Images and Imagination

Overview

In this activity, students experiment with image editing software in order to change and adapt the photographs collected previously.

Description

The main aim of this activity is to prepare the collected photos as a personal and reflective presentation. We recommend using free online software for image editing like Pixlr. Pixlr is an online photo editor and you do not need to register for an account in order to use it. Students won’t need to install anything on their computers either.

Ask the students to upload their photos and begin experimenting with size, rotation, colours, brightness and contrast etc. Using an interactive whiteboard, demonstrate how to edit an image or use a specific tool or effect. It is important to discuss the modifications that are effective and which ones actually ‘impoverish’ the original photo – you really want them to start being selective and to make sound decisions regarding the edits that they make, rather than just changing the images for the sake of it.

Time needed 2-3 hours, depending on the number of photos.

Resources

• Cloud-based image editing software e.g. http://pixlr.com.

Hints and tips

Let the students explore the software for 15 minutes before letting them work on the photos. This activity can be differentiated by setting each group a specific number of photographs to work on.
We recommend they work on one image at a time, especially if you have low performance computers or poor Internet connection in your school.

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