, “hot spot” annotate on the image significant points of interest. A running discussion board could accompany the image. I (Lighting for Video instructor) am working on using this technology to promote online discussions to critique lighting qualities for images I upload. This will allow the students to collectively discover the qualities that make for good lighting of an image. I find that most of the time people don’t agree on all the points identified, but tend to agree on most of. Analysis of images could be used by the social and physical sciences as well. There are many possibilities.
Geotagging is another very interesting feature of Flickr. This allows images to be “tagged” geographically, and thus searched geographically. An instructor could develop a slide show, create a gallery, or contribute to a gallery illustrating images of a place or culture being studied. A Fourth grade class studying the Grand Canyon would have access to hundreds of images of the Grand Canyon. The high school social studies class could create a gallery of images found illustrating the life of the people of Kenya. By creating a gallery, the images will still be displayed on Flickr. You just make a collection for easy viewing. There is no need for acquiring permissions to display.
A class can create a virtual field trip to be shared. There are a few approaches to this kind of idea. First, a class goes on a field trip to the Cleveland Zoo. Many of the students, using cameras provided or using cameras of their own, take photos of their trip to the zoo, hopefully, of the animals of the zoo. The class then uploads and organizes the images in a collection or gallery to be shared by any other class that wants to go to the Cleveland Zoo. Secondly, a class can simply go on a virtual field trip. Thirdly, a class can search images in the site’s database of images and create a virtual field trip to a zoo. The class could use the best images of an animal found from multiple locations and bring them into one easy to view location. Other schools would be encouraged to contribute any images they have to the gallery.
I have found many examples of instructors using Flickr and other photo sharing software to encourage storytelling. An instructor shares an image with the group. (As a reminder, photos can be shared so only a specific group can see and comment on the images.) The class can then use the photo to write a short story inspired by the photo; describe in words the photo; or create a caption for the photo. Another option is for the instructor to ask his or her students to contribute to a story being told only by the images.
Students can use photo sharing sites to store and upload images directly into their blogs, e-portfolios, and twitter accounts. Blogging (online journal) and e-portfolios are a growing trend in education. Flickr and other photo sharing sites facilitate the incorporation of images into their blogs and e-portfolios.
Instructors can use Flickr to teach about media itself. The site would be a fun and creative way to explain the power of tagging (metadata) and key word searching for resources. There are countless opportunities to teach media literacy. Flickr also opens the door to discussion of copyrights, licensing, and intellectual property rights.