nex·us
A means of connection; a link or tie

(www.thefreedictionary.com)

The notion of connection is intrinsic to every aspect of humanity. So vital, in fact, that our very lives depend upon it as every breath, every thought and every action is preceded by millions of synapses connecting, transmitting and communicating important information.

This network of thought-and-action-determining connections don't stop inside the confines of skin and bone. In a mysterious way they link up to a greater network where, in some instances, our thought-processes are absorbed into the minds of others, while, in other instances, we take on the thoughts of others and somehow allow it to shape our own internal matrix.

This is the wonder of communication and learning.

With the advent of the internet, we've been provided with what could almost be described as a visual representation of the "human internet" - that macro-network where the ebb and flow of thought and action in society at large shapes the individual's downloads and uploads, learnings and expressions.

From an educator's perspective, that, of course, changes everything. Learners no longer have to rely on teachers to be their only source of "information downloads" , but can now access a world which offers thoughts, ideas and perspectives far beyond their own or even that of their teachers.
The role of the teacher is then to provide learners with opportunities to partake in this macro-network - to guide their "uploads and downloads" in ways that would best benefit their futures.

This blog investigates websites, applications and internet functions that can serve as powerful "connection-points", or tools for transfomative learning in the classroom.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Picture this

A fascinating TED talk by Jonathan Klein on Photos that changed the world.


As Klein contends here in this video clip, "images can be a snapshot of history". Living in the information era, we now have instant access to images and video's from literally anywhere on earth, or, in some cases even space. This gives us unlimited insight into not only "history", but the various "histories", or present-day stories, that define cultures and communities across our world today.

In the light of this fact, 21st century learners are privileged to have wide exposure to the various forms of visual communication as it relates to many cultural contexts around the globe. They are expected to make meaning and make use of visual communication in their daily language to a greater extent than any of the previous generations. Dealing with the syntax and semantics of visual literacy is therefore a critical element to every school's curriculum, and teachers are to continually integrate this throughout all learning areas.

Some of the tools most useful for this process are found on the internet:

A photo database where users can upload photo, organise them, edit them, tag them, geo-tag them and share them with others around the world.

A weblication that allows users to edit photos and add creative expression their images through easy-to-use functions.

A downloadable program which enables batch resize, crop, edit pictures and the creation of photo galleries.

This website contains a large range of applications useful for making creative use of pictures and photos.

Through this website, users can upload photos and combine it with text to create a story. This is easily embedded into other websites, and specifically designed for easy printing.

The most renown internet searching platform for finding all photos, images, drawings, etc.

A weblication where users can upload their photos, and then create a slideshow with music from that.

In the next post I will discuss in more detail two of these website, namely Flickr and Picnik.
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