Like many Web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged others to build online applications that use images found on the site. As a result, many people have created third-party tools called mashups. These tools help you find, organize, and use photos in various ways. You can locate photos based on color, create mosaics of photos, use photos in games, and much more.
There are also online image generators that use photos from your computer, from Flickr, or from other sources. Most of us don’t have the time or artistic talent to create specialized graphics or logos for projects, but online image generators let you and your students create many types of images – framed pictures, posters, comic-style captions, and much more. Students can create trading cards of authors, scientists, historical figures, or concepts they've learned. Other possibilities include creating a calendar with images related to what you’re studying that month, a billboard advertising an event, or a magazine cover featuring a project team. You'll come up with plenty of ideas.
Discovery Resources
Explore the following resources:
Discovery Exercises
To complete Thing 4, you must:
A. Explore Flickr
B. Download a photo
C. Explore some mashups and image generators
D. Create and save an image
E. Post two images to your blog and reflect on your experiences
A. Explore Flickr
For a quick overview start with the Flickr Learn More tour. Click on "Start the Magical Feature Tour" at the bottom of the page. You may also want to watch Exploring Flickr for more tips on how to navigate the site.
B. Download a photo and post it to your blog
Go back to the main Flickr page and try searching by tag. Tags are keywords people use to organize their photos. Enter a tag in the SEARCH box. Try volcano, Thoreau, frog, perspective, happiness, or some of your own. Remember that all photos are self-tagged by the person who uploads them. Your idea of the meaning of a tag may be something entirely different than another person’s. Also be aware that because anyone can upload photos and tag them as they wish, you may come across images during your search that you feel are inappropriate.
Find a photo you want to download, and click on it to go to its page. To download the photo, right-click on the image and choose "Save image as..." Rename the photo and save it in an appropriate folder so you can upload it to your blog later. Click here for further guidance on how to download a photo.
Be sure to consider copyright laws when using pictures from the site. When viewing a photo on Flickr, scroll down the page and look in the right column where you will see rights to the photo under Additional Information. If it says All Rights Reserved, you do not have the right to use it without obtaining permission from its owner. A good solution is to use photos that have Creative Commons licensing which gives certain rights to users. Flickr photos licensed under Creative Commons can been accessed by using Flickr Advanced Search or the online tool Compfight. (Be sure to choose Creative Commons only at the top of the Compfight page.) The Library of Congress also has a collection of public domain photos on Flickr.
C. Explore some mash-ups and image generators
These tools are fun and it's easy to spend a lot of time! In fact, it could become your newest hobby! You will need the latest version of Flash Player enabled for some of these.
- Spell with Flickr - This tool creates great headers for blogs, websites, PowerPoints, or documents.
- Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
- Sudoku with Flickr – Instead of numbers, use images in your Sudoku puzzles.
- Flickr montager - Enter a tag and this site will create a mosaic comprised of images.
- Flickr Memry – Traditional memory game created with Flickr images.
- Mosaic Maker – create a photo mosaic from photos found on Flickr.
- Bookr - a cute way to create little books using Flickr pictures and your text.
- Trading Card Maker - Create trading cards using your Flickr photos; lots of color and layout choices.
- Big Huge Labs - Here you might want to try the motivational poster, badge maker, magazine cover, movie poster, Jigsaw, or trading cards.
- Image Chef - On this site, you can create custom frames for your own photos or generate original images.
- ImageGenerator.org - This site represents one-stop shopping for image generators. You may find it more challenging to use than Big Huge Labs, but it definitely has possibilities.
D. Create and Save an Image
Using one of the image generators or mash-ups above, create an image of your choosing. Then, either save the image to your computer (using the same process as described in Part B, above), or capture its embed code to embed it on your blog. Click here for a video tutorial on capturing embedding code.
E. Reflect - Blog Prompt for Thing 4
Before responding to your experiences with Flickr and image generators, first post both the Flickr image you saved in Part B and the generated image you created in Part D to your blog post. For instructions on how to post an image, click here. For instructions on how to embed code, click here.
In the same blog post containing your two images, reflect on your experiences with images. For a reminder on blog post guidelines, click here. Make sure that you title your post "Thing 4."
- What did you enjoy or not enjoy about Flickr? About image generators?
- Why did you choose the photo you downloaded from Flickr?
- How can you see your students using these tools?
- Did you know about the Creative Commons License prior to this Thing? Why is it important to share this concept with our students?
- Which image generator or mashup was your favorite? What are some ideas you have for using these in the classroom?
Bonus: Mashups
In this Thing, we explored Flickr mashups, but the Web houses many other types of mashups as well.
Check out What is a Mashup? on About.com for further explanation regarding mashups. Then, play around with some of the applications on About's Ten Best Mashups on the Web.
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