Time to Play Brings Questions, Answers, Excitement and....More Questions

Top Ten Life Lessons Learned from a Week of Photosharing Exploration
10. It is more exciting to share photos online than to print, sort, stuff them into albums, and dust the albums on a shelf.
9. Uploading photos to Flickr is just as easy as viewing photos on Flickr.
8. I should have known about Flickr when people were pestering me to share my wedding photos. 16 months later is a little late in the digital world!
7. Digital photography has made us all photographers. Digital photosharing has allowed us all to be published photographers.
6. In his podcasts, Lee Lefever can convince anyone about the efficacy of Photosharing sites such as Flickr.
5. You can learn more about a co-worker or longtime friend in ten minutes on their Flickr photostream than you might learn in an entire afternoon in conversation.
4. Great art for one’s home can be found (with copyright permission) on the Internet.
3. School Boards and policy makers are moving at a snail’s pace in relation to the technology.
2. Dads have more ideas about how to use Web 2.0 than we give them credit for.
1. Moms still don’t believe that homework can be done while connected to the Internet.

My Research
I spent a great deal of time on Flickr this week. I received an e-mail from a friend informing me that she had updated her son’s baby photostream, and enjoyed a few minutes looking over her favourites that she had selected to share with friends and family. Through Facebook, I viewed a co-workers photos and was amazed at the professional quality of his work. I gained an even greater appreciation of his work while reading the comments of other photographers from around the world. Before uploading my personal photos for the world to see, I admittedly first watched Lee Lefever’s podcast (http://www.commoncraft.com/photosharing) and was surprised to hear a number of benefits of online photosharing that I hadn’t previously considered. Uploading photos for safekeeping (versus discs or hard drives that may meet demise) was a method of file backup that certainly had not occurred to me. I had also not thought of the inspiration and motivation that would come as a photographer (amateur as I am) when others could view and comment on my work. And then, after some trepidation, I set up my own Flickr account and uploaded a number of photos of my own (search People – stampingjill on http://www.flickr.com)/. Because the Web 2.0 world offers instant gratification and click-button publishing, and the process of inquiry online is scattered at the best of times, my remaining research was admittedly done as I reflected on the process. I found Terry Freedman’s online book "Coming of Age: An Introduction to the NEW worldwide web" had some interesting and postitive comments in photosharing for educators. "Jakespeak," a teacher’s reflective blog (http://jakespeak.blogspot.com/2006/08/is-flickr-appropriate-kids-have-their.html) discussed implications when using Flickr with students, and shared students’ responses and reflections.


The Process
As I reflect on the processes in this week’s exploration of photosharing tools, it is interesting to admit that my research followed my leap into using the technology. It was after I easily uploaded my personal photos of vacations and my wedding that I considered access to the photos and one’s impetus for sharing them so publicly. As teachers, I think it is important to carefully consider these implications, and to make time and space for these discussions and thoughts well before access to the technology is provided. To have the discussion while sitting in front of the "Upload Now!" button on the computer/Blackberry/cell phone screen is foolish and, I imagine, ineffective. Just as we teach students about critically viewing/hearing/reading media, we must assist them in making critical thinking decisions about their own media and internet presence. Students should be aware that many businesses ‘Google’ potential employees as a part of the interview process to see ‘what comes up.’ What we upload and make available for others is, as Lee Lefever points out, a representation of you. We must help students create an accurate and appropriate representation.

This week I found myself genuinely ‘playing’ with the photosharing technologies, as I believe is the intent of this course. It struck me this week that the more I played, the more I understood the technology, and the more I saw its depth and potential applications. I also found myself sharing the techonology with others, which in turn sustained my own interest and excitement. I e-mailed a group of friends and family to let them know that my wedding photos are finally available on Flickr. At my parents’ house for dinner, I showed a friends’ Flickr photos. After watching me explain the photosharing possibilities, my dad politely remarked "So, instead of e-mailing you those photos just now, you’re telling me I should have uploaded them here." Um, yes Dad. That is what I, in my infinite wisdom meant....as I leaned over your shoulder and helped you send me three e-mails, each with only three photos due to the e-mail capacity. Dads are so smart!! I am certain that as I continue to use Flickr, to both view and share photos, I will become more aware of the endless possibilities and applications.

Implications for Teaching
What then, are the implications for my teaching? I am struggling this week with the frustrations and limitations of policy and the Freedom of Information and Privacy act in relation to Web 2.0 in schools. I am still a part of a flurry of e-mails discussing possibilities for blogging with my students, after initiating blogging as an idea last January. To say I am becoming weary about the District’s willingness to use the latest in technology would be accurate. To say I’m frustrated would be honest. To say I’m motivated by this course to push the issue would be accurate, and a saving grace for my students! I believe that there are ways to use Flickr that will motivate students, and take their work (such as Digital Storytelling) to the next level. Terry Freedman ("Coming of Age") would agree. In his book he states "Flickr (and similar tools) help take it all a step further by encouraging and facilitating the cross-fertilization of ideas, and collaboration. That has to be a good thing!" I agree!

I asked myself earlier this week what Flickr does that could not be done via Digital Storytelling, or even good old PowerPoint, and it is the access to global collaboration and cross-fertilization. I am wondering how I could link up with a school in China for our Social Studies unit to effectively view and comment on pictures of culture and ways they meet their needs, while they do the same for our photos. It could be a fascinating and authentic project for students! I will work on finding a school to partner with for such a project in January or February.

Next week, my students and I are walking to a nearby ravine to explore Trees and Forests for our Science topic. If we upload our photos to Flickr, forests, nature enthusiasts and other students could comment on our photos and assist us in identifying and learning about the specimens. With digital cameras on field trips, the possibilities are endless, and the real world experiences are not only capture but, via online photosharing, they are enriched.

In the blog Jakespeak, a high school teacher shares his reflections on using Flickr with students. They also share their responses to the program. They are excited that Flickr has more selection than Google images, although many are copyright protected. Appropriate copyright action would be a necessary lesson for students when using an online photosharing program such as Flickr. As well, a number of the students share that they found inappropriate photos on Flickr. As high school students, many stated that the images were no worse than some they saw in the media. But a number of students and their teacher indicated that they would not use Flickr with elementary students as one can not be sure what search results will include. These students and teacher were reflecting on searching using Flickr, but uploading photos requires even greater reflection. At this time, I plan to upload photos that do not identify specific locations (such as a school/neighbourhood sign) and that do not include any people in the photos. This may greatly limit the usable images, but would be expected given the FOIP expectations of the school district and students’ parents.

I look forward to trying to stimulate online comments and feedback using Flickr with our Trees and Forests field trip this week. I will seek out more opportunities as a teacher to use online photosharing with students this year. At this time, I will use my own Flickr account with my students and act as a facilitator, rather than asking students to navigate the website themselves. My comfort level, and I believe that of my students’ parents, lies in sharing generic, faceless photos, and viewing photos as a class that have been pre-screened by the teacher. But as I have learned through extensive playing this week, as a part of the learning process, I am certain that I will discover new uses and applications that I can bring to my teaching. I look forward to continuing to learn and play; I might even share some photos of the process!