Flickr

Flickr is an amazing tool that allows users to upload photos and videos that can be made available to the general public to view and use. Data also, however, can be set to be viewed solely by the user. It is for this reason Flickr is such a great tool to be used within education contexts as well as everyday use. Users are able to store their photos on the website and even use others photos. Consequently, this tool can be used within educational contexts as a means of finding and choosing appropriate photos for classroom tasks as well as uploading and storing students own photos. In this context it can be seen that Learning Managers could make use of this tool in any classroom activity.

As Mueller (1980) describes, some students learn best with visual cues incorporated into learning experiences. It is for this reason that visual cues should be provided within classroom contexts in order to cater for these learners and achieve inclusive practices (Felder & Solomon). Furthermore, the use of images within pedagogical contexts provides significant support to the engagement of learners (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). In support to this view it can be seen that Flickr provides access to a range of educational appropraite images for view as well as use. For this reason it can be seen that through the incorporation of images within pedagogical contexts, learning Managers are able to support inclusive practices and provide engagement for their students within learning experieneces (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). However, Flickr is a tool that can be used by Learning managers as well as students! Students can make use of Flickr by using images within their assessment tasks and presentations to support their work and provide visual cues to their information. Learning Managers can design learning tasks that require students to document their experienecs through photos or videos which can be uploaded onto Flickr for storage or even submission. This type of task clearly incorporates the use of ICTs and multimedia, important in catering for 'digital native' students who are familiar with the uses of technology within the 21st century (Prensky 2001).

In using Flickr i found it quite simple to explore and maneuver around the site as well as upload images and view galleries of other users images. I have already thought of numerous ways in which i can use this tool within my future teaching and designing of assessment tasks. Through this i am able to see how such a tool creates engagement for students and caters for those visual learning within the learning site.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm