First impressions of the scenery
Over the past week I have been exploring the first official stop on my adventure: the world of photo sharing. Before my visit I had only been vaguely aware of the amazing locale that is Flickr. My first impression of the site was that of shock and amazement of the sheer magnitude of this phenomenon! In Flickr there is an absolutely endless amount of photographs to browse for based on every tag you could possibly imagine. After reading Will Richardson’s compelling chapter on the virtues of using Flickr in the classroom (pp. 101-110) and stumbling upon Derek Baird’s article on the power of making use of social networking tools (such as Flickr) in the classroom I was convinced that this was something I should look into as a wannabe innovative, tech-saavy educator.
“While not originally developed as an education tool, Flickr, and other social networking technologies have the ability to play an important part in student motivation, retention and learning” (Baird, 2005)
It is these capabilities that I hope to explore further as I continue my exploration of Flickr and similar photo sharing sites.
Bringing it home – what can photo sharing do for me in my personal life?
Will Richardson, in his book Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for the classroom offers this warning to educators attempting to use new tools with their students: “before you attempt to bring these technologies to your students, first be selfish about their use in your own learning practice” (2010, p.8). Lucky for me, selfishness comes naturally, so here I go…
When I first sat down to think of the concept of photo sharing I thought about the ways in which I have participated in such activities in the past. Wikipedia defines photo sharing as: “the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (publicly or privately)” ("Photo sharing," 2010, para. 1). Well, I’ve been doing this in some capacity for years. I have a Facebook account where I occasionally post photos to share with friends. I have spent hours of my time browsing through friend’s baby and vacation albums online, adding comments and clicking on the "like" button where appropriate. I have e-mailed photos to friends and family members and even uploaded them to websites, albeit mostly with the intention of later having them delveloped. After a recent trip to Europe a friend suggested I check out a website called Blurb. In the process of creating a photo album to have printed and sent to my door I discovered that the site makes it easy to share the finished project digitally. I simply made a few clicks to determine the level of privacy I wanted and the number of pages I preferred to share and, just like that, my aunt and uncle in Victoria were able to browse through my album via a private link.
When I first sat down to think of the concept of photo sharing I thought about the ways in which I have participated in such activities in the past. Wikipedia defines photo sharing as: “the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (publicly or privately)” ("Photo sharing," 2010, para. 1). Well, I’ve been doing this in some capacity for years. I have a Facebook account where I occasionally post photos to share with friends. I have spent hours of my time browsing through friend’s baby and vacation albums online, adding comments and clicking on the "like" button where appropriate. I have e-mailed photos to friends and family members and even uploaded them to websites, albeit mostly with the intention of later having them delveloped. After a recent trip to Europe a friend suggested I check out a website called Blurb. In the process of creating a photo album to have printed and sent to my door I discovered that the site makes it easy to share the finished project digitally. I simply made a few clicks to determine the level of privacy I wanted and the number of pages I preferred to share and, just like that, my aunt and uncle in Victoria were able to browse through my album via a private link.
The first thing I did upon my arrival to Flickr is set up an account and upload a few pictures from a summer trip to Paris. Upon doing this I discovered quickly the value of assigning thoughtful tags to each photo. Currently, with only nine photos in the stream finding photos is not an issue, but as I build my collection, tags will enable me to quickly find my photos of the Eiffel Tower. Quick access to my photos is not the only benefit of the tagging process. Tagging a photo as the "Arc de Triomphe" now makes that photo available to the community of Flickr users who perform a search for that particular tag. Now I am truly contributing and collaborating with the online community of Flickr. Remember, it's baby steps here! A quick browse through David Jakes' Flickr sites revealed a multiude of things you can do to have fun with your Flickr photos.
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| One example of the fun you can have with your images |
For now, this is as far as I have come with regards to how I can use Flickr in my personal life. Perhaps I will upload and tag more photos but the aspect which I think I will use Flickr for the most at this stage of my understanding is for image searches. I am amazed at the idea of finding just the right image for a project. Additionally, a huge benefit of using Flickr in this capacity is the amount of Creative Commons licensed works available. I would like to think that I will be able to make use of some of the site's more advanced features in my personal life but, to be honest, my mind has already jumped to the capabilities for Flickr in the classroom. Guess I'm not as good at being selfish as I thought...
Bringing it to work – how can I use what I have discovered about photo sharing in the classroom?
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| Photo by Michael Newman via Flickr |
Alright, enough playing around and being selfish, it's time to think about how I can use Flickr and sites like it with my elementary students. Some questions are swirling around in my head:
- How can I make use of Flickr’s capabilities in the elementary classroom?
- Can young students use Flickr in a manner that is engaging, worthwhile and meaningful?
- How do I ensure that students are utilizing the site in a safe and ethical manner?
- Lastly (and perhaps the most important question of all): Can this be accomplished without me pulling my hair out or spending hours trying to figure it out?
After some careful exploration of Flickr I quickly realized that it would be a perfect solution and addition to a classroom project I have undertaken with my students for the past four years. In a modified “Flat Stanley” project, my students create two “flat versions” of themselves and send them out to a friends or relatives within Canada and then all over the world. This provides students with amazing opportunities to learn about diverse cultures and far away places. One of the most labour intensive aspects of this process for me has always been organizing, sharing and displaying the insurmountable “flat news” that quickly overtakes my e mail inbox and mailbox shortly after we bid farewell to our miniature travellers. Printing out pages and pages of pictures and messages from the traveler's hosts has eaten up many hours of my precious after-school time. A quick search of “Flat Stanley” on Flickr generated hundreds of groups dedicated to similar projects. I envision my project reinvented with a Flickr group and a lightbulb goes on in my brain (well, a few actually!). Hosts would upload their photos and descriptions straight to the group site where my students could access them instantly. How amazing it would be to have the kids interacting with the pictures, writing questions and comments to the poster! This would add another dimension to the project that would result in much more worthwhile and engaged learning for the students. When I imagine the possibilities of interaction and meaningful engagement this would provide for my students, it makes me feel a little guilty about the way I have been going about this project for years. Looking back, I see that the children had little involvement in the actual project. I printed the pictures and e-mails, I read them aloud to the students who were actually listening and I usually undertook additional research to answer any questions that arose. Where was the value in that? How much were students actually learning about the places their Flat Traveler visited? With this one idea I have answered my first two questions.
In my classroom I make use of many different techniques and resources to get my students writing. I have used newspaper articles, photos from my daily shoe calendar and even sounds to give students inspiration to write. During my research I became intrigued with a genre of writing called "Flicktion". Simply put, Flicktion is the term used for the writing that springs from an interesting photo found on Flickr. Photos suitable for Flicktion are even tagged with that term, enabling me to instantly find photos that I could display on the SMARTboard or provide a link to for my students to follow. As students post their stories in the comment area below the photo, they would be able to engage and collaborate with other "Flicktion" writers. What a neat idea!
There are many more ways a site like Flickr can be used to build visual literacy in the elementary classroom. Some more ideas to explore from Susan Brooks-Young (2010):
In my classroom I make use of many different techniques and resources to get my students writing. I have used newspaper articles, photos from my daily shoe calendar and even sounds to give students inspiration to write. During my research I became intrigued with a genre of writing called "Flicktion". Simply put, Flicktion is the term used for the writing that springs from an interesting photo found on Flickr. Photos suitable for Flicktion are even tagged with that term, enabling me to instantly find photos that I could display on the SMARTboard or provide a link to for my students to follow. As students post their stories in the comment area below the photo, they would be able to engage and collaborate with other "Flicktion" writers. What a neat idea!
There are many more ways a site like Flickr can be used to build visual literacy in the elementary classroom. Some more ideas to explore from Susan Brooks-Young (2010):
- Photo albums
- Picture books
- Virtual field trips
The possibilities are endless!
Of course, the logistics of using a photo sharing site such as Flickr with elementary students deserves some careful consideration. When I actually visualize how the classroom/computer lab would look and sound like during these activities some important considerations come to mind. Most importantly, I am worried about my students coming across unsavoury or inappropriate images and their safety online. A few quick test searches for tag words I was sure would bring up some nasty images proved to be less scary than I thought. I discovered that as a default setting, Flickr has a "Safe Search" filter turned on. Of course, this setting could be changed by a mischievous student but at least it's there. I also know that students, beginning at a very young age, should be taught the "skills they need to navigate the darker sides of the web safely and effectively" (Richardson, 2010, p.12).
I was blown away with the amount of Creative Commons licensed images available on Flickr. Teaching students about properly citing work found on the Web is crucial, even beginning at a very young age. Shamefully, under my watchful eye, my students have used Google images in Animoto videos and research projects without properly citing where they came from. Spending the time to teach students how to do a proper search of usable images will banish this practice from my teaching forever.
Do I think I will be able to employ the use of photo sharing sites into my elementary classroom without pulling my hair out? The truth is, I can't answer this until I try it. I see the value and potential for this tool and I know that the only way to find out if it truly engages students in powerful, collaborative and engaging learning that takes them to new levels of understanding is to start small and see where we can go. So, it is with this thought that I prepare to pack up and leave for my next destination: the world of video sharing.
I was blown away with the amount of Creative Commons licensed images available on Flickr. Teaching students about properly citing work found on the Web is crucial, even beginning at a very young age. Shamefully, under my watchful eye, my students have used Google images in Animoto videos and research projects without properly citing where they came from. Spending the time to teach students how to do a proper search of usable images will banish this practice from my teaching forever.
Unpacking and Moving On
Do I think I will be able to employ the use of photo sharing sites into my elementary classroom without pulling my hair out? The truth is, I can't answer this until I try it. I see the value and potential for this tool and I know that the only way to find out if it truly engages students in powerful, collaborative and engaging learning that takes them to new levels of understanding is to start small and see where we can go. So, it is with this thought that I prepare to pack up and leave for my next destination: the world of video sharing.
References:
Baird, D. (November 1, 2005). The promise of social networks. Tech & Learning. Retrieved September 23, 2010 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4816.
Brooks-Young, S. (2010). Teaching with the tools kids really use: Learning with web and mobile technologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: Teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
