I’m thinking we need to be creative in these situations to also consider image generators, comic generators and photo editing tools for creating images. So can you please share student-safe tools that educators could use, other than Flickr, such as:
Finding the perfect image to enhance your blog post can be frustrating and time consuming however there are tools that can make this task faster.
This post explains how to find and add creative commons Flickr images to blog posts. Make sure you also refer to Copyright and Using Images in Blog Posts for an introduction to implications of copyright when using images and how to attribute (acknowledge) the original source of an image.
Locating Creative Commons Flickr Images
Flickr is a commonly used image source because the quantity and quality of creative commons images hosted on Flickr increases the chances of finding the image you’re looking for. Read this post for the explanation why most bloggers use images licensed under Creative Commons.
There are several online tools that make searching Creative Commons Flickr photos less time consuming. My favorites are:
Tags terms only or within titles and full text i.e. the photo description
Creative Commons Flickr photos, all Flickr photos or Flickr photos that can be used for commercial purpose
Compfight is extremely fast at displaying a huge number of images on the page. Clicking on an image on the results page takes you to the image’s photo page on Flickr.
2. FlickrCC
FlickrCC is similar to Compfight in that you can customise your search but it also includes the ability to edit images using their in house editor or Picnik (an external photo editor). Their in house editor can be used for:
Adding attribution to the image
Cropping
Adding a frame and/or text to the image
Blogging Images Directly From Flickr
One option for adding Flickr Images is to blog the photo directly from Flickr instead of using your blog dashboard. Besides being a fast and simple option; it also automatically inserts the image attribution for you.
To locate the image URL using Internet Explorer you need to right click on the image and then click on Properties.
For FireFox you right click on the image and click on Copy Image Location.
In your Write Post area click on your Insert/Edit Image button add the Image URL, image description and click on Insert.
If you want align image left or right you need to click on the drop down arrow next to Alignment and change alignment before clicking Insert.
I normally right align my images.
To prevent text wrapping close to image I add the number 5 to both the Vertical and Horizontal space areas.
Click on the image and resize to the desired size.
I normally use 450 pixels wide for my large images.
Less than 250 pixels wide (mostly 200 wide) for right align images.
Link image to its photo page on Flickr by clicking on image and then clicking on Insert/Edit Link button. This is a requirement of using Creative Commons Flickr images.
Adding an image to your blog post can make a big difference on how easy the post is on the eyes. Good use of images grab reader’s attention.
I really wanted to include use of images in my Here’s My First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts — What Are Yours? post but it really requires a series of posts. So this post will focus on copyright and using images plus how to attribute (acknowledge) the original source of an image. The next post will cover how to find images and add to posts.
Copyright and Images
Locating images can be frustrating and time consuming because you can’t just use any image you like in blog posts. Why? Because unless stated otherwise the law automatically grants full “copyright” over any creative work a person makes. Using copyrighted image exposures you to the risk of copyright infringement which is why most bloggers use images licensed under Creative Commons.
Creative Commons, founded in 2001, is an organization which provides free content license (i.e. creative commons license) that people can apply to their work. When you license your work with creative commons, you are giving people the permission to use it without having to ask permission, provided they use it in the manner stated in the creative common license.
The reason people use creative commons licenses is to make it easier for everyone to share and adapt creative work without the concern of copyright infringement. Creative commons licenses are used for books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings.
Check out this video to learn more about Creative Commons Licenses.
Creative Commons Flickr Photos
The most common source of creative commons images used by bloggers is Flickr. Unfortunately many assume Flickr images are licensed under creative commons and allowed to be used. This isn’t the case; images marked as “All Rights Reserved” are copyrighted and require permission from their creator.
Images marked as “Some Rights Reserved” means a creative commons license applies. Always check to see which license applies when using a photo from Flickr to ensure you only use the image in the manner specified by the license.
People can choose from a range Creative commons licenses for their Flickr photos. Each license imposes different restrictions on how you use the images. Below is what each license means:
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license means you are allowed to use the image, and manipulate it in any manner, for commercial or non-commercial purposes provided you attribute the original author.
Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives Works 2.0 Generic license means you are allowed to use the image, for both commercial or non-commercial purposes, provided you do not modify it in any manner (this includes cropping and adding words to the image) and attribute the original author.
Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic license means you are allowed to use the image, and manipulate it in any manner, for non-commercial purposes only. Any resulting work that is created by altering, transforming, or building upon may only be distributed under the same or similar license to this one. You are required to attribute the original author.
Attribution Share Alike 2.0 Generic license allows you to use the image, and manipulate it in any manner, for commercial or non-commercial purposes. You are required to attribute the original author. Any resulting work that is created by altering, transforming, or building upon may only be distributedunder the same or similar license to this one.
Image Attribution
It’s a requirement of all Creative Commons Licenses that attribute the original author i.e. you can’t just use a creative commons image without acknowledging the person who originally created it. Within or at the end your blog post you must attribute the image.
Opinions vary on how images should be attribute, some consider linking back to the original source (e.g. it’s Flickr photo page) is adequate. However you are meant to make it clear to others what license applies to the image which is why I attribute images by also including the link to creative commons license.
You will notice that if you click on the link cogdogblog it takes you to image’s photo page. Similarly if you click on the photo it also takes you to image’s photo page. Flickr’s community guidelines specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page. This attribution ensures it’s compliant with both Flickr and Creative Commons requirements.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This post is meant as an introduction to the issues of using images and some of the implications to bloggers. Copyright laws varies between countries.
Are you confused about the point of a blog page? Or perhaps you’ve been trying to separate topics or classes on your blog using pages but are struggling to get it to work how you would like.
Deciding when to use blog posts vs pages can be puzzling. With numerous questions on pages in the Edublogs forumDr Mike suggested I write a post to explain the difference between a Page and a Post plus share ideas for separating topics or classes on a blog to help address some of the confusion.
Posts properties
Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post is the first post that your readers see
Posts are dynamic (updated regularly) and have time stamps i.e. display the date posted
Pages don’t have time stamps i.e. don’t show the date they were posted.
Blog pages can appear anywhere on your blog depending on your theme. e.g. my personal blog uses the Cutline Theme which displays pages across the top of my blog whereas Miss W. and her Smartboard uses Rubric theme and pages are display in her right sidebar.
You can change the order pages appear. Pages are normally displayed in alphabetical order but their order can be changed using Page Order.
Pages don’t appear in RSS feeds so readers need to visit your site to view the latest updates to pages.
You can’t embed posts into an Edublogs page.
You can create sub-pages which you assign to a parent page to build a more complex site.
Ways of separating topics or classes on a blog
If you don’t want students from different classes seeing posts/information that don’t relate to their class the best solution is separate blogs for each class. Benefit is students have an increased sense of ownership.
However if you want to use just one blog the best way of separating topics or classes is using categories. Check out Mr Riggan’s Science blog to see how categories can be used to separate lessons for different classes (displayed in left sidebar). For example here are his posts for:
When you’ve never blogged it can be hard to visualise how to use blogs with students.
I like to stress that the most important aspect of blogging, and where the most learning happens, is in the conversations. So I’m hoping you will write a comment on this post or write your own post (which links to this post) so we can show educators new to blogging:
How these conversations work
Plus provide tips and links to resources that will help them work out how to get started blogging with their students
So can you please share with us:
Why you blog? How does it benefit you or your work?
How you use blogging with your students and how it has helped them (if applicable)
Examples of class and/or student blogs for them to check out
What are your 3 most important tips for educators, new to blogging, who would like to blog with their students?
Problem! You want to use Creative Commons images with your students but can’t access Flickr because its blocked at your school.
Subscribing For Free!
When you’ve never blogged it can be hard to visualise how to use blogs with students.
