Blog Reflection on Images

Ok so we were asked to make a blog reflection on images, well for me when i think of images i think of my camera. It goes everywhere with me (unless i forget it in which case i am realy angry and can get quiet disappointed in myself... harsh i know) to me it’s like my phone and my wallet where ever they go it goes. I guess this is because not only do i like to take photos but i love to look back though old photos that i have taken and reminisce about time i may have forgotten about. I guess when we are looking at images in educational settings there is a similar component. By using images when learning new things it may help to remember about the topic. 

The power of an image is huge not only to jog memory or to reminisce but also in advertising. Like right now i’m thinking of an add on tv for a winery which is advertising their wines and has a picture of an awesome cheese plates (with numerous types of cheers, nice crackers, some grapes, salami, olives, sundried tomatoes... ok so i like cheese platers but getting off topic) and automatically my mouth starts to water. However as said in the Week 4 information provided on the online Moodle site it is important that images are not used without a purpose.

Here are a few points i’ve learnt about images and there use online following this week’s readings

·         It is important for teachers to insure their students are visually literate; they are able to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create, and communicate graphically

·         To engage thinking

·         Influence feelings

·         Support skill development

·         To illustrate concepts

·         Support critical thinking

·         Use images online to show examples of what is being taught in the class

There are many, many more some which are on a great website that was provided to us as a learning recourse if you are interested jump on and have read.

There are so many opportunities for learning with the use of images. Just thinking about using it in classrooms so many ideas are popping into my head.

One would be to get into correspondence with a class of similar age in the US or somewhere and each class brake the students up into groups of 3 or 4 and each group is given a camera. They are to go out and take photos of either the school buildings, animals or anything then have them put the photos into a presentation and then they are swopped between the class in QLD and the class in the US. The student could to a final report on the differences. This would not only be including a number of KLA’s but also enable to students to make friends from other countries.

I know i may be way off or got slightly carried away but it’s a blog right, i’m allowed to reflect and share my thoughts.