Flowers on our Travels

Make a Smilebox slideshow

How else can photos be used?

In an educational setting there are great a many options to incorporate into a variety of subjects. It ties in well with second language subjects especially with the cultural aspects of countries. Also in the socials vein, historical pictures of past times ie ruins of ancient Greece, the pyramids of Egypt, or stories to add from the French Revolution.
In the realm of science, a photo of chemical reations could be described through the creation/interaction of the shared experience.


In English, stories can be created, recorded, illustrated and shared with others in like situations world wide giving more meaning for authentic audiences. The opportunities for sharing art from around the world can be so inspiring. Just think of the collaboration that can happen.

With many students having cellphones with cameras, the possibilities are endless.

The trials of adding photos

How can I actually use this for school? I thought about offering some photos to the French teachers about asking their students to find the places that were presented. I have selected a number of photos and created a slideshow about places of interest in Paris. Following is how I went about it.

This was quite some feat. First I went to find pictures on the web about Paris. Mostly I found personal pictures from people that have travelled there. I decided to try using the Picasa site to accumulate the photos and organize them. I found that after I had created an account after reading about the great things it can do (see Picasa 3 on You Tube), I'd manipulate some pictures and add them to my blog. I added captions, organized them but then I found I was not able to do much editing as the photos I'd saved in my folder were too small and I didn't have permission to use a larger version. On to plan B.

My next plan of action was to try the Flickr site that Richardson suggested in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts. I referred to his reference to the National Library for photos that were not copyrighted so I could use them in this school project. I found these photos were more historical drawings rather than modern photos. I turned next to Google Images where I located the photos I was interested in. I collected the photos, added captions and proceeded to upload them to my blog. The next stumbling block - yikes!

On Blogger I found an option for slideshows - great:) As I had a created a slideshow to share, I selected the 'slideshow' option as an added gadget. Blogger does not recognize Flickr to import the slideshow, so I reverted back to the friendlier version of Picasa (same provider - Google). I was then able to select my Picasa Web Album to import the photos. I'm sure that once you work with this a few times, it gets easier. Please enjoy the mini trip to Paris.

Photosharing for Beginners

How does one decide which photosharing software program to use? You can rely on word of mouth from what others have shared with you, or you can research to find more concrete answers. Seeing as I have little experience in taking many pictures let alone putting them on the computer, I have miles to go in mastering this. Here are some examples of photosharing comparisons and how they contribute to making the photosharing choice.

Here's something practical for the beginner in me - Picnik (www.picnik.com ) suggested by Haradon, allows online photo-editing to learn to crop or eliminate red-eye. I could use that skill. According to PC Magazine's Flickr article, the benefit to using this software is that you can add keyword tags and notes to pictures. In McDonald's article on Better Photo Sharing, she mentions using Picasa. She includes some of the advanced features that are included, such as blog support, instant messaging, chat, and camera sharing. In my limited time researching, it appears that Picasa is the clear winner as it not only does all of the above, but also allows you to resize you photos online. The icing on the cake is the addition of fancy border effects according to Johnson.

I'll be starting with Picasa when photos need to be shared. What are your choices in photosharing sites? Have you come across sites that are user friendly?

Sources:

Flickr (beta); Flickr is a lot more fun than an ordinary photo-sharing
service. (2005, April). PC Magazine, 24(7), 81. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 816663431).

Hargadon, Steve. (2009, April). The Best of the Web--for Shutterbugs. School
Library Journal, 55(4), 17. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1671826201).

Johnson, Dave. (2006, October). Google and Yahoo Embrace Photo
Sharing. PC World, 24(10), 59. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1125198931).

McDonald, Nikki. (2005, May). BETTER PHOTO SHARING. PC
World, 23(5), 129-132. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 828991561).

Why this choice?

Many readings suggested using blogspot.com as a user friendly, accessible source for creating a blog. As blogs allow individuals to create 'news' that is hourly/daily/weekly and it is not as slow moving as a webpage (Anderson, 2007). Being free and widely available (supported by many computer platforms) also contributed to the choice, as I would like to be familiar with it such that I can introduce my students to using it at school and at home. Richarson walks us through the set up of blog using Blogger that defaults from the blospot.com. site.

Sources

Anderson, Paul. (2007, Feb.) What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and
implications for education. JISC Technology and Standards Watch. Retrieved from http://trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/295569 # 13.

Richardson, Will. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Corwin Press, CA. (pp. 48-52).

A Long Way To Go

Here is the first of many installments on the journey to Web 2.0 enlightenment. This journey from darkness (or the unknown) begins with blind faith to just jump in and start a blog that will be added to. With the disavantage of starting a few days late, I feel I need to publish a draft or basic beginning. I know I need to add the other student blogs, other social networking sites, as well as other blogs. These additions will come as I learn to navigate my way through. Please stay tuned to the development of a tremendous ride through cyberspace.