Thing # 4 Exploring Flickr

We continue using photographs by adding a Web 2.0 tool perfect for the task "flicker"  Once designed as a component in a game, flickr became more valuable and popular than the game. Flickr serves both professional and armature. As an educator what I find most gratifying is that fact that a photographer and tag their photo as part of the Creative Commons licensing.  This simple gesture shares this valuable tool with every educator and student at no cost. It makes attainable the notion that a picture is worth a thousand words.

I recall the moment when I picked up my iPad and went to http://flickr.com/photos/102066657@N06 and saw my photos on line.  I was excited to work that I had created out there on the Internet for everyone to see. I dashed into the next room and proudly told my daughter to go to flickr and search for "teal Jeep."  She found images of hundreds of vintage jeeps.  At the top left corner were my two photos of a teal jeep at Rock Port, Texas.   What excitement did I feel? I felt un-imaginable pride.

This second feature is call "tag" and flickr lets you use them to identify your photos.  You can use as many tags per photo as you feel necessary.  This helps the educator create meaningful presentations by illustrating concepts for students.  A thousand words can be spared by the employment of a picture. You create sets and collections of stock photos in your account.  By thematically breaking down the groupings you in effect create a searchable library of ready to use images. The richer your use of tags, sets, and collections the easier it will be to locate useful images quickly. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102066657@N06/9792217336/

I created a collection of stock photos.  Then I inserted sets of photos.  Each set is based around a theme like Jeeps or Churches.  Then each photo is tagged with additional clarity. 

Some of the issues I face is that fact that flickr is not supporting RAW or NEFF images at this time.  Since I typically use RAW images because they are more detailed when making custom adjustments in Photoshop or LightRoom.  Since I then convert the touched up image to the smaller jpeg file format before positing online.

Using the Blogger interface, you can move images from flickr to a blog like this one easily.  As I had mentioned before, a person who does not own a computer can access images over the Internet and post them in blogs or Google Docs using public access computers.  It is important for educators to promote digital literacy using these tools.