In the classroom I use my iPhone to document learning. Both photos and videos. That same day, all the pictures are in Flickr waiting for me to edit and make ‘stories’ out of. (I use IFTTT to automatically upload all my iPhone photos to Flickr and Here’s how.)
Flickr is also a social network where educators can share creative commons pictures and tag pictures so that other educators can find and use them. I do my best to contribute to the social sharing by tagging away on my pictures. (Flickr is also a place you can house keep your own pictures; all levels of privacy are offered. One more thing…you get 1 TB of free space!)
Flickr has a built-in photo editor called Aviary and that means you don’t have to waste time editing in other apps and uploading back to Flickr. While Aviary is missing one tool I like (the blur tool is limited — found in blemish) it has lots to like and USE. In addition to the 3 tools described below, it has some FINE filters and effects. It will work fetchingly for my school pictures and will help me achieve my goal of increasing the use of visuals and stories with my kids.
My 3 favorite tools built-in to Flickr in the Aviary editor:
- SPLASH–do the Color Splash effect right in Flickr! Spash turns your entire picture black and white. Then, you simply color over the section you want colored. On the picture above, I would have the entire yard black and white with the YELLOW slide popping out. 🙂 It could be a story starter or springboard! No need to go to another app/editor and then come back.
- DRAW–draw freehand any notes, circle or highlight things.
- TEXT–I like this tool so much because I can create pictures with text/quotes. There are photo/text apps with more options but this works fine for much of your edu-text/pic needs.
- My inspiration for this visual push was our convocation speaker +Darren Kuropatwa‘s Slideshare presentation, which I’ve included below. Thanks to Darren for learning out loud with us and sharing your learning online for all to use. Scroll through this, my friends. It’s full of great pictures, IDEAS, and more pictures, with minimal yet meaningful text. Yes, Darren, I remember. 80% of our brains are wired to process visual data. 🙂
2 final notes:
1. Get the Flickr App on your mobile phone.
2. Flickr assigns you an email address so you can email photos to your Flickr account. (Click on your picture in upper right and on Settings.) This works great for photo assignments in class. Students or staff can email photos to your account and you can compile them into sets for sharing as a collective.
PS….How do I find the Aviary editor you ask? When I open a picture in Flickr, I click the 3 small pink dots in the lower right and select Edit Photo in Aviary. The tools above open up across the top…as seen in yard/slide picture at the top.)
I took the hawk picture above and lightened it, then added text.
I can pull in science and more. Have you ever felt like hiding behind something?
Why? Why would hawks hide? A picture with text opens up more than showing just the picture itself.
Good luck and I hope to see you and learn with you on Flickr AND on Twitter!
