Week 1

You will explore tools and websites to learn more about the use of photo sharing, images, and social networking tools in education. After completing the readings and exploring some of the websites and multimedia listed in the Week One Resources document, try out a tool from each of these categories: 

• Photo storage sites: Flickr or Shutterfly (See the instructions for the “Collect Images and Create Flickr Album” assignment to find out how you will be using a photo storage site to complete this week’s assignment.)
• Social networking website (professional): You explored LinkedIn for your introductory post, but here are others you might want to investigate: The Top 18 Educational Social Networking Websites for Teachers.http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/social-networking-sites-teachers.html?m=1

You read about using images and photo sharing in this week’s resources. As you prepare your initial post for this discussion, consider the following questions: 

• What are some advantages of collecting images on a site like Flickr?
• How can a teacher use these tools in the classroom to help students learn?

Note: be sure to examine the Instructor Guidance and the Week One Resourcesdocument for help with this assignment. Initial Post 

• Think about how each of the tools you explored can enhance teaching and/or learning. Give a specific example of an educational use of:
  • a photo storage tool
  • a social networking tool such as LinkedIn
  • the use of images in teaching to help student learning.
• Choose one of the tools you examined and explain how it can be used in a specified grade and content area to meet a learning objective. For example, you might write: “Glogster (a poster making tool) would be great to use for fourth-grade book reports in a reading lesson. Glogster would help visual readers create a pictorial representation of their book to illustrate a character or setting. This activity would help students compare their classmates’ interpretations of characters and settings to their own ideas and promote a richer discussion and deeper understanding of these story elements.”