Flickr

In today’s world looks matter; that is to the students of today. The internet puts the world at our students’ fingertips. And the most important part of being to students is that no matter who sees them or who they talk to whether face-to-face (which is seldom), cell phone or on the internet, they must look good. Flickr is one of the Web 2.0 resources that students can use to prove they not only look good but can express themselves in an intelligent matter by using images as a means of expression.

Flickr (www.flickr.com) is stated to be one of the most well-known photo-sharing sites available according to the article Photo-sharing and clip-art written by Terry Freedman. Having thousands of photos available expands the horizon of incorporating the norm of clip-art into a piece of work.

In education today, I think our students are busting at the seams to express themselves.
But I believe the many standards placed on education are beginning to bore our students. I always hear students say, “I’m bored or this stuff is gay” when talking about either a teacher or the class assignment in particular. Students always come into my office just to talk. When I lend an ear, I can tell it was just a brief escape they needed before going to the next ‘boring’ class.

I introduced our computer teacher to Flickr. I showed her how students could use the tags to find particular images they might like to use in a project she has assigned. I also shared Terry Freedman’s article with her as a means to answer questions about how to properly use the photos. I told her I thought an interesting assignment for students would be to design a PowerPoint presentation of a particular state and research the cost of living, pictures of the area itself, any pictures that represent schools, neighborhoods etc. and to outline the relevant information to each. Using the normal clipart, this would be kind of difficult to do or would limit the creativity of the project. This teacher thought her students would like using Flickr to find images. She said Flickr would give presentations a personal touch. She saw Flickr as a tool to help students open up.

I think if a tool like this can open the minds of students and help build confidence than it definitely has to be incorporated into the learning process. Technology is not going to go away. And we as adults must introduce it to our kids rather than our students finding it for themselves. If we as adults begin to explore the Web 2.0 resources that our children will eventually find, I believe our students would be more apt to use the resources correctly rather than using them without being mindful of the dangers.