Digital+Images


 * Learn About It! **

media type="custom" key="24021402" Note: once you play the first video, you will see all the videos in this playlist, click the in the upper left corner. There are ** THREE ** videos in this playlist.

One of the most used features of a mobile devices deals with graphics: taking, sharing, downloading, uploading, or enhancing.

And whether you call certain learners visual or spatial, a significant number of learners function best when they are presented and are able to work with graphics: pictures, photos, drawings, or other graphics to organize and share information. Schools do not usually offer a tremendous opportunity for learners to express themselves, but these learners have access to a myriad of tools outside the classroom that enable them to create and share visual content online, especially with mobile devices.

In 2005, one-third of teens surveyed reported that in addition to written work, they were posting photos, artwork, and videos online, and 31% of the those teems also said they regularly downloaded videos created by others (Lenhart & Madden, 2005).

The first commercially available digital cameras appears on the market in the early 1990s and by 2001, digital cameras were being offered as an optional feature on some cell phones. Today, nearly every cell phone comes with a digital camera as a basic feature. Initially, photos were downloaded to a computer and printed on glossy paper. But it wasn’t long before photosharing web sites appeared on the Internet. And today, there are more pictures taken on mobile devices than taken on digital cameras! Instagram and SnapChat are standard tools on everyone’s phone. Learners use digital cameras to document their lives, from family gatherings to school events and activities, to time spent with friends. The number of photographs they can take is limited NOT by the number of exposures on a “roll of film”, but by the gigabytes of memory available on the mobile device. Many photo-sharing sites and apps make it easy to edit photos and enhance them by adding frames, icons, or captions. Home movies were the rage after WWII.
 * Digital Photographs **
 * Digital Video **

But they were costly and it was often necessary to either splice together short files or spend a lot of time between reels rewinding and threading the projector. The emergency of video cameras and camcorders made it easier for amateur photographers to shoot, edit, and view movies on videotape, but the development of digital cameras and mobile devices made it possible for anyone to create videos. A Nielson Online survey (June 2008) shows that kids age 2 to 11 watch an average of 118 minutes of online video each month, and those ages 12 to 17 average 132 minutes viewing online videos per month. The most popular site—not a surprise, it’s YouTube.

Photo editors are terrific tools to use with mobile devices. They allow users to upload photos and enhance them in many ways without needing to load a piece of software onto a computer. You can perform common tasks such as cropping, resizing, or removing red eye. But you can also add text, stickers, animations, borders and other effects. Most photo editors work in conjunction with photo sharing devices such as Faceboook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Photobucket, and Webshots. This means you can work with images in both directions—you can pull pictures FROM the sites as well as upload enhanced images to your accounts on the sites.
 * Online Photo Editors **

There are multiple image editors to choos from, and they all work relatively the same way. Here are a few (and they all need the latest version of Adobe Flash):


 * 1) Picnik: [|www.picnik.com]
 * 2) Aviary: www.Aviary.com
 * 3) FotoFlexer: www.Fotoflexer.com
 * 4) Lanapic: [|www.lunapic.com]
 * 5) Pixenate: [|www.pixenate.com]

First, upload a picture, then locate the picture you would like to edit and upload it to the editor. Once the picture is loaded, it takes you straight to the photo-editing window of the site. Now you can edit! Click the tool you would like to try and start editing. There may be an “Appy” button that you need to click between edits. When the picture looks the way you envision, it is time to save, publish, or share it. Look for buttons that will upload it directly to a social media site, or share it through email.

Royalty-free sites where you can download photographs: 1) Flickr Creative Commons ([|www.flickr.com/creativecommons]) 2) FreeDigitalPhotos.net ([|www.freedigitalphotos.net]) 3) Stock.XCHNG ([|www.exc.hu])


 * Think About It! **

There are some objections to classroom use of online photo and video sites. A large number of parents and educators worry about privacy issues. Do the subjects know they are being photographed and do they know their videos are posted online? Does it somehow create a safety risk? Or just a violation of privacy? Of all the concerns raised by parents and educators, cyber-bullying is the most prevalent. Embarrassing photos and videos are common weapons of cyber-bullies. And there is the issue of copyright infringement.

Digital media make it very easy to post (or repost) material that has been copyrighted by someone else. Obvious issues (scanning a piece of copyright material or posting a segment of a program without permission) are clear to learners. But if you copy and paste a picture from an internet site, it is most often impossible to cite the original website the picture appeared because of the ease of reposting.
 * Copyright Infringement **

Fair use provisions in copyrights law do give educators and students more latitude than other users when it comes to instructional use of copyrighted materials.


 * ** Four Standards for Determining Education Fair Use of Copyrighted Material ** ||
 * Fair use is not free reign. The law addresses four standards for use when determining fair use, but it’s left to the individual to make case-by-case decisions. Asa result, there have no cut and dry answers, but there are four questions teachers can ask themselves to help determine what is fair use.

//First//: Is your planned use of the material noncommercial and instructional?

Your answer to this should be yes to both noncommercial and instructional.

//Second//: What is the nature of the material (i.e. nonfiction or fiction, published or unpublished?

Use of published nonfiction more often falls under fair use than use of unpublished or fictional material because it’s factual information that’s readily available to the public.

//Third//: How much of the original work do you intend to use?

Excerpts are usually permissible, but there are limits.

//Fourth//: Does your use of the work negatively affect the copyright owner’s ability to earn profits from their work?

Your answer to this should be no. ||


 * Plan It! **



A picture is worth a thousand words...at least! There are so many applications of using graphics as a learning experience. Think about these assignment options:


 * Create a biography with captions
 * Research and upload pictures that match the book you are reading
 * Find a paragraph that describes setting. Upload picture to accompany paragraph
 * Find a series of pictures to illustrate a concept
 * Use graphics to illustrate a cycle
 * Use a graphic and diagram it’s parts
 * Use photos of historical figures and give them call outs

A picture is worth...telling a story! So let's tell one!

When I was young, drugs were super popular among fairly young kids (middle school). I had an older brother seriously into drug use. I saw a public service announcement that I stuck with me forever:

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It was the images!

So your task is to create a public service announcement that uses images to tell an amazing story. Now, there is a bit of a difference in this public service commercial.

1) You can choose ** ANY ** topic you want. It can be a message to congress, a commentary on something, a message you want to give to the world.

2) You can use one of two super easy, free tools: (1) Knovio; or (2) PowToon OR you can use any free movie making software such imovie (Mac) or PhotoStory3 (PC) or another software of your choice. a) create an account (use your gmail address) c) Watch this video to learn Knovio or this video to learn PowToon; d) record your voice directly into the tool e) either embed it or send me the link to it.

As with so many things in professional development and teaching, creativity is a key to connecting with your learners. Dig deep on this one and find something you feel really passionate about, then apply the creativity. Here are some examples of prior Public Service Announcements. They may not help you with the format, but might help with the creativity. media type="custom" key="24001498"


 * Do It! **

Here are your assignments for this week (due next Sunday):

1) Find a minimum of three graphics, one of which YOU must take on a digital device (your phone, ipad, camera, etc.) 2) Apply captions or recording. 3) Post your public service announcement on this page.