Fun with Flickr

I’ve thought about using Flickr for quite some time for my personal digital photo’s but it hadn’t occurred to me that the platform could be useful in the classroom until I read blogger Kamala Mukerji September 12, 2013 posting on her Emerging Educational Technologies Blog this week. 

She presents a several great ideas for using the medium including enhancing course content, compare/contrasting two differing photo’s, a virtual field trip and a storyboard starter.  One of the reasons that I believe this medium can enhance the adult learner environment is through the use of exploring digital skills.  

Older adults are hesitant to adapt to technology, but many have made the transition to smartphones.  Encouraging learners to take a step forward and use the images they have captured on their devices into their coursework can help to bridge the gap between the younger digital literate learner and their older course companion. 

For me, I think the first lesson that Flickr can assist with is in understanding copyright attribution issues.  Common Craft offers an introductory video which explains the basis of copyright laws and photo images.  Since I also find this requirement confusing, perhaps I can learn along with my students. 

One lesson that could be considered is to give students a list of items and then ask them to find images on Flickr, provide the link for reference and then have them make the determination about what type of copyright license it falls under.  From there the student would still have to properly provide attribution.  With enough practice, the student’s digital literacy level will increase along with their Flickr portfolio.