BP#5_20091102_Flickr

I’ve chosen Flickr for my Web 2.0 application to research and explore. Flickr was a natural for me because first of all I’m a pragmatist and second of all I teach video and photography and it seemed like a natural to explore a site that is a host for video and photo sharing. I’ve always wanted a way to exhibit my student’s work so that those who are not able to come to the school and see our exhibitions and première nights. It also gives the opportunity for relatives and friend who don’t live in the area to experience and see a students work. The importance of a student being able to exhibit their self-expression is immeasurable to the growth of the student and an artist. Flickr can give the students the opportunity to have the very own art show that is capable of having a global audience. I’ve tried this arrange virtual Art Shows before but have always come up against my school districts policy of no hosting of video and photos on the district servers. To deepen the issue each student in our district is only given 1 gigabyte of space for their student files with no public option to access the files. Flickr is a perfect fit for the type of Virtual Art Show I envision. Flickr offer hosting space, security, anonymity, and the ability to leave constructive comments on individual pieces of work or on a collection of art that has thematic cohesiveness, and all from the comfort of ones own home. I’ve pitched the idea to my district and so far the reception has been fairly warm but there are still those naysayers that are worried about control and liability. I am in the process of putting together a show of my own photography hoping to convince some of the hold-outs that the proof is in the pudding, in any event it is worth the effort if we can use such a tool that can encourage and inspire students to go further and farther in the educational journey.