Chapter 7 BWP

BWP Chapter 7- Creating, Publishing, and Using images online
Flickr is a great tool to use that combines many of the technology education objectives. It helps students process information in a fun, potentially educational, way and allows students to interactively collaborate with others across the world. It is very accessible because Flickr is free (limited use) and easy, digital cameras are relatively cheap now days, and students like social networks that share photos. The interaction among users is what makes Flickr a potentially very powerful education tool.
Flickr works similar to Delicious in that it uses tags to note the photos topic. This organized system makes it easy for users to search for specific photos that relate to what they are interested in. If I were interested in ongoing research about a topic I could link a tag search to my RSS.
Students can comment on interesting photos taken by people whom they have never met without disclosing any personal information. Students can feel a closer link to the photos because they know the photos are taken by real people rather than using photos from faceless websites. Before reading this chapter, and the chapter about Wiki’s, I would not have thought of these tools as a way to get information about the most current events.
There are great collections of different Flickr tools such as Flickr Toolbox: 100+ Tools For Flickr Addicts, Flickr Magazine Cover, Flickr Color Picker, etc. These can be used to get great ideas that are already out there instead of starting from scratch. Again it is another way that Flickr is so collaborative.
In my classroom I can use it to showcase student’s good work to parents and as an example for other students. I can use it to make other online communication connections with parents. My class can keep a photo log of the field trips that we go on. While talking about field trips, another good idea is to take my students on a virtual field trip or dissection lab when the real thing may not fit the schools budget.
When students view photos across the world they can combine it with Google Earth and GPS locations to keep track of where they have “been”. This is a great way for any subject area to integrate geography into their lesson.
Any use of social online technology in schools also brings a heightened level of security. Educators need to keep their students informed on how to avoid dangerous internet situations. Luckily Flickr does have a good filter system, but I still need to remain cautious about what is being done associated to my class’ photos. It is possible for me to create an account that is only accessible by my class, but this does weaken the social potential of Flickr.
With all of these different conversations happening between students and other Flickr users it may seem impossible to keep up with it. That’s OK, if I utilize my skill learned in Edu 331 I can use RSS to track photo comment logs without even visiting the site. This will save me time and give me another opportunity to expose another tech tool to my students.