Following my own trend of thought, I inadvertently completed one of Week 1 task - the selection of a photograph to express my identity.
I could have chosen Flickr, but I can't say I like this social software. Nothing wrong with it, and it is possible to add commentary, but I just don't respond to the lack of context. Flickr makes me think of an uncurated exhibition where images/artefacts are just displayed without some kind of thread. Fine for end-of-degree student shows (though even here, 'end-of-year' is the thread). All this to say that I'd rather have my pictures embedded here in my blog, where I can give them an 'inflection'. I can also kid myself that they are likely to be less public.
I like the idea of using images as part of a self-introduction - something to adopt in my own practice as a tutor :-). Using a picture that is not one of oneself is also an interesting idea. It has to be something with some kind of meaning, and as the meaning is not necessarily clear to others, then a commentary is important. So the cloud picture below needs some explaning: it looks like a holiday snap and it someways that's exactly what it is. But it's also the place where my mother was born and now lives again, the place where I have my extended family. The clouds also suggest the passing of time, which is important as a few people there are very ill and their time is to be treasured. More obscurely, there are the stories, costumes and art of Brittany (the local legend of St Pol and the dragon, shimmering shapes shifting in the clouds).
Not only a commentary is important , I would say that is necessary if pictures are to fulfill a role in a social context. Without the hooks that a story provides, fellow students would be reduced to comment on the aesthetic merits of the photo - not a particularly fruitful avenue for students in Education and Communication (would be different with Art students, of course).
I could have chosen Flickr, but I can't say I like this social software. Nothing wrong with it, and it is possible to add commentary, but I just don't respond to the lack of context. Flickr makes me think of an uncurated exhibition where images/artefacts are just displayed without some kind of thread. Fine for end-of-degree student shows (though even here, 'end-of-year' is the thread). All this to say that I'd rather have my pictures embedded here in my blog, where I can give them an 'inflection'. I can also kid myself that they are likely to be less public.
I like the idea of using images as part of a self-introduction - something to adopt in my own practice as a tutor :-). Using a picture that is not one of oneself is also an interesting idea. It has to be something with some kind of meaning, and as the meaning is not necessarily clear to others, then a commentary is important. So the cloud picture below needs some explaning: it looks like a holiday snap and it someways that's exactly what it is. But it's also the place where my mother was born and now lives again, the place where I have my extended family. The clouds also suggest the passing of time, which is important as a few people there are very ill and their time is to be treasured. More obscurely, there are the stories, costumes and art of Brittany (the local legend of St Pol and the dragon, shimmering shapes shifting in the clouds).
Not only a commentary is important , I would say that is necessary if pictures are to fulfill a role in a social context. Without the hooks that a story provides, fellow students would be reduced to comment on the aesthetic merits of the photo - not a particularly fruitful avenue for students in Education and Communication (would be different with Art students, of course).
I think you are right (well, we agree!) that although Flickr has a lot of good points, it is probably more suited to courses and topics which have a strong visual element. The areas in which I teach rely much more on the written word, and so images become secondary (though still potentially useful) to the text itself.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, Simon. I too teach mostly text-based stuff - well, writing actually... which could explain why I feel uncomfortable about publishing pictures.
ReplyDelete