Flickr as a social tool

Using Flickr as a social tool

Flickr is an online social photo sharing application. It allows users to upload their own photos onto a site and have the option to share these with others. There are also other components such as the map that allows the user to pinpoint the locations where their photos were taken. This could be useful in the classroom because it would allow students, who may have been on a school trip or something to upload their photos and then share them with their parents or friends mid way through the trip. When the students return from their trip they are then connected with their classmates again and able to see the different photos they had taken during the trip. Flickr is an important part of the social networking tool because it allows people to connect using a visual medium, a popular learning tool. Flickr is better than programs such as photobucket because it allows users to put their photos on the map and share these with other users, viewers are able to search for photos from particular locations as well.

From Wiki – back to school with the Class of Web 2.0

Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0

These three sites are the writings and findings of a web designer/programmer, Brian Benzinger. These sites are parts of a three part article that he has written, Part one looks at tools, part two looks at office applications and part three deals with real cases of the use of web 2.0 in classrooms around the world. This is an invaluable tool because the author, Brian Benzinger has tried and tested all the links/applications he recommends in his article. He has also highlighted personal favourites, this is important because teachers need to know if the applications they may be looking to use in their own class have worked for others, if they are recommended, they may be more willing to use the same technique in the future.

Part one

Part one categorises the different parts of web 2.0 into groups such as media sharing, learning and research and For teachers. These sub categories set out the liks nicely, making it easy for teachers to look through the links that may only apply to them. It also looks at a load of resources/applications for students that teachers should be aware of.

Part Two

Part two deals mainly with office applications and comparing the different applications such as word processor applications and spreadsheets etc. with each other. This is a new dimension to programs that we take for granted such as Word. It offers office applications that are entirely created on the internet, an integral part of Web 2.0.

Part Three

Part three looks at experiences with the different applications/tools that form part of Web 2.0 and their use in Education. What he has noticed with the use of Educational blogging, Photosharing with programs such as flickr, podcasting, Wikis and video sharing.

All three parts are important from a teacher’s point of view because they allow us to gain an insight into how we may use these programs, the pros and cons of each of them and perhaps how they can be improved. This article also allows for comments to be made/read by other viewers, bringing about the idea of social networking/learning off each other.

Web 2.0 slideshare retrieved from Mel’s Blog