Final Reflections on ICP

I wanted to say a few words about the powerpoint I did on flickr and photobucket. I enjoyed the assignment very much because I find the photographs on flickr, the site I really explored, so beautiful and moving in many ways. How can a person in general and our students in particular not come away from some of these visual images without deeply implanted impressions and sensations? I am certainly a "written word" kind of guy, have been my whole life, but the visual image is powerful and moving. Our children need to balance visual stimuli with the written word, watch the movie, see the play, but also read the book.


I learned a great deal about the sharing capabilities of flickr, the group functions, and the organizational aspects allowing creation of sets and groups. If I were to do this all over again, I think I would follow my lesson plan more than the slideshare powerpoint, as the latter was designed to accomplish the overall lesson objectives in 10-15 minutes. You need more time than that to truly explore any software. The lesson plan calls for group formation and creative endeavours together, and that is the way to really appreciate and utilize the program.


I think images would be indispensable to almost any curriculum area. Children learn through photographs, cartoons, seeing how things work. How can a verbal explanation of "The Great Wall" compare to photographic images of this architectural marvel? You can [occasionally] lecture in your classes but you should intersperse these digital images throughout the lesson to really communicate with your audience. In English, imagery such as dew drops on a leaf can be stunningly portrayed in a photo, not only by written words.


In Math, concepts could be displayed by images to enhance understanding. Science, same thing. The host of possibilities is endless. This software makes incorporating photos in your web pages, blogs, whiteboard teaching, and wikis so easy and lends itself to constructivist learning with students authoring their own creations. And collaboration is built into the program itself, with the group features and sharing abilities. Most of all, it is great fun and instructional at the same time. How can you go wrong bringing this tool into your classroom?