Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Picture This

Ok, I've tried over the past two years to lead students and teachers to paths other than Google for their pictures thinking it would be easier to follow copyright guidelines. We have explored and used Flickr and Creative Commons but alas Google wins out every time. When I ask a student, "Where did your teacher say to go for pictures?" the reply is, "Google". So I'm throwing in the towel! I'm giving up! I'm going Google! Yes, that's right, Google Images. It's not your mother's Google anymore. Already it has become second nature to the students to use the advanced search option and in particular usage rights. They are learning how to set the usage rights to labeled for use or labeled for use with modification. Then I slide in some training on how to give credit to the picture creator. With this new found method students are becoming responsible users of 2.0 tools. This is a big improvement over the frustration students had in finding the other sites,trying to figure out if they could use the pictures found, and not giving credit where credit was due in their work. Thanks Google.