Learning 2.0 Assignment 5: Flickr

This week we’re exploring Flickr more thoroughly. In this assignment, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people are creating thanks to Flickr. This assignment is due on Monday, October 20.

1. Watch the Common Craft video “Online Photo Sharing in Plain English” (review for most of you). Read “7 things you should know about Flickr” and "Evaluating Web Content: Social Bookmarks".
   
2. Take the Flickr tour. You can explore Flickr photos, search the tags, view various groups, and more.
   
3. Log in to the class account on Flickr. Go to the Discussions section of D2L to get the username and password for your class’s Flickr account.
4. Look at the tags that your class did for the photos of the library. Now that you’ve explored Del.icio.us and social bookmarking, think about how you would improve the tags. Identify one photo from the class (you don’t have to use one that your group took) for which you would change the tags.
5. Upload that photo from Flickr to your blog.

• Blogger directions for uploading a photo. This feature lets you add photos from your computer or from the Web and choose the placement (layout) in the blog post.

1. First, within Flickr, right-click on the photo you want to insert into your blog. Then, click “Save Picture As…” and save the file to your desktop or file space.
2. Second, within Blogger, click the little photo icon in the toolbar on the New Post page, in the row of tools above the post box. Follow the instructions to “Add an image from your computer.”
3. Assign new "improved" tags to the photo.

• Advanced feature (you do not need to do this): Flickr’s blogging tool lets you click the “Blog This” button (right above the picture) and add any public photo on Flickr to your blog automatically. If you wish to use Flickr in conjunction with your own blog in the future, you might consider using this feature.

Based on your readings, viewings and activities for this assignment, answer the following blog prompts:

1. In your blog posting, indicate what tags were assigned to the photo originally, what tags you’d recommend instead, and why.
   
2. Do you use Flickr or another photo hosting service? Which one? How does it compare to Flickr?
3. Do you upload images to your Facebook account? How does Flickr compare?
4. How do you feel about having your photos public (note that you can mark your Flickr photos private, too)--any concerns?

Questions?

• Post any questions in the discussion forum in D2L
• E-mail your professor: Melissa Prescott or Robin Ewing