Images, Images, Images

http://www.auburn.edu/projects/sustainability/newsletter/water.jpg

Images are a great visual tool to stimulate discussion in the classroom. I have chosen the image of the water drop and these are just some ideas for this image.

• a Science unit on the water cycle

• a SOSE unit on sustainability

• an English unit, where it could be used to prompt a narrative or a poem
  

• a Technology unit to design water catchment devices

These are just some ideas off the top of my head for this image.




This image was created using a program called textorizer. I really like it because of the mix of images and text. The textorizer program provides the user with endless possibilities of embedding text into the image and has an alternate function where the image can be created by the text. The picture I have used is the symbol for the Habit of Mind; Creating,Imagining and Innovating.
Textorizer could be used in school for example to create different posters for the room, a vocabulary poster with a difference and students can experiment with mixing images and text in a simple to use program.



Picnik


This image was created using the online photo picnik. The original image was cropped and I made 6 different images playing with different colour saturation and hues. Once I decided on the images I liked I put them into the collage application in the program and played around until I got the combination of images and framing I liked. I was then able to add text to the image and publish it easily on my blog.
I believe that having the possibility to manipulate images helps the students learn about the conventions of an image, for example, the colour, tone, framing, form. The students also gain the understanding that images can be changed and or altered to convey a message. Students increase their ability to decode and encode visual images while enhancing their critical literacy skills.

While I think the picnik program is easy to use and has some cool features, it is an online program and may not be reached in some schools. Programs such a picassa can be downloaded onto your computer and has most of the same photo editing tools.

Big Huge Labs


Bighugelabs.com is another online digital photo editing tool. Using your images it is you can make and edit movie posters, magazine covers, wanted posters, collages, mosaics, popart etc. It is fun and very easy to use.

It could be good to use in the classroom because it demonstrates the layout of specific genres of visual images... and the students would have fun with it.