What's the Fuss Over Flickr?

Photo courtesy of flickr‑rss.jpg

What's the draw to Flickr? In any free time I've had I've been returning to Flickr and doing some experimenting and playing around. I've added a profile picture that's actually me and not a picture of my dogs. I've thought about why I'm choosing to use different photo's. I think they need to all be the same, especially after meeting @kathycassidy this weekend. She said, "You don't look anything like your picture!" Hmm!! Is that sign? I feel quite important after getting my own Flickr URL. I'll be testing this out soon enough. I chose to add some contacts from my Facebook page. I think I'll add some from my Google addresses as well. It appears I do not have a lot of contacts who use Flickr. I might have to send out emails to ask them to join. 

I uploaded a set of photos and then posted them to Twitter. Nothing happened! No comments and no views. I think it's because I'm new to photo sharing and perhaps my photos didn't have any meaning. Note to self they must be meaningful. 

As I mentioned earlier, I had the pleasure of meeting @kathycassidy at the ECEC Saskatchewan Conference in Saskatoon. I attended her Digitial Portfolio's session and her Rebooting the 3R's session. We were talking and I commented on how I liked the slideshow of her students before her presentation. She told me they were on her Flickr account. I instantly went to her sight. When I was browsing her photos/site it appears she uploads her images from her classroom, individual and sets, and then she must send out her URL so others can view them. Her sets have several views. Mental note on this point. I've added her as a contact so that I can take a look at more of her site to see how she organizes and shares her photos. I'm going to subscribe to her RSS Flickr account so that I can use her account as a resource. I'm glad I found this. Now I'm wondering who else may be on Flickr that I know from Twitter. When I was first investigating this site I was wondering what the point was. After finding her site and using her Flickr account of an example, I'm far more interested in investigating it further.

How can I integrate this into a primary classroom? First of all, any photos I add to my iPhoto that have classroom content, I will upload them to Flickr. This way I can share them with parents and I don't have to always post them on the blog. I will be more conscious of the photos I take. What is the intent, purpose, or goal of the photo? Why do I want to share it? Does it show growth or learning over time? I can also have kids comment on a certain photos to build their literacy skill. 

When I first started using Flickr I wasn't all that excited about it. But after seeing a primary example I can start to see the possibilities of using it in school and for my own personal use. Flickr appears to be multi-layered, which is scarey and exciting all at the same time. I have lots more to learn.