Chapter 7

Having spent some time earlier today experimenting with using Photopeach for my personal blog , I was eager to read chapter 7, "Fun with Flickr," to learn how photography and technology can be used to improve the learning process for my students.  In this chapter, Richardson discusses how photos  can be made a part of the Read/Write Web context.  Richardson gives instructions for signing up for a Flickr account and presents several reasons for doing so. The benefit of such a web site is that Flickr is a photo-hosting site that allows users to annotate and post photos. Users can then tag their photos and connect with other sites who have photos for the same subject.  

Several of the examples for application made it clear how Flickr can be used in an art, geography, science, and even history classes. However, I had trouble at first determining how I would use Flickr to enhance student learning for my junior English classes.  I am already pressed for time to complete all of the curriculum for the course, so I do not want to add technology just because it is available.  Fortunately after brainstorming by looking at the various components of the subject matter that I teach, I came up with a question: "Is it possible that using Flickr would allow me to teach vocabulary in a way that would make the words more meaningful?".  To answer this question, I went to the web.  A google search led me to
 http://teacherdudebbq.blogspot.com/2007/01/teaching-vocabulary-using-flickr.html

At this blog site, I found a practical suggestion for using Flickr to teach students to identify the subtle differences between closely related words.  I have already been trying to address this topic in the classroom, so I can easily see how having students attach images to words like vexed and wrath will help them recall the definitions and understand the appropriate applications.



My search also led me to another useful site,
http://eduwithtechn.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/flickr-vocabulary-pictures-based-on-real-objects-for-your-class/

I have taken a few classes in teaching ELL students and, therefore, I am aware of the importance of using real images to effectively teach new vocabulary and concepts.  However, it has not always been possible to gather enough objects to fully teach a complicated list of new vocabulary words.  The above site offers a great suggestion to use Flickr to create a file of images.  Harry Tuttle, author of this site, has also generously offered access to his collection of over 600 images.  He introduces this use of Flickr by stating, "Elementary teachers, special education teachers, modern language  / foreign language teachers, ESL teachers, and   people working with refugees can use these pictures.   The pictures usually have no words.  They can be used in any language."