BP5_2009102_Flickr

One of the most obvious uses of Flickr for classroom use is to provide learners with visuals to increase effective communication. At http://www.jakesonline.org/collections.htm, teachers can access uses of Flickr from categories. Mousing over the resources produces pop-up's with links and tags to other resources. Included on this site are examples of how Flickr is used in classrooms.

Derek Baird (2005) stated that "one of the most promising and innovative, in terms of e-learning applications, is Flickr." Baird pointed to how online collaboration and community are interwoven as "main components of the platform design." Baird also pointed to the ease of using Flickr, which allows students to keep their focus on the learning goal while practicing new skills.

In the school's where I work, students used to peruse magazines for images to use for reports. More recently, Google Images provided images that learners and educators have used, but there is a persistant, low-level murmuring of questions about copyright uses like, "Is it ok to use those Google-searched images, or not?" Flickr gives students and teachers the ability to legally share content and use photographs for non-commercial use through a Creative Commons license.

Baird provided seven specific uses of Flickr in the classroom. In particular, I am interested in his example of an American Studies professor:

An American Studies professor travels to Walden Pond during the summer and uploads his pictures to Flickr. The photographs provide his students with visual context and imagery for the places discussed by Thoreau. This example could work equally as well in the history, science, or foreign language classroom, and allows the student to make asynchronous connections to the content being taught in the classroom.

For my earth science classes, I could plan lessons for students to observe cloud formations and to photograph different types of cloud formations that could be uploaded onto Flickr and comments added. These photographs could be shared as a group or community that could be used to produce collaborative projects about earth's atmosphere and different types of clouds. This would support all students to be successful on this type of assignment.


Baird, D. (2005). The promise of social networks. Tech & Learning. Retreived on 10/9/09 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4816