Pop it in the Blender!

 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to run a second technology lesson with my practicum class. This time round it was introducing photo editing using ImageBlender. The software is designed specifically for educational use and is a great stepping-stone into more advance programs like Photoshop. After providing a basic run down of the program, I allowed the students to freely explore the effects and tools available and use pre-selected images as a canvas for them to create. The class found that there are unlimited possibilities for visual learning and classroom technology projects just as ImageBlender claim and they had fun and it was easy for them to edit images and create new art. The students also saved their work that allowed them to return to their creations at a later date… you could say I had my own constructionist lesson, how exciting!

On a side note, I can recommend to have images pre-selected for the students to use as a foundation. I discovered that if you allowed the children to look through hundreds of images then it would take forever for them to make their minds up… Now I am not saying that choice is a bad thing, on the contrary I think it is great but for a quick lesson having a starting point is vital. The concept of using others images could be a stepping-stone to creative commons resources too.

I look forward to seeing what they have produced using their digital paintbrushes, the creations looked promising from the first lesson.


Images Attributed to Flickrcc:

Image: 'technicolor dreamcoat'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83156837@N00/2679249623

Image: 'wallpaper - The ISLAND'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42352950@N07/4452367725