ImageBank

http://imagebank.scoilnet.ie/

Find a photograph or upload your own for educational use in Irish Primary and Secondary schools.

What is the site about?

ImageBank is a library of photographs designed specifically to assist learning and teaching in Ireland. It focuses on Irish people, places and things but also includes other subjects that may be useful in classrooms - e.g. lions, elephants, other cultures. The site uses Creative Commons licensing, which means you may only upload images you have created or photos you have taken.
 

Why was it chosen as site of the week?

The site has just been launched and its success will depend on teachers and other educators sharing photographs to build a comprehensive library of images.

Using visual stimulations and illustrations is essential in any classroom. An easily searchable online bank of images, where all the photos have been approved  and copyright issues have been taken care of in advance, will allow teachers to focus on how best to use the images in their classes. When you add a photo to ImageBank, you will be prompted to add Keywords with each photo which will determine how your image is found in the future. The library can also be searched by category art, landscapes or sports for example.

How can it be used as an educational resource?

There are endless ways in which digital images can be used across different curriculum areas, for students from Junior Infants to Leaving Certificate. The four common stages involved in any subject area are:

Communicate ideas, concepts, understanding and stories.

Acquire: There are many ways of acquiring digital images. Children could use phones or various forms of cameras to source their images. Using ImageBank will require students to select an appropriate image to convey their message.

Analyse: Analysis of different kinds is involved.  For example, if the students have gathered a collection of images in relation to water, they may need to classify them into fresh water and sea water or frozen water and boiling water. Images of a castle ruin may need to be analysed in relation to historical events.

Create: Students and teachers can use images to create another artefact or work. Written and visual information used together can produce something more effective than either type of information on its own. If children are doing a project on healthy eating, for example, they may use a bar chart, images of types of food and statements about what they have discovered.

Communicate: The work created will communicate the message to the target audience whether that is students themselves, parents or a wider audience, perhaps on a website.

Teaching in subject areas:

Visual images are used in all subjects, at all levels in our Education system. ImageBank provides access to a library of photographs, all tagged with keywords.

Primary:

History: The images of castle ruins and dolmens will be useful in teaching the strand Change and Continuity over time, which applies to pupils from 1st to 6th class.  They could also be used in learning about the Celts and Early Christian Ireland, which are in the Early people and ancient society strand that applies to 3rd to 6th classes.

Geography: The weather section of the Natural Environment strand is one obvious area where local images could be used.

Lessons for English, Irish and Visual Arts could be based on images sourced in ImageBank.

Secondary:

Images from ImageBank could usefully be used in almost any subject:

Languages: An image could be the stimulus for creative writing, or for descriptive writing.

Geography: Land formations, weather, uses of land and the built environment are all obvious situations where local images could be used.

History: Images of ancient sites, for example, could help students to engage with the topic under discussion.

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