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’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!