Fotobabble - You can now do something "instructive" with class trip photos...and much more

Reposted from Meg's Notebook

Fotobabble is a new web application which allows users to add audio to photos quickly and painlessly. Sign-up is free and all you need is a microphone on your computer, the rest is basic - you simply upload a photo, record a narrative, and Fotobabble attaches an audio caption.

Fotobabble does not appear to allow users to string photos together to create a storyboard from a string of related photos, but there are other applications which you can use to connect these photos.

But that's a minor hiccup, especially when you consider all the possible educational applications of this tool. While our post title playfully refers to breathing some life into all those photos of classroom activities and trips, there are some real classroom teaching applications, for example:

• describing using parts of speech
• descriptive language - using metaphors, similes
• creative writing, e.g. a short story about the photo, poetry
• point of view
• inferring; e.g. hidden meaning behind the photo, the story
• media literacy, such as developing slogans, determining how a photo can sell a product or concept
• music; select the appropriate jingle / song for the photo

It would be really cool if Fotobabble allowed users to manipulate the photo, such as adding text, to create an advertisement or book cover.
This fotobabble user describes some more useful educational applications.