Stratocam – the best pictures from Google Earth
Stratocam provides a random selection of some of the best images from Google earth.
Click on the left and right buttons to get a new image, or wait and let the site automatically cycle through them. Keep an eye on the URL, if you see one you like you can grab and hyperlink directly to that image. Or you could use the screen capture tools to grab an image and put it into your IWB software or PowerPoint.
This would make an excellent way to capture student interest at the start of a lesson by displaying some of these images as they enter the room. Geography teachers might also find some great images to use to support a lesson.
Take a look at www.stratocam.com
Read MorePhoto Pin : a creative commons image search tool
PhotoPin is another great search tool that lets you search for creative commons images to use in class projects and blogs.
Simply search for any topic using the search box , preview the photo, and click “get photo” to download the photo as well as the code with proper attribution link. If you prefer to pay for your photos rather than linking to it, the results at the top will take you to a stock photo site where you can buy photos instead (currently fotolia).
Check it out at : http://photopin.com
If you want other search tools, check out this blog post from 2009: Creative Commons Image Sources for your IWB which has several of my favourites listed.
Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers for the link.
Let me know what you think of PhotoPin in the comments below!
Read MoreInteresting Writing Prompts and Story Starters
Here’s an interesting website which contains a series of different images which can be used as writing prompts or story starters. The site is produced by Luke Neff who uses these images with his own class.
Each one involves a thought-provoking image and a question/scenario. Take a look here: http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/
If you want to make your own, then you could use sites such as The Big Picture to find powerful images and combine them with a question of your own.Use the screen capture tool to grab the image and bring it into your IWB software, or copy/paste into PowerPoint.
You could also use a Flickr search engine or look at Flickr Groups such as FlickrSoup for the Soul or Tell a Story in Five Frames.
If you know of other great story starter sites, let me know in the comments.
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Copyright Free and Public Domain Media Sources
Here’s a really good site which lists plenty of Public Domain and Copyright Free image websites. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t some restrictions to using them, so be sure to read any “terms of use” statements on each site.
Go visit http://people.uwec.edu/koroghcm/public_domain.htm to find out more.
For more essential media sites, check out my list on Diigo: http://www.diigo.com/user/dannynic/essentialmedia
Also check out these blogposts on finding more Essential Media for your lessons:
Essential Digital Resources for your IWB
Creative Commons Image Sources for your IWB
Read MoreScience Inspiration Images from Teaching Ideas
The already excellent Teaching Ideas website has added a whole new section comprising a bank of Science Inspiration Images for Primary Science lessons. Each image is downloadable as a high res PDF file.
Teachers can use these images to provide ideas and inspiration for Science in your classroom. They could be used as a lesson starter to review what the children already know, or as part of main activities when you introduce new concepts… or put them up on a classroom display!
It’s a great resource, definitely worth taking a look at if you’re teaching primary/elementary science.
Also check out the rest of the site at : http://www.teachingideas.co.uk
Read MoreIngenious – Images from science museums
Ingenious brings together images and viewpoints to create insights into science and culture. It weaves unusual and thought-provoking connections between people, innovations and ideas. Drawing on the resources of the National Museum of Science and Industry, the site contains over 30,000 images which are used to illustrate over 30 different subjects, topics and debates.
You are invited on a voyage of discovery through the content, exploring new perspectives on human ingenuity. The rich resources offer authoritative re-interpretations, which challenge traditional views. You can contribute to these discussions, by offering fresh opinions on the issues that have changed our lives, thereby creating dialogues within communities and with the Museums.
The key NMSI contributors to the site are the Science Museum, the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, the National Railway Museum, the Science & Society Picture Library and the Science Museum Library.
http://www.ingenious.org.uk/See/
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Creative Commons Images and Audio
I’ve had a few requests recently for links to good sources of images and sounds for the classroom. I’ve written about this on here a few times in the past, so in a shameless piece of rehashing – here are some links to a few old posts you might have missed which cover some excellent sources of digital resources:
Essential Digital Resources for your IWB
Creative Commons Image Sources for your IWB
Creative Commons Audio for your IWB
Creative Commons in the Classroom
Powerful Images to Give Lessons Punch
Enjoy!
Read MoreVancouver 2010 Photographs
I love Canada, I love the Olympics, and I love The Big Picture website. So when you get all three combined, it’s just fantastic 
The Big Picture have produced 45 excellent photographs from week 1 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Some of these would be excellent to use in Science lessons to illustrate forces and friction, but also obvious links to PE.
Some of this images are just awesome, would make great discussion points when displayed on the IWB. Go take a look. If you like those, here are some from the Opening Ceremony too.
Part 2 will follow next week after the closing ceremony. Update – They’re now up.
Only one British medal so far, but we’re not greedy
Spice up images with Big Huge Labs
If you’re bored with the usual images and want to add some special effects to your pictures, then check out Big Huge Labs.
This site provides hundreds of different filters than can be applied to your photos to add many different special effects.
You can give the site access to your Flickr or Facebook photo albums, or just upload images for it to work on.
For example – turn one of your images into a stamp.
Or a piece of pop art in the style of Andy Warhol
Or maybe turn it into a jigsaw (Sadly not an interactive jigsaw)
or a mosaic in the style of David Hockney
You can also create calendars, badges, magazine covers, movie posters and many more! One tool even lets you turn 6 images into a printable cube – this would be good to make dice for languages with different images on each face.
Go check out Big Huge Labs today!
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About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
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