Flickr, Flickr Tools and Flickr Toys as Classroom Resources

Using digital images as classroom resources support the visual learners. In addition integrating digital also reinforce reading material by providing visual context and imagery thus bridging the gap between students from different economic backgrounds or even from different cultures or different geographical area.  In other words student’s common general knowledge is improved. Presenting lessons using digital images also motivates the students better than just showing presentation with plain text. 

One of example of a good source of visuals in the classroom is Flickr. Flickr can enhance a lesson because it illustrates the content of the lesson. For example, on a veterans day lesson, I can use Flickr to display a slideshow of pictures of American soldier by making use of the tags that other users labeled their public pictures at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags. All I need to do is type American soldiers inside the box labeled Jump to, and I will be directed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/americansoldier/. I can then click Share while on slideshow so I can copy the url http://www.flickr.com//photos/tags/americansoldier/show/ and share this with my students, or copy the embed code and embed it in the class blog or class wiki. If I want to dig deeper I can explore the cluster while exploring tags. Iraq is offered as a cluster so I can look into that to show soldiers in Iraq.  Flickr can also be used as a digital story tool. For example in a second grade Science Plant Diversity lesson, we can take pictures of plants we planted  then post the pictures on our Flickr group account. Students can put the days the plants grow for title, then they can add description of the pictures as well as add notes on the pictures thus chronicling how plants grow day by day. In addition we can add notes on the different parts of the plants in each picture to make the pictures more informative and maximize their use for our lessons.

 

If you want to explore more options on how to use Flickr photos in your classroom, you can also try using Flickr tools and  Flickr toys with them. Like for instance, the Captioner can be very useful in digital story telling since it lets you add thoughts or speech bubbles to your photos just like in a comic book. For example on a fourth grade science lesson investigating the negative and positive impact of extreme natural events on living things, the class can use the pictures on http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/extremeweather/  or http://www.flickr.com//photos/tags/extremeweather/show/ and add captions on them to make the slideshow more interesting. Motivator can also be useful in the classroom as teacher and students can create motivational posters related to the lesson. For example on the same fourth grade science lesson investigating the negative and positive impact of extreme natural events on living things, students can add  a slogan about hope or solidarity on a picture depicting people affected by floods or other extreme natural events.