Blog Post 18: Using Google Photos for teaching and learning

Use google photo to make a movie for the kids. The teacher can help the students not violate copyright laws of photos by using creative commons images or images the students take themselves. This assignment can be done from 2^nd grade and above across the curriculum. An example would be a math teacher conducting a lesson on the different ways that math is displayed in everyday life. The teacher can have the students take their own pictures of the math they see in the real world and provide a brief description and from there, use Google Photos to transform those images into a movie and present it to the class. This is an interesting an authentic way to get students involved in their own learning while creating a positive, fun classroom environment during the presentations.

Another way to utilize Google Photos in the classroom is to have a beginning of the year introduction assignment. It seems year after year students go through the same rote, mundane introduction of themselves and their teacher. Instead, a teacher can have students utilize Google Photos to create an album of pictures that describes them, their interests, and their personalities. This would help break the ice between a lot of students because they are instantly able to see how much they truly have in common with other students in the classroom they may not already know. An assignment such as this would be best for students in high school, due to the fact they know more about themselves and usually have the hardest time making new friends.

We have learned throughout the year the importance of creating and managing an online blog for our classrooms. The blogs allow for students to take pride in their work since the material is available to parents, family members and the community. Google Photos can also be used to help with this. Teachers can use Google Photos to house all the images they capture in one safe and easy to access location. Some teachers may only store their images on their work computer and then lose their saved images when they move classrooms and their computer remains in their old classroom. It can all easily be avoided with Google Photos. Teachers can even neatly organize their photos based on school year, subject, period and date. This method of usage can be done by any teacher at any level and in any school subject.