Image Manipulation Programs

In terms or image manipulation programs there are tonnes of programs or apps that can be accessed and downloaded by students and for teachers to use.

For instance,

Skitch:

Source: http://bit.ly/1zoxUSn

After looking through Skitch and seeing how simple it is to use I would recommend this program for teachers to use that can be valuable to providing feedback. Feedback is essential for student growth and using Skitch a teacher can take a photo and mark it up, or highlight student text and make annotations. This can be a valuable tool for teachers to not only provide descriptive feedback but to build a portfolio to share with parents, use as anecdotal notes or for assessment. 

Photoshop: 

Source: http://bit.ly/1tMKya8

I personally am a fan of using Photoshop and it might not be as simple to use like Skitch but it is extremely valuable and beneficial to students and teachers. As a teacher I love using Photoshop to create fun and engaging activity sheets and posters.

Although Photoshop has a learning curve, I feel students as young as the junior grades are capable of learning this program that actually develops a real-world skill they can use. Students can exercise their creativity with a tool like Photoshop and become producers of media publications through classroom projects. The DSBN has Photoshop on every computer that student can access. Unfortunately I think there is a great amount of teachers who are not aware of how to use the program let alone teaching their students the many tools the program has.

On the other hand I have witnessed students at a school in Niagara Falls have amazing 8th grade class projects using Photoshop. They credited their projects posters to learning Photoshop throughout their junior grades and developing their proficiency overtime. By witnessing the success students can have with this image manipulation program, it has influenced me to have my future students apply and benefit from using Photoshop in their education.