Technology@Wooster

Use Digital Images in a Course

Written by

Dr. Jon Breitenbucher

Images are a powerful tool to engage students and enhance learning in the classroom.  Faculty can integrate images from their research into lectures or place images in online course materials for students to explore, comment on, or use as a basis for a student research project.  Online collections of images at Wooster or public sites such as Flickr can be researched and critiqued by students as part of their coursework. Students can create images as part of a student research project for inclusion in presentations, papers, and other class materials.

Strategies

Use pre-existing images – Librarians can help you find sources for images to use in your course, including image databases licensed by the College. See the Library’s online digital media guide or contact a Librarian in your subject area.

Scan images – Most of the printers on campus can scan and send your images as a PDF to your Wooster email.

Use images in lectures and course materials – Images can be used in presentations or placed in Moodle to enhance student understanding of concepts. On Interactive boards, images can be drawn on as part of the criticism or study of it.

Encourage students to research images – Students can explore websites or use tools such as Google’s image search feature or the online photo-sharing site Flickr, in combination with Wooster-based print and electronic resources, to enhance their understanding of the subject matter.

Have students create images for assignments – Many students have a digital camera or cell phone that can be used to create original images for assignments; students can integrate original photographs into class presentations or their course research projects.

Learn more about copyright and Fair Use – Find out how Fair Use and copyright impact your online course materials.

Tools

  • Google Photos – A software package from Google for organizing and simple manipulation of images.
  • Photos– A software package included with Apple computers for organizing and working with images.
  • Photos App – Windows application for organizing and working with images.
  • Flickr – A popular online site for sharing images.
  • Scanners in Andrews and Timken Library.