I have to say that my 3rd graders are pretty spiffy when it comes to tech. They each have an Acer netbook and can whip out a Google doc, drawing or slide presentation like nobody's business.
So now is the perfect time to have the discussion about WHICH images are okay to use.
Today they are writing blogs posts about planting Golden Poppies. They have to include an image of this flower in their blog post and it MUST be an image that they KNOW they are allowed to use.
I started off our discussion by showing this great video by Nancy Minicozzi (@CoffeeNancy) to introduce the whole concept of choosing images to use.
So now is the perfect time to have the discussion about WHICH images are okay to use.
Today they are writing blogs posts about planting Golden Poppies. They have to include an image of this flower in their blog post and it MUST be an image that they KNOW they are allowed to use.
I started off our discussion by showing this great video by Nancy Minicozzi (@CoffeeNancy) to introduce the whole concept of choosing images to use.
Which images are the "good" ones?
There are many, many great resources out there for teaching about and finding Creative Commons images. But I have to be honest, even I get "lost" in some of those websites. I end up taking an "image bird walk" and start out searching for Golden Poppies and end up looking at cute photos of Golden Retrievers! Before I realize it, I'm in the middle of a page of adorable puppies doing all kinds of cute things! Ugh!
PhotosForClass.com
PhotosForClass.com is a great website for students to search for images. It's a very simple, easy website to use.
It has a simple search bar that students can type in whatever subject they need an image for and up pops a page full of appropriate "G-Rated" images that have been licensed for educational use. PhotosForClass.com even has a widget that you can put on your class blog/website so students can search for images without leaving your blog/website. |
Usage Rights in a Google Search
Another way I taught my students to search for images is by sorting the images that come up in a Google search by Usage Rights. The basic steps are:
Feel free to use this GIF I made...
- Type the subject you are trying to find an image for into a new Google tab.
- Click on images
- Click on Search Tools
- Click on Usage Rights
- Choose one of the options that say "Labeled for Reuse"
Feel free to use this GIF I made...
Alice Keeler has written quite a few blog posts/articles about using Creative Commons items...HERE is one of them. And of course you can search Twitter for even more spiffy stuff!