Flickr.com
Setting up site….
Creating a photo set (A way to organize your photos in a certain order/group)….
Creating groups (private/public class group or a way for students to search by interest/subject group)……
INTRODUCTION TO FLICKR as a tool in the classroom:
In this project, I will focus on the use of Flickr in the classroom. Considering the way Flickr is set up it is a perfect way to share and converse with all the students in the classroom. I am a secondary MAT student with an endorsement in art and ELL. One day I hope to teach high school art classes. The way that flickr is set up allows me to use this in a photography class or any fine art class as well. Students will be able to instantly compare and discuss their work with their classmates. Another important feature is the fact that I can make our experience online as private or public as I want. Eventually I would like our classroom projects to be public so students can receive comments from outside parties. Maybe including another art class from another school involved in a similar project.
Set up account together in class, troubleshoot ask peers or me questions when they get stuck. Make sure I go through all the basic in class, let the students work at their own pace and ask question when they get stuck.
Flickr can easily be incorporated into an high school art class in many ways. It can be use for photography/digital art as well as fine art/traditional art form. The audience is much larger for photography than fine art, but it is still an option. I will focus of the idea of using flickr in a beginning photography class to begin.
Using Flickr in the classroom is a great way to promote blooms taxonomy, reach ISTE Standards for Student as well as assist me in reaching ISTE Standards for Teaching. Engaging students with the help of flickr will help promote a community of social learners as well as supply an easy way to get involved in the internet movement. Flickr will create a quicker learning pace at the same time immersing the students in the world of photography.
BY THE END OF THE SEMESTER STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO AFFECTIVELY USE THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS OF FLICKR:
-Groups (both public and private)
-The use of tags and keywords- easy to share found photos
-Notes- Easy way to explain photo, set up, message/story within the photo or behind the lens.
-Comments- informal critiques of classmate’s photos.
-Slideshows- easy for in class discussion/critiques
-Instant Messaging (FlickrLive) trouble shooting- they can ask other peers. Social learning.
-Photosets (albums) –easy organization by assignment. Help promote literacy in photos, by story links to photo set or subject based albums.
-Email (FlickrMail)- directive questions for me or peers
-Real-time photograph posting
-Digital Notes- can impose comment onto photo to make suggestions or highlight specific features.
PROMOTING BLOOM’S TAXNONOMY with the use of Flickr:
The use of this technology is great way for the students to develop evaluating and analyzing skill through the use of comments and online discussions. Throughout the semester the students will gain an understanding of what makes a good photograph. Eventually, if they are commenting on other classmates’ photographs and researching fellow art photographers properly, they will be able to critically analyze and evaluate photographs using artistic language. Although I can’t argue that they wouldn’t develop these analyzing skill using traditional critique methods, the use of flickr allows for these growth to develop a lot quicker because they can practice commenting easily and because of the volume of photographs on flickr they are viewing.
Another positive outcome of using flickr is the creating aspect of the website. Students are allowed to create and organize their own profile. I will also encourage students to organize and reorganize their photographs into groups/albums/set. Students will be encouraged to be highly creative and innovative with organization and descriptions on Flickr.
FLICKR BASED PROJECTS
- The use of Flickr to introduce photo narratives or stories. Uploaded pictures on flickr are viewed in chronological order. This would be a great way to show progression of a story or even to show improvement throughout the semester.
- The use of groups and pages on Flickr to get inspired to organize their own pictures. I will introduce ideas of photo sets or series. We will discuss the affect of grouping photos with similarities or connections. Finding inspiration in simple things around them. Create different photo sets based on themes like; color/mood, everyday people/facial expressions, time passing/time of day, street art, sidewalks, abstract texture, etc. Send students out with same assignment of photo theme, compare/evaluate different results.
- Introduce the students to tags. Teach them about tag clouds and how to use the search icon on flickr. (Tags are labels that enable other Flickr users and internet users to search individual photos based on word/subject searches.
- Require students to be aware of titles on different flickr pages. Experiment with different titles. Introduce the idea of transformation. Show examples of how titles can endorse or transform the meaning of the photo by directing the viewers gaze or by being suggestive of a story. Work collaboratively; suggest different titles with the use of flickr’s comment. Turn in three different titles of photograph, choose final one and discuss why?
TRADEOFFS, BIAS’, AND OTHER LIMITATIONS of web based technology:
One tradeoff this technology might have is a lost of visual. Although students can easily view and critique other student’s work, they are losing the presence that the picture would hold if it was hung on a wall in front of them. I truly believe that seeing a work of art in person you develop a deeper appreciation for the artwork. You can move around it, get closer to see the detail and move further back to see the contrast and composition. The students are able to see photographs, but they are viewing them through a computer screen and unable to truly view the work as it stands in front of them. This could be adjusting by having a traditional critique every month or semester where students are able to view photographs in person.
Although this technology allows for instant gratification or critiques of your work you as the teacher cannot control what is being said. Although the use of comments and chats allows students to have a digital record of comments made about photo, what is being said might not be important or include formal artistic language.
This technology is a little bias because some argue there is amateur audience. The comments you receive might not always be entirely useful or professional.
A tradeoff of this technology being so easy to use and upload pictures, some students might focus on volume of picture and not the quality.
Another limitation this technology might have is the fact that you have to have Internet access in order to use/share/participate/upload. This might create an unfair advantage for some students who have Internet access in their home.
A tradeoff for this technology is how it extends the learning day but creates unequal opportunities growth for students. Some students might have access to a camera/computer outside of school while other students may not have access to a computer after school. I need to consider this issue of availability of technology (camera/computer) when I am implementating Flickr in my classroom.
The ability of users to upload (moblog) images via wireless and camera phones means that images of current events can be viewed as they are unfolding. The tradeoff is the camera/image quality from a mobile device is poor and the automatic feature is not teaching students how to set apperature/f-stop manually as oppose to a traditional 35mm manual camera.
SOME OTHER FLICKR THOUGHTS:
Using this technology, students are able to easily share their photographs and receive immediate feedback from others on their pictures. Although they can easily share their photos, students loose the practice of printing off their photographs and don’t get the practice of matting and framing practices. They also loose the personal interaction of a live person-to-person critique. Comments on Flickr are more anonymous and easier to brush aside.
Enlarging our group to contain students from another school would be a great idea to increase the inflow of comments and input on student’s works. Working collaborative with another school could increase the drive of students and expose them to more images and other student critiques.
RESEARCH ON THE USE OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING IN THE CLASSROOM:
According to Victoria Carrington and Muriel Robinson’s book, “Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Digital Practices,” online social networking spaces like Flickr, are not only great way to practice literacy’s skill but can successfully create a collaborative learning group. Considering how easy it is to create shared groups on Flickr student can start thinking about how to value group effort and achievement. This newfound collaboration allows for students to learn from each other and the idea of More Knowable Peers comes into play.
The books goes one to talk about how the use of social sharing websites like Flickr as a means to share and communicate ideas, might become narrowly focused, unchallenging, and repetitive. The social aspect of Flickr might hold them back from seeing the potentials this technology can create for them. I agree with this idea but it could be a quick fix by directing questions outside of class and organized classroom time. In addition the way students are using and commenting on flickr might become very one-dimensional and effort between students might vary. I would consider requiring the use of complete sentences and scaffolding in new advanced vocabulary might help challenge the students. Collaborate with English teachers in the building and encourage students to include vocabulary from English class in photo comments. The main fact is it is impossible to leave anonymous remarks and students hopefully learn that comments need to be carefully written.
Another positive aspect of social learning the book talks about is how flickr can promote discussion through digital streams. I guarantee that all my students will have different way of seeing and interpreting the world. Some students might be stronger at developing meaningful titles, while others might take better photographs. Never the less, the social sharing that Flickr enables allows students to combine their strengths and grow together.
According to Carrington and Robinson, the way the individual is able to arrange their photographs by making connections or by grouping them into broader collections promotes thinking beyond an individual photograph. These new relationship between photos paired with the addition of text extended the possibilities of what the student can create and proves them a new way of viewing the world around them. Flickr creates a common world for the students so the students can comment to each other about these representations of commonly known spaces. A great example of this idea is if I were to assign a project where students have to shoot the school grounds or some other shared common place. After doing this students will be able to see how the same subject matter can be represented differently. Even the tags or titles given to each photograph can vary and change the overall effect of the photograph. Photographs are much more than pretty pictures that represent reality; they can be poetic, and powerful images that portray an important message. With the communal learning flickr offers to students permits them to learn quickly what it takes to create a great photograph.
SOURCES:
“Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices” By Victoria Carrington, Muriel Robinson
“The Promise of Social Networks” By Derek E. Baird
“Bloom’s Taxonomy” By Mary Forehand
