Photosharing Possibilities

Mecatina School Library, originally uploaded by Tadaa!1.

Photo taking had always been an enjoyable pastime of mine... a means of holding onto memories, creatively organizing photos in an album to share with family and friends... but somewhere, somehow, fewer pictures were being taken. Was it a question of lack of time? Fewer photo opportunities? The onset of digital cameras? Who knows. But the thoughts of simply downloading reams of pictures onto the computer and storing them there did not appeal to me. Had I taken the time, however, to explore tools such as Flickr, perhaps I would have arrived to this place sooner...

But here I am. As presented in Web 2.0 for Schools (Davies and Merchant, 2009), Flickr is a site for storing and sharing images, but also has many other key features that provide opportunities for both formal and informal learning (p. 36). One idea that stood out for me was that of a Science project where students took photographs to document plant growth, from seed to flower (p. 37). With the ‘organization’ feature on Flickr, the students were able to compare the growth habits of various flowers. And with the ‘annotation’ feature, they were able to add descriptive notes to the images themselves, which illustrated specific changes to parts of the flower. (Tried annotating the library photo but wasn't able to share it with you on this blog). Reflecting on a project my students have done, when building a model of the setting within a story, they could now take a photograph and annotate the different parts of their model.

Flickr also led me to discover Smilebox, which is another tool I was not familiar with. Although it took a few trial runs before I was able to master (?) this slideshow tool, I gained more confidence and became more creative as I went. Although I see this as a means of organizing and sharing my own personal projects, I can see where the slideshows, for example, may provide students with another choice as a presentation tool. It would tie in nicely as a media project as well!

Other than technological and transference glitches, I was very impressed with the capabilities these tools have to offer. Now comes the age old problem of time management... to investigate the tools’ possibilities even further!

A Digital Slideshow

Create a digital slideshow

My Place in the Web 2.0 World

With legs a little bit shaky, I’m ready to take my first steps in exploring Web 2.0 tools, but in what direction  do I head?  Until recently, my experience engaging with the Internet has primarily been one of research and inquiry.  Living in a remote community, I welcomed the idea that I could reach out beyond our shores and get other’s perspectives and ideas to help me both personally and professionally.  Not to mention the fact that through email, I could stay more closely connected with family and friends that lived at a distance.   But that was the extent of my Internet use.... that is, however, until I began my Masters.

As with Will Richarson’s statement in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom (2009), “the ability to create content on the Web was nowhere as easy as consuming it” (p. 1), the idea of “writing” on the Web was (is) a intimidating concept for me.  I suppose there are several factors that may contribute to this:  I am more of an introvert than an extrovert; living in an isolated community, I have had to learn to work with resources readily at hand; and lastly,  it’s a question of who would be interested in hearing what I have to say? 

And with that being said, this is the direction I will take... using this blog as a space to get myself out there, to reflect on my thinking, on my learning and to try to embrace feedback from others as a means to making more connections... with others and to my place in the Web 2.0 world.  And hopefully as my comfort level develops, I may gain the confidence to use these tools with my students (who show NO fear) to help broaden their horizons and to realize the full potential these tools have to offer. 

As with myself, participating safely is a concern.  I plan to keep this at the forefront of my exploration or “play” and learn about how best to protect ourselves.  With no technical support offered by either our school or our school board, I see this as being one of my challenges.  Another challenge revolves around the idea of living in remote regions.  What are the implications that may hinder our abilities to get involved in Web 2.0 technologies?  And how may we overcome them?

So as I head forward, I expect there will be several tumbles along the way.   But it’s important to get back up, wipe away the tears and keep trudging on!

First Steps

My name is Tanya Poole and I am currently teaching in a beautiful area in north eastern Quebec called La Tabatiere.  Pursuing a passion with children's literature and developing libraries, I have started working on my Masters in Education.  My current course requires that I explore or "play" with various Web 2.0 tools, which begins with this blog.

As when I first learned to walk, I am proceeding with hesitation, taking care with each step.but still determined to persevere.  So this post is step number one... but there will be more to follow.