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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Week 3 Introduction: Photos and Images

Congrats you have made it to week 3!  You now know how to embed and you have a blog!  AWE-SOME!  Embedding will play a major role in your Web 2.0 journey.  Learn it now and it will save you tons of time!  It’s as simple as copy and paste.   If you need additional help on embedding please go back to the tutorial from Week 2 Thing 3.
This week we will focus on photos and images in the Web 2.0 world.  Flickr and Picasa have changed the way we organize and share photos.  If you have never explored these tools and you take digital pictures you really need to register for these great library managers.  As a social network for family and friends or to chart your adventures around the world they are worth the play time.
If you have time use your Google Account to register for Picasa and play around with the features.  It is really great and I use it at home to share albums with friends and also as a professional tool.



If you don’t have time to play, watch the brief tutorial above to learn about Picasa and how it can benefit you personally and professionally.
Think about how we capture images and how methods have changed over time.  Cameras have progressed from big, clumsy and sensitive to small, sleek and durable.   Hey, there are even underwater digital cameras you can afford and the picture quality is superb!  That is phenomenal.  Cameras can be found on computers, phones, other hand held devices and come in all shapes and sizes.  Pictures are more accessible than ever with the technology we have today.
Since this media is easy, accessible and (this is the biggie...)affordable…How can we use digital photographs with our students?  Go to Discovery Education and go through some classroom applications for digital cameras.  Post one idea with the group and comment on how you could modify it with curriculum here on the Junkie Blog.   Feel free to post other feelings, reactions or additional comments to other’s posts.  We are here to collaborate!

24 comments:

Nancy Keck said...

Week 3 Reflection:
We are doing a unit based around community involvement...students could gather pictures from the different agencies that we have helped as a student body, such as Ronald McDonald House, Am. Heart Assoc. and HUM and caption the pictures with how we are helping as a part of the community.

Not sure if I am to do this in my blog itself...or somewhere else. Please help!

Nancy Keck said...

...also, How do I subscribe to "Posts (Atoms)" Not sure what that is.

Anonymous said...

You posted correct!

Mrs. Stewart said...

Great question Nancy! Subscribing to the post feed or RSS Feed will give you instant updates when posts are added to the Junkie Blog. In the menu bar of the blog click on posts and select atom. It will allow you to subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog and add a shortcut on your menu bar in Internet Explorer. You can read posts and it will notify you when new ones are added. The other RSS readers like Google or Yahoo may be used as well. You just need an account.

Kourtni Rackard said...

Week 3 Reflection:
After looking at a few of the digitals camera uses in the classroom on Discovery Education, having students take pictures to inspire their narrative or descriptive writing was a great idea. I believe they will be more willing to write about something they personally took a picture of.

My thoughts said...

For Kindergarten having a picture of something real to the kids would go hand in hand with our WFTB writing program. We focus on details of pictures.

I like the storytelling, visual aids for students- (that will help with ESOL students)
I have thought about how to take pictures and use them in my classroom- but not by keeping them on the computer.

Mrs. B. said...

I love the comment by "My thoughts" that integrates photos into Write From the Beginning lessons. I also love the idea on Discovery Education about taking photos of angles in the "real world" to demonstrate geometry concepts. So many great ideas!

Anonymous said...

I love being able to share the photos. This is a program that the kids can interact with at home. It enables them to broden their horizens without their parents having to teach it to them.

Sharon V said...

I like the idea of having students take pictures to use in their work. Being able to keep all the photos in one place online would eliminate any issues with keeping track of which photos are where. All students would have access to all photos at the same time. Teachers could create albums with specific photos they want students to use in projects. This could cut down on time students use to search for images and allow more time for creating.

Meredith Gilbert said...

I would have students go on a scavenger hunt as an assessment at the end of a unit. For example, after the geometric solids unit, students could find examples of each solid around the school and take a picture. Students could post their pictures in a slideshow, on glogster, etc. and share with the class. I would have students complete this activity in small groups. This could be done for lots of units/subjects: patterns, living vs. nonliving, states of matter!

Anonymous said...

Using a digital camera seems like it would be a great interest grabber. The student could use it to document and enhance their written work. In Geography you could use it to illustrate a travel brochure. In language arts you could use it to enhance an autobiography.

Sue said...

Week 3 Reflection:

Picasa would be a wonderful way to showcase grade level activities to our parents and community stakeholders on our school's website.

andrews3 said...

I love all these ideas, especially using photos the children take to spark their creative writing juices. The one from Discovery Ed. that stood out for me was using photos of parts of equipment, such as the cable ends, input & output ports, etc., to show teachers how to, for example, hook up their DVD players or computers, etc. I get asked to do that alot!

Unknown said...

Students could use digital cameras to take pictures at the end of a unit, for example, a third grade unit on geometry, and use the pictures in movie maker or photo story to create their own movies, featuring vocabulary illustrated by the pictures.

Señora Sarasua said...

In Foreign Language, students could take pictures of the unit's vocabulary and discuss, either with a written assignment/caption or orally in the target language. Depending on the student's level, descriptions and background information could also be assigned.

BZirkForMath said...

The thing I truly appreciated about the Discovery Education site was how easy it was to use! After looking over the options for digital cameras, I selected 1001 uses and was pleasantly surprised to find it broken down by subject! I liked the Geometry suggestion of sending students out to find examples of shapes. I think my class could take it one step further and use the photos as part of their Thinking Maps.

Mrs. Jacobsen said...

I loved the idea of taking pictures in sequence and then having the students write a story from the pictures. I always bring my digital camera to school when I need to take pictures of events or special projects. At the end of the year, I have made a digital yearbook to send home with the kids. It used to fit on a disk that I would copy. This year, I documented so much that parents had to send in a 4 gb thumbdrive! I think it is time to break down and buy one for the classroom. I just bought a web camera with some gift cards.

I have also used the idea of having the students go out and take pictures of real world objects on campus of three dimensional shapes. They used to have to draw them. The digital camera made it easier to hold them accountable for their small group forays on the campus. I have done this with my advanced students but not whole class. I have first graders and I am beginning to see that there is so much more that they can do that I might not have given them credit of being capable. These are indications of my limits limiting them. If I can't say it enough, thanks for opeining this up again.

Jason said...

My 2nd grade team always has a community project at the beginning of the school year in which each student creates a model (usually from a shoebox) and explains its significance in our community. I feel that in order to help these students prepare for the 21st century jobs they will fill, we need to maybe have them utilize some Web 2.0 tools and create a virtual model. Students can take pictures and add captions. Advanced students may be able to create a webpage. Some students may be able to utilize some multimedia tools like PowerPoint or even utilize some hypermedia. This project will look very different in my class this year and hopefully I can get my entire team on board to use some new tools.

Love 4 You 2 Read said...

I have used different presentation software in the past like Photo Story and Prezi. Students could use digital cameras to enhance their presentations.
I also like the idea of a photo journaling activity.

Sue Shaw said...

We used a digital camera this year to produce a video with PhotoStory to submit for the Florida Literacy competition. Didn't win, but the kids had great fun shooting and posing! I did the finishing in PhotoStory due to time.
One thing I learned teaching yearbook/journalism this year is that EVERYONE signed up to shoot not write. And they thought they knew it all but using photos to tell stories (a great creative hook) requires teaching some technical aspects like image size, composition, and minimum editing. And editing or production software needs to be taught as well.
Nevertheless students could use photos to produce a book talk; a PSA for the school; to illustrate a concept or provide clarification.
Perhaps having a digital camera club would be fun; I know many students at my middle school would love it. Hmmm, maybe that is a good idea for this year!

Katy said...

I've also had the students use digital cameras for their photostory projects. I'd love to have the students use digital photos to create a Dewey/library project - small groups each get assigned a category or a section of the library; they take pictures of what subject matter or what type of material would be found in their section.

cathy said...

I like the idea of using the digital camera to introduce new students to the school via the TV news or a bulletin board. A "wall of fame" could be posted using digital pictures of students showing outstanding character, winning contests or other exemplary activities during the week/month.

I could use the digital camera to make a short movie clip to introduce the Peer Mediation team and concept to the school.

Mme Augat said...

So many great ideas and comments! I have used pictures often in my classes with Photo Story or Movie Maker in order for students to write/speak,and present their work in a lively way to their peers. I am partial to any support allowing for voice recording on top of the pictures, because I teach French, and we are always looking for ways to improve speaking and pronunciation; the language is not really phonetic and much practice is needed to reach fluency. Resources like Smilebox, Mixbook, and especially Picasa open up other possibilities, even without sound. I especially liked the idea of putting pictures back in order, or using photos to make up a story, orally; good preparation for AP exam, too. Students can use pictures to narrate important events or to talk about their past vacation, using past tenses as needed. Pictures can be used to show the different phases of a cooking recipe, as well. Every unit can be livened up with photo uses. Different uses depending on the class level in the language.

Michelle Deibler said...

I love the idea of using pictures as a story starter. I also want to have students take pictures of misspelled words they find on billboards or signs around town to emphasis the importance of spelling!