The first thing I want to say is that I had no idea how many web 2.0 tools were out there—it’s unbelievable, and this has opened up an entirely new resource for me as an instructor of digital and traditional photography. It felt like Christmas morning opening up that site (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it was so much fun to see all the tools at my fingertips). Let me preface this by saying that I’ve been in search of a tool that my students could use to set up an online gallery to display their work throughout the semester. A few months ago I was pretty set on carbonmade.com because of the beauty and simplicity of their gallery design. However, there is no room for comments or much text to accompany the images, which is a vital aspect in my students’ learning process. So…my search continued. Now, there are a ton of online photo galleries to choose from, but I decided to go with PhotoBlog.com. I’m so excited to begin using this tool in my classroom and the reasons I chose this particular sight are as follows:
-the ease and accessibility of posting images.
-the use of the online format to generate additional discussions on photo media issues and networks.
-the ability to leave comments on individual/classmate images.
-the category feature (images of similar topics can be grouped together to support lesson plans).
-the blogging feature that I can invite students to read for updates/tips/techniques on individual assignments. They can even begin their own blog about their project experiences.
-the ability to view classmates’ work, but also the work of thousands of other photographers and to be able to easily connect with them and ask questions.
-an additional email feature right on the site for students to ask questions about notes, examples, etc.
-an RSS feed to subscribe to the site/blog/info and see when new items have been posted.
I have begun setting up my account, which was extremely easy and have included a screenshot to give you an idea of how it looks so far. This is one of my classrooms.
My thought is that this will also be a site that students will like personally. They can post their picture to their profile, invite their friends and families to view, and share their classroom work “out” of the classroom. The idea of the online gallery also benefits students as they begin to see the culmination of their work throughout the semester and see the progression of improvement and personal style. It’s also a fantastic organizational tool for me as the instructor due to the reduction of cds and flash drives to turn in their work. I'm looking forward to seeing the response this tool will bring. It will be a huge change for this current class!
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