Adventures in Teaching and Learning

I have asked my good friends on Twitter what Web 2.0 photo tools they recommend, in preparation for a CPD session I’m giving in a week or two on the use of ICT in RE teaching. Here are their (and my) recommendations:

Flickr – I think the number one choice of most. Worth paying for. Which reminds me, I need to pay for the next year. Anyway, I think it’s well worth it. It’s about the only web tool I don’t even hesitate to think about paying for. It’s about £12 a year. I use it constantly, and have about 5000 photos stored there at the moment. I think. (Supported by tweets such as @creativetallis, @davefoord)

Compfight – Strange name, great way to browse Creative Commons Flickr photos.

Flickrstorm – Another way to browse Creative Commons Flickr photos (thanks to @mtechman).

Photo Sharing Web Tools – A whole list of good Web 2.0 tools for photos. (@mtechman)

Gazopa – A way to search for similar looking photos (and, I think, videos). (@mtechman)

Cool Iris – “The fastest way to browse photos and videos”. (@victoriaellis has been going on about this for ages!)

Big Huge Labs tools – A variety of fun things to do with your photos (@victoriaellis)

ImageChef – Customise photos and clip art (thanks to @dominic_mcg).

Tag Galaxy – Visual way of honing in on just the photo you are looking for by gradually being more specific in the tags used (thanks to @dawnhallybone)

It’s amazing how many more photo and image opportunities, tools, applications etc there are now compared with two years ago. There are still many of the sites that I thought were fantastic when I first found them, but I think as I have become busier, and the amount of time I have to spend online has decreased, I have become more particular with which sites I use. It is good to have a reason to find out what I might be missing out on in the wider world of Web 2.0, and it makes a huge difference that I now have Twitter to help get more precise and focused recommendations. It’s also good to see that Flickr continues to be popular!

If I have missed out your favourite photo tool here, please leave a comment and I will update this at some point!

I have just used Photoshop Elements to make a panoramic photo of London, taken from the top of the Monument! Quite excited by it. It didn’t take long to do! Now I just need to work out how to add it to my blog. Would it be easier to add via Flickr? Hmm. I’ve just tried to transfer it (as a jpeg) from my laptop to my husband’s, which is the one connected to the internet (yes, I’ve still got that problem – I still can’t connect my laptop to the internet), and it says that there’s something missing – perhaps my Photoshop Elements is newer than my husband’s, but I had saved it as a jpeg so didn’t expect any difficulties! Maybe I should copy it as the Photoshop file then transfer it … Watch this space!

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the attitude and behaviour of my Year 8 class today. I had invited Janet, the MfL BT, to visit the class, and they had a TA in as well, and unfortunately some of them began acting in a defensive and out-of-character manner from the beginning. I had spent the previous lesson outlining the task, and briefly reminded them of the task at the beginning – they were then given about 10 mins to plan their message, and told that they could use a variety of methods to get that message across. The pupil who has been using the DigiMemo immediately got on with that, using PhotoShop again to try and complete his first character, and a pupil who was absent last week wrote a script that they will record next week. The larger group of boys who wanted to make another film went outside to practice their next drama production, but were not as focused as before. Another couple of groups took the camera to take some photos for a comic, but then the batteries ran out, and I had no spares! So, all in all, there was not much progress this week! Disappointing. I hope that next week – the last lesson before half term – they will be able to produce something quickly!

A couple of Year 8s came at lunch today to draw on the DigiMemo, and to see it being animated. Unfortunately I couldn’t manage to record on CrazyTalk, but I’ll figure that out when I’ve got a moment. They plan on colouring in the figure using PhotoShop Elements, then animating that cartoon figure. I look forward to seeing the end product … the important thing now is to transfer the “fun” part of playing around into a “serious” and educational end result. Wonder what will happen on Friday … I continue to invite other teachers to that class!

… taken by camera, drawn by hand on the DigiMemo, then coloured in using Photoshop Elements on the PC side. I’ve now included it in a Keynote presentation on the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.