This image started as an experiment in the manipulation of digital photography using Fotoflexer, a free online image editing tool. I began with a sample photograph of a forest, available on the site, and converted the color to sepia. I then overlaid another sample photograph of waterlilies and used the opacity feature to make it 50% opaque. I then added a photo I found online of the Dalai Lama using the overlay feature, also making this image 50% opaque. I blurred the edges of all pictures to add to the ethereal quality, so that the end result appears peaceful and meditative.
In contemplating how the manipulation of digital imagery might be effectively used educationally in my content area of world languages, frankly, nothing immediately came to mind. I am very cognisant of the importance of adding educational value with technology, not just adding glamour with no substance. However, a part of the world languages curriculum concerns learning about the geography and cultures around the world where the languages are spoken. This would be a very appropriate use for image editing. Students are more likely to retain information they have learned through an image they have spent time manipulating, rather than one they have merely looked at online or in a book. Therefore, I think using such online tools as Fotoflexer.com and Piknik.com in conjunction with a lesson on, for example, the Francophone countries of the world would make the lesson more meaningful, as long as the tools were used appropriately and respectfully by the students (no putting Groucho Marks glasses and moustache on Charles de Gaulle).
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