Digital Images

 

I didn't know much about digital images on the web and what is considered legal and what is prohibited in terms of using people's photos. I think this is something that everyone needs to know before they use pictures off of the web. I'm glad we were introduced to websites such as www.pics4learning.com because I only knew to use Google images when I needed pictures. Pics4learning contains tons of free photos for educational purposes, and this is exactly what I will need in my classroom one day.

It's important to know how to resize pictures: go to Tools and click Adjust Size. Simply dragging the arrows does not officially change the size of the picture. You can only make pictures smaller--if you make them bigger, they will be blurry. It's also important to name the images you save so when you go to upload them, they are easy to find.

I chose to make a slideshow of sunsets from around the world. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. I found them on Pics4learning, and they are pictures from places such as Santorini, Laguna Beach, Peurto Rico, etc. It was nice to look at these pictures on such a gloomy day outside. I put a caption for each photo and included atleast 3 tags for each one. Putting the slideshow in my website was not as difficult as I expected--you just go to Insert and click Picasa Slideshow and voila!

I will use photos in my classroom a lot. I think it's important for children to have a lot of visual images to look at when they are learning. If we are talking about another country, they need to see the geography and the way the people live there. If they see it, they will be able to remember it better and will feel more connected.