Nov 22 2009
I’m giving a presentation on this topic in just over a week. So I thought I’d get prepared, but also have this ready so teachers can refer to it again later, if they want to. It’s just an intro – it was hard to decide what to leave in, and what to leave out!
Nov 21 2009
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!
Apr 13 2009
I’ve been showing my sister some of my favourite websites. She asked me to send her links, so I thought maybe I could just make one post with them all here and then just send her the link to this post! So here they are.
Animations
Xtranormal – If you can type, you can make an animation.
GoAnimate! – Make cartoon animations.
Flashcards
Quizlet – Make simple flashcards and learn your keywords
StudyStack – Make flashcards, and StudyStack will automatically make games out of them, eg hangman, catch the bug, unscramble words
FlashCardFlash – Search for flashcards on a number of different sites
Video
Fliggo – Host your own video site. Hopefully the school might not block this …
Visuals
CompFight – Click on “Creative Commons ONLY” to find images to use in school
SimplyBox – Choose your favourite images or videos then simply box them for use later.
And remember … I also have links to a wide range of Web 2.0 tools here. Have fun!
Mar 28 2009
Two of my newest favourite sites to share with you today are …
and
With SimplyBox, you get a new toolbar on your browser window (Note to self and anyone that can help: I have 8 of these toolbars that are quickly using up too much space at the top of my browser – anyway I can minimise these all the top? Wasting too much space!), then when you see a picture, video or piece of text that you like, you simply box and save it. Then, when you look at your set of boxes on the internet, not only will you see the image that you liked, but it is still linked to the original website, so you can quickly find it and correctly attribute the image you are using. Works great with CompFight.
Free Photo Printing does what it say on the tin. It directs you to photo printing sites along with the codes that you need to get free or reduced photos. Fabulous! (Thanks to Sarah Fox for the tipoff!)
Mar 09 2009
I’ve been trying to keep off the computer a bit more, and do other important things instead. However, while trying to find a great Flickr mashup website that I can’t remember the name of and am having trouble finding, I have found another very interesting site – The Multicolr Search Lab. Click on one or more colours, and this site will find photos from Flickr that contain that colour. I’ve tried a particular gold shade, and simply looking at the choice of images cheers me up! What is also great news is that they have looked at about 10 million Creative Commons images, so I can feel free to use and attribute the images I find. Do have a look!
Also, I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this one before – CompFight – another Flickr mashup tool. It’s fantastic – I’ve been using it loads. I’m trying to make my presentations more visual, and it’s important for me, particularly as an RE teacher!, that I use Creative Commons images. These days, there are so many tools to make it easy to do that that there’s no excuse not to. (Although I do admit, I am struggling to find one or two images that I think would be just right …). Anyway, this is great. Try it. Just remember to set the Creative Commons indicator to “only”, or else you will still need to check if you are allowed to use them.
Dec 19 2008
It’s the end of the year, the time when people reflect on their past year and set resolutions for the new year. So here are the reflections. Resolutions may – or may not! – follow.
January – Made a snowman! Will that feat be repeated this Christmas? Saw Doris Lessing at the Southbank Centre.
February – Loved Sweeney Todd the Barber with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Earthquake. Had an excellent FairTrade Fortnight Sixth Form RE Conference, which involved baking, football, FairTrade prizes and taste tests, as well educational input from different departments.
March – Enjoyed a lovely Holy Week and Easter Triduum. Discovered the National Gallery. Led some blogging inset at the Marist School – hope everyone is getting on with their blogging! Summarised some of the many excellent teacher and student blogs out there.
April – Collected my marked dissertation. Heard the sad news that Steve Sinnott had died. It snowed in London. Fiona, a friend from home, visited, and had fun being tourists in London, visiting the British Museum, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern and others. Samson and I watched the London Marathon. My friend Bridget got married. Appeared, with my Year 7 class, on Teachers’ TV.
May – The weather improved dramatically. Saw Chris Rock at the O2. Found the Awesome Highlighter website (which I haven’t really used, so I’m posting this here to remind me!). Spent ages surfing the net and writing about the applications I found there. Enjoyed meeting up with the TTP second cohort to talk about my experiences of Web 2.0. Started some classes on Web 2.0 for teachers at school. Took my Year 9s to the National Gallery as part of a Learning Outside the Classroom project.
June – Discovered Wordle! Presented a session on blogging at the Sixth Form Conference. Visited the Thames Barrier. Went to the Anthony Clark’s ordination as a deacon.
July – Samson’s book, The Jive Talker, was published! Read the reviews here, and buy a copy from Amazon here! The second cohort of the Transformation Teachers’ Programme had a lovely meal. I graduated with my Masters (MA in Education: Teaching and Learning) from Middlesex University. Weather was still very hot and humid. Enjoyed the Doctor Who Prom. Started making videos of clouds, taken using my camera and a tripod. Enjoyed lots of balmy evening walks during the summer holidays. Went paddling at the V&A pool. Bliss. Visited Westminster Cathedral to take photos for the department. Finished the month with the launch of the Jive Talker at Rivington Place.
August – The Jive Talker was published in North America (and can be bought on Amazon here). Discovered the Thames Cruiser. Went to a wedding reception. Enjoyed the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, and then fulltime coverage, all day, every day! Went to Brighton for the day. Went back home to Scotland for a holiday. Met my little Canadian cousin for the first time. One particularly good day was when we travelled through Fife, visiting the Deer Centre, and my old university town of St Andrews.
September – Celebrated my birthday. Back to school! Very busy, but in a good way. We attended the launch of the New Art Exchange, where Samson was taking part in the opening exhibition, Next We Change Earth.
October – The term did not get any quieter! I became Acting Head of Department, so even more work! Visited East Dulwich for the first time, with a family friend. Visited the Saatchi Gallery. Enjoyed teaching my Year 7 Integrated (Humanities) Curriculum about China. Saw Toni Morrison at the Southbank Centre.
November – Went to the Diocesan Heads of RE Conference. Found PhotoBox and Fotonauts. Went to Martin Creed’s flat/exhibition in Brick Lane. Enjoyed Quantum of Solace. Collected together a lot of different Advent resources. Very excited about the election of Barack Obama, as were all the pupils at school.
December – Have enjoyed meeting up with friends, and look forward to meeting up with more friends and family over the next few weeks. We had a lovely carol service today at school, and I am delighted to finally be on holiday! My camera has pretty much given up over the past few months, so I’m hoping to get a new one to record many of the exciting and interesting events that I expect to experience throughout 2009 – starting with the birth of my first niece or nephew!
Thank you for visiting my blog, whether for the first time today, or regularly over the past year, and I hope to be able to share some of my further adventures in teaching and learning, particularly involving Web 2.0, over the next 12 months. I wish you all a very peaceful and joyful Christmas and a happy New Year!
Nov 29 2008
Another new photo site – my photos are a bit rubbish really, in comparison with the other photos on here! There are some really beautiful images. Have a look around.
My other favourite photo site at the moment is Photobox.
Aug 04 2008
This is an experiment in making a book using my Flickr photographs. However, I have also had a bit of a bizarre experience. When I clicked on PimPamPum, I was greeted by a song in Chichewa! Zikomo kwambiri, Mulungu … I then clicked on who, and PimPamPum, which has links to a variety of Flickr mashups, consists of two Barcelonians, so it’s a bit of a bizarre coincidence, but a nice one anyway!
NOTE: I suppose I should really take the above paragraph out, but it has really made me laugh, so instead I’ll update it. I have since discovered that the Chichewa singing was not coming from a Spanish website at all, but my friend Victor’s blog, which I had open at the same time! Since he is Malawian, that makes much more sense!!
