How to Use Flickr in Your Classroom

[Timothy Gangwer]

 

WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH 1 JULY 2010

 

I love photography. It wasn’t until I started doing Project 365 as a new year’s resolution that I really started to be so intrigued with it. Often times, I find myself pretending I’m some professional placing things or people, looking for lighting, finding unique angles, etc… but it is most definitely fun. Last night when I was uploading my photo for the day to my Flickr account I started to think about how Flickr could be used in the classroom.

Flickr has millions and millions of photographs on their site. And there is most definitely a lot of ways you can incorporate Flickr in your classroom. Here are some ideas of how you can use Flickr in your classroom:

• Creative writing assignment with individual pictures or storytelling with multiple pictures…can you imagine the possibilities?
• Create Virtual field trips!
• Teach students about intellectual property rights with Creative Commons licensing.
• Use the Flickr slideshow feature as an alternative to PowerPoint or other presentation tools.
• Create digital portfolios.
• Create various different groups to upload photos to and encourage collaboration and commenting from students.
• Explore with Flickr’s map feature to see what is happening all over the world.
• Use Flickr’s search feature to have your students collect photos of important monuments or symbols, then create a presentation on what and why those are important to history.

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There are SO many ways to use Flickr in the classroom – those are just the tip of the iceberg! So, I want to also address a couple safety issues while using Flickr. Remember that you can make groups that are private for your class or school. This will help ensure only those you want to see your photos will be able to. Instead of using students actual names, give them a number or use initials. Also, make sure that if you’re publishing photos of the students, you get permission from their parents first.

Hope you will have a few takeaways from this post about Flickr. Don’t forget, it’s free to sign up! If you have some additional uses in the classroom, please share!