Photo Sharing

Flickr
Slide
Photobucket

I have't used Photobucket in a while but I really like it. See below for explanation.

I already had accounts for Flickr (a photo sharing site) and Slide (site where you created slide shows) but I updated them and added new content. For Flickr, I added some photos of when I was in Chile. They are of the beach, the desert, and the city. I got carried away and uploaded a lot of pictures because you can choose a lot to upload at a time. I ran out of time and patience so I tagged many of them but not all. Speaking of tagging, if you think it is fun to tag you can play a Google Image Labeler game which will really help you to improve your tagging ability and could be a great way to pass by the time LOL! What I mean is I think about more words I could use besides just the obvious when tagging a picture.  It could also be a good vocabulary practice for ESL students. 

I also created a slide show with some of those pictures uploaded through Slide.com. Then I linked the slide show to my Facebook page. I used to create slideshows for my MySpace page but I’ve never done it for my Facebook page so I did that today. It wasn't the most intuitive application. First I clicked on embed. Then I copied the code but couldn't figure out how to get it into Facebook. So I went to the help page and it gave directions. It said there should be a Facebook link for me to click on but it wasn't there. So I played around with the site some more. I kept going to different pages until I finally came across a page where you click on embed and an actual Facebook icon appears. They should set it up so that anytime you click on embed that the different icons appear. Oh well.

Photo sharing sites such as Flickr are a very useful way to keep photos organized and share them with others. Slide is a great place to create slide shows. You can create some that are really gaudy with bright colors and sparkles or you can create a more “vanilla” slide show. They even have skins you can use for videos. You can embed their slides on a variety of websites and blogs. Using Slide is a great way to add dazzle to even the most boring pictures so it is a great tool to use in education, especially with middle and high school students. Just make it isn’t too bright or busy since that will distract learners and detract from the message.

If you want the best of both worlds check this out! In Flickr and Photobucket you can upload photos and edit them, share them, tag them, and search for more photos. On Flickr you can also leave comments. With Photobucket you can create slideshows with different backgrounds effects.

I also have an account for Photobucket but I haven’t updated it lately and I never use it but I really like it because it is like Flickr and Slide combined. You can organize photos and create dazzling slideshows all in the same place. These tools aren't just for "fun", they could also be used in education.

Here are a few teaching ideas for Photo sharing websites:

• Geography/History/Settings - If students are learning about an area of the world you can show pictures of that location and have them post comments.
• Science: Students could search for pictures that relate to what they are studying or you could have an album that illustrate concepts.
• Literature/creative writing/foreign language: Students could create stories using pictures you have chosen or they could write a story and choose pictures that illustrate it and create a slideshow.
• Scavenger Hunts: You could have scavenger hunts. If you are teaching vocabulary of any type, you can search for pictures that illustrate the word.

Learning about Web 2.0 Tools

I am learning about different Web 2.0 applications. Some I have used before such as Facebook, MySpace, Second Life (just dabbled with it), Twitter (again, just dabbled), Photobucket, Flickr, Slide, YouTube (never uploaded a video before), Skype and other instant messengers, Moodle, wikis, blogs, and a few others.  Now I am on a mission to learn more about Web 2.0 tools.
Even though I know HTML and CSS and love to design Dreamweaver websites I also would like to explore other tools for building websites.  I just created a simple CMSimple Website. It is very easy to use and fairly intuitive. One can very easily build a simple, yet nice looking website without having to learn HTML or CSS. I will confess I kind of scoffed at the idea of using a CMSimple website at the beginning but I have since changed my mind. It’s a great tool and a great way to have others who aren’t experts in web design to create a great-looking website easily and without having to spend a lot of money on expensive software.

I recently joined the Classroom 2.0 Community in Ning. I had heard of Ning before but never joined it. It is a great social networking site similar to Facebook or MySpace but more controlled and you can join groups specific to your interests. Ning is a great tool for teachers to use with a class since it is more controlled and they won’t have to worry about outsiders “crashing the party” so to speak. If you are an educator and would love to learn more about Web 2.0, social networking, and builing learning communities then I highly recommend Ning.

Another Web 2.0 tool that I love is Wordle. You copy and paste text such as a blog entry, paragraph, story, web content or anything and it will put it in a word cloud. I created one with this blog entry and here is what it came up with:

Stay tuned because I will be sharing more and more applications and their practical uses as I progress through my studies in the New Media and Global Education Program at Appalachian State University.