Engagement Task 1: Resizing and uploading digital photos
Amongst the most valuable photographs, of course, are your, and your students' photographs, also scanned and photographed images of artwork, student activity, digitised art etc. These can be used on the school network, on the interactive whiteboard, using mobile phones and cameras, also ipods. Before you consider uploading images to the WEB, be sure that they are appropriately resized. Resizing is not as simple as dragging the corners to make the image smaller, it involves reducing the amount of information in the image to reduce the file size. The consequence of not resizing is waiting for hours for images to both upload and download, and if an image is too large, it will not fit on the screen anyway.
Resizing photographs for upload:
Free Image resizing software
- Go to http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/MobaPhoto.shtml and download MobaPhoto.
- Save it on to your Flash Drive/USB stick and Open it.
- Explore the options.
- Use a set of photographs you have taken and resize them without replacing the original photos (remember where you saved them).
- Go to the containing folder. Right click the original and resized photograph and use Properties to view the size difference.
Be careful not to save your images over the existing ones, otherwise you will lose the high quality photographs. Resized images do not have the same quality.
A benefit of MobaPhoto is that you can store it and use it on your USB stick. So you do not have to install it onto computers on which you do not have administrative rights.
Now, upload your newly resized image to your blog or wiki, and discuss how you could use it to support great learning.
I found Mobaphoto easy to download and to use. In the example below I resized a photo of a postcard created by my daughter. This postcard recently won a prize in a competition run by the Rockhampton Regional libraries to advertise Harmony Day.
Made smaller by Mobaphoto 216 KB
As can be seen by looking at both photos, Mobaphoto made the photo approximately 11% of its original size and lost none of the quality. This is a really handy tool to use when placing images on the web or sending them by email. It will make it quicker to download the webpages and/or emails. And for people like myself (who live too far from a telephone exchange to get ADSL broadbrand and have to rely on wireless broadband) this is a great tool to save on precious download space as well as time.
I have uploaded images into this Blog, Wikispaces Wiki and my Weebly Website as I believe the addition of relevant images enhances the look and feel of online spaces. I also like the use of animated Gif images, see the fish swimming on the right of my blog.
At the time of writing this blogpost I have not had the time (or the broadband capacity) to engage with the other image manipulation technologies suggested in the optional activities. Though I have used Flickr before and find it to be extremely easy to use and has a wealth of free, open-source images that could be used for teaching, with due acknowledgement to the original owners. I have listed the other technologies at the end of this post so that I can try them out when I have the time and am using a reliable broadband connection.
The following is a SWOT analysis of using images in teaching materials.
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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An image can relay a message quicker and with more intensity than words.
With cameras built into many mobile devices it is easy to take and upload images.
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Need to ensure that the software will work on the tools that are available to the class. For example, Mobaphoto is only available to windows computers. A colleague suggested imageTrick (lite)for Mac machines. There are many free apps for IOS mobile devices.
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Opportunities
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Threats
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There are numerous opportunities for using images in teaching. To illustrate a point that you want to make. To demonstrate the desired outcome of an activity. To show students step-by-step how to do something.
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Must ensure that myself as the teacher and the students use only images that we created ourselves or were free to use. Always model safe, legal and ethical practice.
Children should not upload photos of themselves that could identify them outside the school environment.
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Other applications to assist in using digital images:
For Mac users they can resize images using the Preview app see http://osxdaily.com/2009/12/16/batch-resize-images-on-mac-with-preview/
MAC users can crop photos by holding down the Command and Shift keys and press 4. Mac OS X then turns the cursor into crosshairs you can use to select whatever portion of your display you’d like to capture in a screen shot. This is saved to your desktop. (Source: Wendy Fasso)
You can manipulate photo size and quality as a part of iphoto and export.
For PC users there is the Snipping tool. Go to your Start menu, Programs, Accessories and look for the SNIP tool. Can be used to crop, markup and annotate images, then save them. Also usual for taking screenshots to show students.
Practical ways to use digital images (source: JISC Digital Media)
Other applications to assist in using digital images:
For Mac users they can resize images using the Preview app see http://osxdaily.com/2009/12/16/batch-resize-images-on-mac-with-preview/
MAC users can crop photos by holding down the Command and Shift keys and press 4. Mac OS X then turns the cursor into crosshairs you can use to select whatever portion of your display you’d like to capture in a screen shot. This is saved to your desktop. (Source: Wendy Fasso)
You can manipulate photo size and quality as a part of iphoto and export.
For PC users there is the Snipping tool. Go to your Start menu, Programs, Accessories and look for the SNIP tool. Can be used to crop, markup and annotate images, then save them. Also usual for taking screenshots to show students.
Practical ways to use digital images (source: JISC Digital Media)
Tom March's See, Think, Wonder resource page for examples of using digital images for teaching.
VoiceThread allows you to upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos. VoiceThread has the facility to allow you to comment on slides using one of five: microphone, webcam, text, phone and audio-file upload. It is a cloud application, so there is no software to install. You just need an up-to-date version of Adobe Flash.
VoiceThread allows you to upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos. VoiceThread has the facility to allow you to comment on slides using one of five: microphone, webcam, text, phone and audio-file upload. It is a cloud application, so there is no software to install. You just need an up-to-date version of Adobe Flash.
Reflection on using images in eLearning
I have found it easy to learn to use the software options that were presented in this week's teaching materials to create and manipulate images. That there are tools available free from the Internet and come packaged as part of the operating systems of computers and mobile devices means that anyone has access to this technology no matter what device they are using.
I think that myself and my students would probably work with digital images in at least four ways:
- In the classroom (for instance student-created photographs);
- When on excursions
- Online (certainly student work but also the work of others that you access)
- The creation of learning materials for my students either online or worksheets for them to follow.
The images could be my students working, of other people or of the environment or anything really. I could encourage the students to be creative in their use of digital photographs. I could also and digitise previous students' work (with permission) to show new students.
Always I need to be aware of working in a legal, safe and ethical environemnt. Any images of people would need their permission to be uploaded online. If using images students I would need their parents' permission. Children should not be identified online, and any images uploaded that showed their faces should be restricted to secure online spaces only.
Always I need to be aware of working in a legal, safe and ethical environemnt. Any images of people would need their permission to be uploaded online. If using images students I would need their parents' permission. Children should not be identified online, and any images uploaded that showed their faces should be restricted to secure online spaces only.
Pedagogy of teaching with Images
My teaching context is the subject areas of Information Technology (Technology in the Queensland curriculum and Mathematics in the Australian curriculum) in the Secondary school environment. The school I have been assigned to first is an all girls school. I can see many applications for using images in my teaching. For example, in Technology I could upload photos of everyday objects such as fridges, microwaves, cars and phones to illustrate how these technologies have influenced our lives. In mathematics images could be used to demonstrate the ubiquity of mathematical concepts in the world and how almost everything they see and do relies on Mathematics.
In her course material Wendy has provided the following guidelines for teaching with images.
In her course material Wendy has provided the following guidelines for teaching with images.
Images should not be included in online materials gratuitously, merely for decorative effect or colour, although this is an important factor in engaging attention. It is critical, in this multimedia age, that everyone is visually literate. More information about visual literacy is available at http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/675. This site has a number of interesting links – have a look at the Related Pages links on the right hand side.
There are multiple purposes for image use online. Teachers can present learning materials to the student with the purpose of engaging thinking (knowledge, understanding, analysis, evaluation); influencing feelings, or supporting skills development.
Teachers can also create a learning dialogue between the student and the material, interactivity, which can involve exploration, challenge and assessment (responses involving knowledge or understanding), or skills training. Some of these learning purposes are outlined here. An online tool (optional - for more advanced users)VoiceThread, is exceptional at supporting interactivity with images and material online. It supports multiple ways of working with media.
Consider thinking routines here too. Consult the See, Think, Wonder page for ideas.
Images can be used to support critical thinking. Present images to students, perhaps propaganda from different countries at the time of World War II. How do images express socio-cultural perspectives? Consider the images of women in the war - http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/allin/leavinghome.html or a history of women in http://trove.nla.gov.au/browse/aww#/1933.
Consider having your students create an image. For instance a book cover for a novel they have just read. Is this low-level work? Or is it high level as they attempt to use their visual literacy to represent the characters, the story, the themes in visual form?
What about experiments, field trips? Usually students sit and take notes into notepads or excursion booklets. How much more useful would it be to record their trip or investigation using a digital camera, and then analyse what they have captured over time, rather than a cursory surface-look? Studying built environments, historical artefacts, pollution or erosion on the school grounds, creating interactive maps (see later) – all use student-generated information upon which to base a unit. This is primary, local evidence rather than having to rely on images of other places. And if you wish to compare your own environment with other places, why not do a collaborative project with another school in which you exchange and share images?
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***Tasks to complete at a later time
Engagement Task 2: Access and Upload digital photographs in Flickr - Optional
Digital Images Online
Digital Images can be found everywhere online. It is important to remember that if you have found it, somebody must have uploaded it. So somebody owns the copyright. Return to copyright guidelines explained through a series of scenarios to ensure you are not breaching copyright law athttp://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/946. In particular, pay careful attention to the requirement for password protection and attribution.
One of the most popular repositories of digital images online is Flickr. Anyone can have a free account and most of the images are able to be used for educational purposes. Copyright is covered under the Creative Commons Licence. This is a relatively new copyright system that supports sharing of materials online with specific author permissions. You can use the Flickr images in your own website by embedding the images, and are also welcome to upload your images to Flickr.
What is important to realise when you are working online, is that your images must be uploaded separately. You cannot copy and paste direct into your blog or wiki and expect it to be there when you publish it. Always be sure to view your sites from other computers. What you are doing is telling your web page where to find the picture when you upload it. You may have experienced a web page with an empty box with a red cross in the top corner? This is a page where the image cannot be found.
Activity with Flickr:
- Optional: Establish a free account with Flickr. You do not need an account to view and access images, but you will need an account if you upload your own images to Flickr.
- Search for images in a topic of interest to you.
- Examine the Creative Commons permissions, and decide whether you are free to use the image, and what attribution should be made.
- You can also search for images within Creative Commons. To do so, perform an initial search, and then on the bottom of the page (in small print) you will find a Creative Commons link. Another way to search for Flickr images is through TagGalaxy. You can refine your search by adding additional tags. An example (when discussing literacy and empowerment with any age student using a See,Think,Wonder routine) is to search for literacy, then add reading, then add children. What sorts of powerful discussions could you initiate in your learners?
Engagement Task 3a: Image Manipulation - Optional;
There are many good commercial software packages that will allow you to make a myriad of alterations to your images. These include Adobe PhotoShop, FireWorks, PaintShop Pro, Corel Paint and many more. Each of these packages has a cost involved and takes some time to develop expertise.
For this course we will be using a free online tool called Befunky which allow basic image manipulation sufficient for most teaching purposes. You can also find a Befunky app for your iPod, iPhone or iPad. And one for Android devices.
Give it a go - it does not require an account and you can upload, transform, and then save your images very easily. The address is: http://www.befunky.comEngagement Task 3b: Image Creation - Optional
There are numerous programs to support creativity and art. You may have your own favourite. Many of these are quite expensive, some of them are free.
The first program we wish to highlight is ArtRage. A school licence is not very expensive. You can download a full trial, which lasts for 15 days. There is also a free, limited edition you can use with no time restrictions. Should you wish to explore ArtRage, visit http://www.artrage.com/artrage-demos.html. A sample of an image created with Artrage (source: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/08/artrage/):
The second program is TuxPaint. Again, it is free. It is an ideal resource for younger children, aged 3-12. It has a variety of stamps, and basic drawing functions. A number of screen captures of TuxPaint can be found at http://tuxpaint.org/screenshots/.
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