Blog Post #2
Photo Sharing
Now more than ever offers opportunity to share photos and videos on the Web with a variety of audiences. The Read/Write Web offers many free hosting sites for large numbers of photos in order to create everything from albums to school projects.
While there are ample hosting sites, likely one of the easiest to use and most popular is Flickr. Here, anyone can upload, organize and share their photos with the world. Although Flickr allows drawings or videos, it does not encourage their submission since this is optimally a site for photos. Content uploaded to the site is safe and can generally be used by anyone so long as one cites the source. Other features available here are Flickr maps where you may link on the map where your photos or videos were taken. Flickr has it all, providing users with the capability to make gifts like cards or framed prints, or to simply stay in touch through posting your family photos. Flickr is a free hosting site for up to 500 downloaded images per month; however, only the most recent 200 are available in your photo stream of images. (Richardson, Will 2009) Should the user wish to post unlimited numbers of photos, a fee of $24.95 is charged. Recently Flickr has begun asking everyone to register, even if you are only downloading images. For directions in how to use Flickr, try out the tutorials at Flickr Tutorials Series or check out. Fun With Flickr, chapter 7 in Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts. Another valuable resource is Searching 2.0 by Michael P. Sauers (2009). In the chapter titled Searching for Media, Sauers focuses on the various types of searches that can be done for searching and sorting photos using Flickr.
Another equally easy to use, free photo share site is Picassa a web album which can be accessed through signing in to Google Accounts. It operates on much the same basis as Flickr by asking clients to log in but it also offers free software that can be downloaded to your computer for organizing, editing and printing your photos. For video files that teach how to manipulate various aspects of Picassa, About.com offers several very good ones or try Picassa’s teaching video on YouTube.photo by Karin Dalziel
A similar photo sharing site is photo bucket which offers videos, photos, quotes and illustrated sayings. When you log in to a membership, the site allows up to 10,000 photos and hours of video free. You have the ability to share your videos or pictures by email,IM or mobile phone; make slideshows and mashups using special effects, and link to your profile, blog or website. It offers one-click posting to sites such as Facebook, Blogger, iGoogle and many more. All of this is free but the site seems to be a bit more liberal in the types of images it allows stored. Anything from photos, videos, images and signs seems to be in order.photo by How Big
Dumpr offers much the same fare as the other three sites. It advertises as a place where you can create photos, choose from numerous effects presentation such as museum, photo to sketch, alien vision, jigsaw, puzzle, lego and more. However, the basic free version only allows for 50 photos in the album. For a fee of $19.95 per year, the site offers, full size resolution (where available),unlimited Photos, access Pro-only effects , ads free, premium e-mail supportPhoto by Sue Moore
Check out another 45 Photo Sharing Sites.
As the concept of “text” has expanded within the Alberta curriculum, it is an opportune time to introduce students to photo sharing sites and an alternative means of expressing themselves. Most students and teachers have submitted photos to either a social network or a photo sharing site without much thought of using these same photos online or for publishing purposes. They were largely uploaded for the family and friends to view, yet in courses such as information processing, English, social studies, or almost any course for that matter, students now have the capability of using photos to support and enhance their learning.
I have limited background in using photo sharing sites but have uploaded a small selection of photos to my Facebook social network site. I am reluctant to add many other photos due to the fact that Facebook holds ownership of any photos posted to their site. Although the photos that I have posted are harmless and would not likely be the quality required should someone wish to use these photos, I have seen others that border on pornographic. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words” but sometimes, it’s worth way more than bargained for, especially when the teacher-librarian is on your case about appropriate use of visuals as a learning tool. Countless times each day, the youth at my school who visit the open library computers access Facebook accounts to view the latest in their friends’ lives or to show friends their most recent downloads. While many photos are innocent in nature, numerous others are definitely not for public viewing. The point that I am making with this scenario is that photo sharing is fun and creative but appropriate use must also be shared with students whether they are using a social network or a photo sharing site. It is important to reinforce appropriate rules of etiquette and copyright. Having said this, I suddenly realized that the photo that I had uploaded from Flickr as my blog feature photo was one that is copyrighted; therefore, I resorted to selecting one that I took of a small portion of my garden. It isn’t as beautiful as the one on Flickr but at least it’s legal and I am not infringing on someone’s ownership. See how easy it is to infringe on those rules when excited?
Students love photo sharing whether it regards bragging rights over who has the “best” (insert your own definitions of “best”) graduation photo or of the most recent trip to the mall. Teens feel the need to share the visuals of their lives even more than writing about what happened, what was said or done. By having students create a blog and make use of photo sharing sites, accompanied by some form of written expression, a teacher can cater to what is most interesting yet build a valuable set of skills for students.
I have frequently asked students to read a story or poem and create a visual representation of the reading by creating a Power Point. Why not have students do the same assignment but show them also how to upload, download, and create a blog that features their project and the use of a photo sharing site. Then, other students could also comment on classmates' projects and offer useful suggestions. I can also see uses for art and information processing whereby, students could download several photos that they feel meet the requirements of the assignment which asks them to look for various photo qualities. They could then use photo shop to create the effect required and/or comment on what the photographer has accomplished in the photos while learning a new means of sharing their own photos. Social studies could use a photo share site for building timelines or creating a blog about some component of world history. The options seem limitless.
So, as David Warlick indicates in his post Classroom Uses of Flickr why not cater to student interest and strength by introducing various projects using photo sharing or try even more educational uses of Flickr.
I know that I will be attempting to create assignments that I can introduce to students in classes so that they are more capable of meeting the ICT curriculum and becoming more adept Web users.
I echo your concern about uploading only appropriate photos. Though young people may not be concerned about the implications, it definitely is our job to make them aware, both in schools and libraries in general!
ReplyDeleteLisa, I looked on the Web for sites on this but haven't come up with any good ones. Do you know of any that you care to share?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
I believe this is one of the most challenging issues teachers face when working with children and teens today. While we want to encourage the use of technology, it is a daily battle to reinforce the importance of being net smart. I believe that this needs to be a collaborative effort on the part of teachers, administrators, and parents. Here are some sites I have used in the past.
ReplyDeletehttp://csriu.org/
http://www.isafe.org/
http://www.netsmartz.org/rewources/reallife.htm
Part of any teacher/teacher-librarian/librarian's job is to enforce the notion of good digital citizenship. You raise this point with a couple of good examples. I wonder, then, how should we be teaching students to be good digital citizens?
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to Natasha for the websites. I will definately check them out. I agree that everyone needs to be sending the same message. It is very difficult when some staff allow the online behaviours that many of us are attempting to change in students.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, I think that whenever teacher-librarians are invited to a class, we need to be raising these issues. Frequently I simply have conversations with the students as I present information or as we proceed through an inquiry unit. Most students are aware of good citizenship but admit that they get carried away at times. I often ask them how they would feel and what they would do if someone took one of their riskier shots from a site and posted it in a compromising manner. That frequently gets them thinking at least. I also think that showing documentaries like the one you linked to on the Firetrail, Growing Up Online will provoke conversation.
I guess on a positive note, students that I have dealth with in grade 10 are much more web aware and demonstrate much better digital citizenship on the whole as they graduate. In the meantime, we need to attempt to keep reaching those students who may be demonstrating unsafe traits.
Sorry this is so long, Joanne