BP7_2009103_Flickr

I have been thinking of using Flickr in my class for a while, but I never realized the versatility of the tool until this week. I found a phenomenal resource from David Jakes (2006) about the various uses of Flickr in the classroom. Some of the more creative lessons included:

• - Virtual fieldtrips
• - “Geotagging images in Flickr and then using Google Earth to teach Geography”
• - Documentation of student artwork (e-portfolio)

Additionally, I found a brilliant article on using Flickr for English language learners. I believe that many of these concepts could be applied to those that speak English natively as well! Campbell (n.d.) contributed the following ideas:

Making friends: Students can search the keywords they entered in their profile for their interests, likes, favorite movies, favorite books, etc., to browse the profiles and photos of other people who entered the same keyword. If they find someone who looks intriguing, they can make that person a ‘contact’, labeling him/her a ‘friend’. From there, they will be able to receive new photos from their friends on their ‘contacts’ photos’ page. They can and should try to interact with their ‘friend’ by leaving comments on their friend’s photos and/or by sending Flickr emails.

Commenting: Leaving comments on photos is a great way to practice sentence formation. Teachers can have students integrate grammar and vocab being learned in class into the comments students leave on Flickr photos. Furthermore, teachers can teach students common techniques of conversation starting in their comments, such as making complements and criticisms, and asking questions. A student’s record of “comments left” can be viewed for evaluation purposes if desired. Always remind students to answer all comments left by others on their own photos. They should see comments as conversation starters, not merely as one-liners.

Leaving Notes: Another fun way to use English with Flickr is to leave ‘notes’ on photos. These notes can be left on personal photos or those of ‘friends’. Notes are great way to hone in and describe the details of a particular photo. (Campbell, n.d.)

These are great ideas and I would like to use several of them in my classes. I would also like to use Flickr for digital storytelling, for “tagging for concept” (where students take a picture and have to tag it to show the main ideas of the idea), and for showing understanding through a pictorial collage (or, thanks to Jaime, a glog!).

Although I love Flickr, I have some reservations about using it with students. I am concerned that students will come across inappropriate images. While I am certain that they encounter these things on their own, I don’t feel it has a place at school. For example, I was searching for a picture of a question mark the other day, and the search came back with several pictures of scantily clad adults at a party. The picture itself wasn’t offensive, but I could see administrators or parents being unhappy that it was included in a general search (and where those came out of “question mark” has me baffled). Does anyone know a work-around for this issue?

Jakes, D. (2006). Retrieved from http://jakespeak.blogspot.com/2006/03/classroom-uses-of-flickr.html

Campbell, A. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://e-poche.net/flickr/

Pictures courtesy of Flickr. (duh.)