Analysis
How does the tool relate to learning theories?
I feel the sharing, collaborative and editorial components of Flickr encourages and facilitates the construction of knowledge among students and teachers. This falls right in line with the very popular social constructivism learning theory. I think that Flickr’s feature of allowing the students to asynchronously contribute to a running discussion about the image(s) (or to annotate them) can promote a freer and more open dialogue than an in-person class discussion. “Proponents of social constructivism argue that learners often work together to construct meaningful interpretations of their world.”(Ormrod, 2008, p. 431) ). Images loaded onto, found through, or displayed from Flickr can be used to draw the students’ attention and give them a visual association to written or auditory information given. Both are strong elements of learning. You must gain the student’s attention. If the student is not paying attention he/she does not learn. Drawing multiple associations to a subject promotes learning. The more varying senses that can be incorporated into the learning process the stronger the associations can be and the more likely learning will be retained. Motivation is an element of promoting learning. A motivated learner will engage in learning. The use of Flickr can encourage the motivation of students if they know they are part of the building, discussing and creative process.