Module 4

Ah so true!

Module 4 got me into the wide world of flickr and there I stayed for many, many minutes while my slow internet connection tried to load up my measly five images......GRRRRRR.

I think with a better internet connection this site could be very fun. There are a few interesting options for using flickr in the classroom but also some issues to consider. Privacy and copyright are a big concern. Parents need to give permission for any photographs of their children to be published and teachers should carefully consider the need for putting their students photographs on what is essentially a social networking site. As is so often reported in the media, social networking sites do not always have the best protection for our personal details. Until these privacy issues are dealt with, it is important to keep our children protected.

An effective way to utilise flickr in the classroom is as an online art gallery. The children can take photographs of their own artwork and then upload them onto the class flickr account. This would allow the children an opportunity to learn how to use a digital camera as well as develop the skills involved with uploading images. It would also give parents an insight into some of the artwork that is in the classroom. Often artwork does not come home because it may get lost or because of other reasons such as living arrangements. As a result, parents and grandparents are unable to view their child's masterpieces. This way many people can view the children's work and also make comments.

flickr can also be used as a search tool whne children are looking for images although this may also be dangerous as the content is not monitored.

This unit also tapped into some deeper issues regarding copyright. I had not heard of Creative Commons until starting this module and am I thrilled to have discovered this wonderful resource. Something that I found interesting is that an author may not own copyright of their text! It was fascinating to read what we are and are not able to use from the web in the classroom.



The Mayer and Bettle animations are excellent. I am planning to use them in class to teach the children about the importance of copyright and why correctly referencing any material that they are using when creating multimedia presentations or when using web 2.0 is important. This is an essential skill to develop, because when the students reach high school and university they need to be referencing material when writing assignments. It also gets them into the mode of looking for material to use that is free of copyright.

This was an interesting module. Hopefully next term I will begin my online art gallery I will keep you posted!