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Using digital photographs in the languages classroom
Principles of teaching
Digital photos can be used:
- In whole class teaching
- To create resources
- To promote independent learning and support students
- To develop language skills
- To promote creativity
Whole class teaching
When working on a screen or interactive whiteboard, digital photos can be used to introduce or practise vocabulary. They can also be used to reinforce grammatical structures, or in answer to questions such as “What is… doing?” Using the drag and drop features of an interactive whiteboard images can be re-arranged to tell a story. The demand on students can be varied by adding textual or audio clues, thus creating an approach to whole class teaching that responds to different learning styles.
Other features of interactive whiteboard software allow a teacher to use digital photos in imaginative ways. For example, the keyhole or curtain feature means an image can be revealed in parts. Students can guess what the image is or what comes next. Photos can be edited so that a single image is split into separate files. These can be revealed one by one on a screen, students once again saying what is missing or coming next.
Digital photos can be converted into hyperlinks which open audio files so that students listen and see before completing a further language task, whether oral or written. In short, digital photos can be used in whole class teaching to create variety and pace, to appeal to different learning styles, to engage students in stimulating activities and to develop languages skills in an integrated way.
Digital photos can also be inserted into electronic worksheets, and presentations as well as interactive exercises. They can be used in presentations for digital storytelling, in worksheets to manipulate language; for example, matching text to picture, completing dialogue or text, to stimulate writing, and to reinforce grammar. They can be used in interactive materials created with authoring software for matching text or audio to picture, or for vocabulary reinforcement.
Creating resources
Creating digital photographs as resources has never been easier. Teachers and students can take digital photos on cameras or mobile phones and transfer them easily to networks or individual computers. Teachers can insert them effortlessly into electronic worksheets or presentations using Insert > Picture > From file. Images can be moved about on the page and re-sized so that the end product is visually appealing. Students can move pictures to match text or vice versa or can re-order images to create a story line which they can write about. Authoring software is straightforward to use and digital photos can be used for interactive reinforcement activities. Images can be linked to audio files, support materials or web sites to create varied ways of learning for students. Of course, digital photos can simply be stored on a network or VLE for a teacher or student to use as necessary. Many images are available on the Internet and can be downloaded easily. However, attention should be paid to issues of ownership and copyright.
Many of the topic areas currently taught at KS4 lend themselves to the use of digital photos. It is relatively easy to obtain photos of the school, the local community, the city centre, shops, public transport, markets and market produce, leisure activities such as football in the park, and environmental issues such as litter, or traffic congestion. Students can, of course, take digital photos of holiday visits, friends, family members and pets.
Promoting independent learning and supporting learning
Digital photos can be placed on a network for students to use when preparing presentations. They can be used, as suggested earlier, in interactive materials for students to practise and consolidate language when working independently at home or in the ICT room. As a support for learning, why not create a picture bank in which key language accompanies specific images? These could be stored in a table or grid format in a Word document, accessible and downloadable from the network or VLE.
Developing language skills
As outlined above, digital photos are of great value as stimuli to language production, whether spoken or written. Story telling or writing from a series of images springs to mind as one activity for independent work or whole class work. Using images as links to audio files brings together the visual and the aural and students can then use the stimuli to respond by writing or even by making an audio recording. To develop reading skills digital photos can be linked with text and students asked to extract relevant text to describe the picture or say what is going on.
Promoting creativity
Using digital photos in presentations, stories or personal web pages is quite easy for students to achieve. Devise a creative task for students and personalise it by asking them to make their own digital photos for illustration and wait for the results! Ensure that the task has a goal, such as preparing a poster of the neighbourhood or the city centre for a tourist office, or designing a brochure to send to a partner school or simply to place on a webzine section of a school web page. Stipulate that the end product must contain relevant original images, text and perhaps audio. If possible, enable students to use photo editing software, and desk top publishing software. Creative tasks for older pupils at AS/A2 might involve the use of photographs to explore social or environmental issues, perhaps in a joint project with their peers in a partner school abroad.
