Good morning all!
Missed posting yesterday – so sorry – I’ll explain why in tomorrow’s blog! :)
Today’s featured site, http://www.piclits.com/, comes to us by way of Diigo user Angela Maiers, who blogs over at http://www.angelamaiers.com/. I tagged the site following one of her Twitter postings that day, knowing I’d want to share it, but it’s taken this long to get to it!
http://www.piclits.com/ is the creation of Terry Freidlander, a California-based entrepreneur and true child of the 60s. His site is a super simple, visually powerful, completely free tool that lets you combine beautiful photographs with text, creating amazing personal art. Here’s a screenshot:
Choose a picture, drag-and-drop some words (or enter your own), and presto … visual poetry that goes way beyond words on a page!
I’d show you the cool one I came up with using the photo above, but after tweaking it for about 10 minutes, I decided to click ‘blog or share’ forgetting I’d not set up my account first, and my work was lost when I pressed ‘BACK’. D’OH! Hate it when that happens. :/ So remember to create your account before you start working! Here’s a neat one I found in the gallery:
See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
Honestly, folks, this to me is the essence of Web 2.0 – free, simple to use tools that amplify student creativity and self-expression. It doesn’t get any better! Start dreaming up some ways to get this going in your classroom, then, get out of the way! :)
Hope this helps!
-kj-
I just created a few PicLits of my own and am already churning away at some great applications in the classroom. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!
Erin! You are welcome! Pay it forward – tell a friend! Better yet, share your plans with us – how will you be using PicLits? -kj-
Kevin,
Piclits – Love this – is available in Spanish or french?
Hi Mary Kay, I’m not aware of one in those languages, and I will check … but it would be relatively easy to replicate offline via PowerPoint. It won’t be the same, but it would be close, and should be doable … let me know if you want to explore this further! -kj-
Thanks for the kudos regarding PicLits. Kevin: I see that you are technology/computer advisor for K-4. Are you able to get results with 3rd and 4th grade students. The words are usually geared for K-5 – K12? We are looking to spread the site to as many language arts teachers as we can reach. Any ideas? the whiteboard/smart board demonstration that we did in Boise was truly engaging. The touch control technology is perfect for ADD students and ESL as well.
thanks again. ( Terry ) Kay: PicLits is only available in English. Spanish would be the next logical move. PRINT function is in the works as is grouping of the photos into themes/categories
Kevin- thanks for sharing this with your readers! I absolutely love this site- there is so much potential. Information can be communicated so powerfully through an image and a few simple words.
I will check back to see what teachers and kids do with this one!
Thanks again for the compliments. Piclits is slowly reaching language arts teachers and ESL folks. We have stalled at about 15K in page views and about an 120 Piclits posted to the Gallery per day.
We applied to the NCTE for their National convention and are blogging with folks like yourselves. A revenue source is another issue. Google ads are not generating income. Too broad and unrelated to our user base.
Keep in touch.
Thanks again x 10
Terry Friedlander, founder
terry@piclits.com
Great tool! Thank you, Kevin.
Hi from PicLits central in Ketchum, ID. Thanks again …. Syd & Kevin. School starts tomorrow in parts of ID. and then all the schools resume 9/6.
We are trying to raise money so that we can implement the “COMING SOON” page.
It is posted on the home page and includes lots of new features + a teacher account and potential opportunity for teachers to upload their own photography. The ESL and ELL folks are really wanting us to offer the site in Spanish. For now, we will continue to work with what we have. The site is really electric on a white ( SMART ) board. Thanks again and do not resitate to contact us. CONTACT US was added about two months ago on the site.