Group items tagged

An interesting visual way to find images--each image found leads to a "swirl" of other related images, usually from the same site. Images found can be used in content-based/project-based learning. Be aware of copyright issues when using images from the Internet. Thanks to Webhead Rita Zeinstejer for this tip.

"Transform your class presentation with video and images: A 5-minute makeover (video)" Well, it takes a little longer to find the images and video that liven it up, but the helpful templates inside of PowerPoint can be used to much better effect than you might believe.

"Upload an image from your computer and choose how many sheets wide you would like your poster to be once printed. "Once you're happy with your selection, you can download the PDF file containing your newly created images and print each one massively blown up, resulting in a huge pixel poster to stick on your wall ..." A very useful tool for display of your students' work, or to make a giant jigsaw puzzle. T/H to R. Byrne

This link gives you 3 sources including the title: Visual Writing Prompts, The Literacy Shed, and Video Writing Prompts. Some can be browsed by genre, grade, or subject area. And some have the prompts written directly on each image. The title site includes a prompt explanation, an explanation of any relevant vocabulary and language, and a convenient one-click download button. I always used a set of images, culled over years of browsing magazines and newpapers, as writing prompts for various types of writing. Sites with prompts built-in can be an advantage for the busy teacher, or a disadvantage if you don't want to search for something that precisely fits your assignment goals. You can also have students create their own portfolio of images and prompts to share with other writers. T/H to Nick LaFave.

"Here's a powerful example of a poem-photo combination that can inspire unlimited possibilities for writing. In the poem "Skateboarding" by Massbay College student Rose Scherlis, colorful images swirl and converge until the world blurs and the skater's mind becomes receptive to new ideas. The swirling lines and shapes in the accompanying photo add to the effect:" Using digital images to inspire writing.

Free quality stock images for blogs Jazz up your blog, at no cost, with millions of premium, relevant, fresh and legal images to choose from.

R. Stannard shows how to use ELT Pics, which is hosted by Flickr. You can also get an email feed to show pictures as they are updated. A nice way to garner resources for writing or student projects. Pictures are crowd-sourced, and curated by EFL teachers. I use pictures often for teaching writing: description, emotions, cultural comparisons, if-clauses, etc. Don't miss the "Making Collages" part of this video, as it includes PicMonkey, which has templates for collages. ELT Pics also has its own blog with ideas for using images.

20 Great Online Image Editors

"Virtual Impersonation "Creating social media posts and profiles for people (real/fictional), places, plants, and animals has proven to be an engaging and thought-provoking experience for students. From creating FaceBook pages for endangered species to Tweets from Abe Lincoln, virtual impersonation can be a powerful tool for learning. I recently shared a great Google Slides Instagram post template. A coworker was looking for something a bit more interactive that would allow for multiple posts, so I built a multi-slide profile/gallery template. "The Instagram template is available for Keynote, Google Slides, or PowerPoint. Students just replace the profile text (name, job/title, description, location), then begin replacing picture placeholders with images of their choosing. Each small image placeholder is hyperlinked to a separate slide for that image's post." Impersonating an historical figure or book character, et al., is a great way to really get into the content. T/H to Nick LaFave

Start your presentation, type a few words and then search for a copyright free creative commons-licensed image to illustrate, add charts or graphs, and select theme, layout, and filters. Share and view on any web-enabled device or embed in your website or blog. Help your students create beautiful presentations on the iPads. Free.

This is a collection of texts and accompanying images created by users that you can use for ESL/EFL activities. Have students create and add their own digital stories connected to a theme or short story they have searched for and read. You can also search by a key word, such as a grammatical term they are studying (e.g., "used to"). Thanks to C. Arena.

"Learni.st makes it super easy to share what you know by pointing to existing web resources. You can use videos, blogs, books, documents, images, anything to explain how to learn something. This short video will teach you about the basics of Learnist like how the homepage is laid out and what is on a Learn Board." You will need an invite in this current Beta stage, but I think it will catch on.

The crowd-sourced collection of images on Flickr that is used by teachers for inspiring classes. Includes grammar topics, relationships, even maths.

Another way to use tagging. if it can be found in a search engine, you will see it displayed on a visual wall, as in this example from the Webheads in Action: http://spezify.com/#/webheads Makes using tags of all kinds even more important. Be sure your students select really unique tags. (In this example, there is a YouTube video and other materials related to Spider-Man, whose fans are also called "Webheads.") Extra nice feature--click an image to expand. If you click elsewhere, the video or whatever will stop playing.

"In the original 2004 article I stated: "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application" (Conclusion section, � 1). I find Verhagen�s (2006) critique falls at precisely this point. The core of what I wrote in the initial article is still valid: that learning is a network phenomenon, influenced (aided) by socialization and technology. Two years is a lifetime in the educational technology space. Two years ago, web 2.0 was just at the beginning of the hype cycle. Blogs, wikis, and RSS�now prominent terms at most educational conferences�were still the sandbox of learning technology geeks. Podcasting was not yet prominent. YouTube didn't exist. Google had not released its suite of web-based tools. Google Earth was not yet on the desktops of children and executives alike�each thrilled to view their house, school, or business in satellite images. Learning Management Systems still held the starting point of most elearning initiatives. Moodle was not yet prominent, and the term PLEs (personal learning environments) did not exist. In two years, our small space of educational technology evolved�perhaps exploded is a more accurate term."

"Collect up gifs related to any vocabulary area you want to teach or revise. Embed them in an html page on your desk top and start a collection. Each time you add new ones send the html page to your students. (They will need to have a live connection on their computer to be able to view the gifs) Ask them to make notes of any words they relate to the images they see." This is another neat little tool with notes on how to use it from the very extensive collection by Nik Peachey. I'd suggest having the students make animated vocabulary gifs of words they want to learn/find useful.

Describes ways to use images, video, music, voice, and text in teaching literature with advanced level students to improve writing and pronunciation skills. Students engaged in online discussion through commenting and VoiceThread. By Jane Petring.

Did you shape your image of Christmas according to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Louisa M. Alcott's Little Women? Everyone loves Christmas stories; they are the perfect mixture of sweet and sour that reminds us how shallow our daily worries are.