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Using Images in Learning, Teaching and Research Materials

Last updated: 17 November 2003
Published in: Finding and using digital media |
Tags: delivery | digital collections | e-learning |

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A brief guide to using images in educational materials.

Designing the collection for learning, teaching and research

Image collections developed within Further or Higher Education are well placed to understand the needs and requirements of teaching staff and should therefore be able to develop resources of particular use for learning, teaching and research.

However, some user-research will still need to be undertaken before the project starts and end-users should be involved with development and consulted frequently as the project progresses. Particular attention must be given to the quality of the images and metadata and how they are delivered to the user. Target communities must be able to easily find and make use of the images within the collection. For example, will it be possible for teaching staff or students to incorporate the images within their own presentations, perhaps by importing them into Microsoft PowerPoint or by linking to individual files or pages within the collection? Do researchers have images of sufficient quality or detail to study and is it clear how they can obtain versions suitable for publication?

Your users will need to be reassured that their downloaded images are:

From a reputable source
Faithful reproductions of the original material
Copyright cleared for educational and research use

Encourage the use of images within learning and teaching materials

Research suggests that images can enhance learning, by illustrating concepts and providing visual memory cues. It is good practice to use the collection to encourage and support the use of its images within the teaching and learning process. Where possible, it is a good idea to provide examples of how the collection could be used in learning and teaching settings. These examples will be useful resources in themselves, but can also prompt teaching staff to use images in new and innovative ways - especially in subject areas that do not have a tradition of using image-based materials. Typical uses of images in computer-based learning are: Presentations, MS Word documents, Web pages (for example held on a departmental intranet), and Virtual Learning Environments (vle). We provide basic guidelines on incorporating digital images into such technologies, (Link to advice on using)

Challenges for using images in learning and teaching

Using images within teaching materials is growing, but there are still challenges to be overcome, which can include:

Lack of training in using digital images within computer-based resources
Lack of time to create new teaching materials using new technology
Lack of knowledge and awareness of existing digital image collections and how the collection or its individual images can be used
Lack of clear copyright and usage notices

Initiatives within the UK are now addressing these problems. Projects have been funded to use existing digital image collections and to incorporate them into computer-based learning materials. These exemplars embedded within good pedagogical practice show how technology and images can be used to facilitate learning. Such initiatives include FILTER - Focusing Images for Learning and Teaching: an Enriched Resource, the Bristol BioMed Learning and Teaching project (no longer available) and the PICTIVA project. For the Further Education community there are the substantial NLN Materials, and for subscribers of SCRAN, there is access to a wide range of learning materials, case studies and how-to guides to facilitate the use of SCRAN images within learning, teaching and research.

Last updated: 17 November 2003
Published in: Finding and using digital media |
Tags: delivery | digital collections | e-learning |

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