Students & Flickr

As I do not have access to students or a classroom, I can not undertake a task for this part of the module, however I can see the benefits of asking our students to use Flickr.
As the old saying goes, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'.
At the start of the year with new students, I would ask them to go to Flickr and chose a picture that describes what they feel this course is all about, and accompany it with an explanation. This would possibly outline my students strengths and weaknesses in understanding the course and its desired outcomes. It would also give me an opportunity to look through these pictures and possibly find out what makes my students tick. It would, optimistically, give me a rough idea of who I am dealing with throughout the course, and how I will best cater to their learning styles. Some may ask if I could really achieve all of this from one picture? If I was teaching a younger class, and they topic was Flora and a student gave me a picture of a Koala, I would know that they are a little confused between the two words, Flora and Fauna, and could ensure that the definitions and differences were made clear at the start of the class. If I hadn't undertaken this task, this student may never have spoken up, and struggled along until the penny dropped, if at all.
The second part of the task is asking students to upload their own photos and share with their peers. This is a great task for introducing themselves to each other. Not only do they get to show their favourite photos, but it may allow some common ground to be found with students who may never have known they had any.

'A picture is worth a thousand words' and I plan to take advantage of that.


References

Flickr - Retrieved August 4, 2009, from http://www.flickr.com/