PhotoPin is a search engine for images. Searches result in sponsored images from Shutterstock as well as images that have Creative Commons licenses.
Type of Material:
Collection
Recommended Uses:
Educators and students could use the site to find images for projects, homework, lectures, illustrations, and presentations.
Technical Requirements:
None
Identify Major Learning Goals:
There are no learning goals associated with the site. It allows users to find images to use in blogs, or for educational purposes.
Target Student Population:
The material can be used by students at all educational level: elementary, middle school, high school, college/university, and graduate school. Pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, faculty, and administrators may also be interested in using the material.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
No prerequisite knowledge or skills are needed. Just type the search terms into the text box, select the pictures, and download.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The material does not appear to be censored. Health and science terms did result in appropriate images. The site searches Flickr as well as Shutterstock for images.
Concerns:
Abstract and non-popular search terms such as plagiarism or likert scale will not yield relevant photos. There is no indicator as to how many images are available to users.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The site seems to have access to many images. For each image chosen, there is a link to the original site as well as the Creative Commons attribution required. The learning material can be used to illustrate tangible objects which can be effective when working with English language learners, children, and visual learners.
Concerns:
The site relies on the user's knowledge of correct search terms. Many of the searches done by reviewers resulted in images that did not seem connected to the search.
When an image is chosen, there are options to purchase "premium" materials, which might be problematic when used in a classroom situation.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The learning material is familiar. The user types search terms into the text box and selects the photos that they want to use. To begin a new search, the user can just type new terms into the search box.
Concerns:
Material is not organized other than by search terms. Many searches resulted in images that were not related to the search.
Creative Commons:
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Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
