AnonyMouse_33773 Posted May 15, 2015 Posted May 15, 2015 We take photos of the group's experiences which parents get at the end of each term. In the past they were given CDs with photos, which had to be compress to fit. Now parents bring in USB sticks. I would like to give children photos more regularly and not have to remind parents about anything. Is anyone putting pictures online, using for example Flickr or Dropbox? If so, how do parents access these and no one else?
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted May 16, 2015 Posted May 16, 2015 No our photos are all via Tapestry , we use to print some and then offer them for sale as a fundraiser. Drop box can be secure but it's like everything you request they don't get shared or put on social network but once they are in parents possession there's not much you can do except ensure they only get their own children .
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted May 16, 2015 Posted May 16, 2015 I believe a lot use Tapestry- the photos go direct into the individual children's files for parents to access.. but I know not all can use it.. Dropbox has a facility to create an individual file and share that with only the people you want to see it.. our son did one for his wedding pictures, he needed the email of people who wanted access and invited them to view the file.. issue was though we could add to and/or delete anything in the file.. fine for his purpose as we all got the pictures from others but could see issues if parents decide to delete it all ..you may also need a lot of files so each parent can only see the ones you want and not everything.. don't use flickr.. Think if parents want them it should be up to them to remember to bring in the USB sticks - maybe set a regular date like first of every month or following Monday if over a weekend. so it becomes routine.
AnonyMouse_33773 Posted May 16, 2015 Author Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) Thanks for replies. Most of our pictures are of groups of children doing things together and their purpose is for children to revisit their learning experiences and parents to get an insight into what we've been doing. I was hoping to be able to put all photos (with parents' permission) of the week online at its end, for everyone to access with a password. Parents can then pick out and keep what they want. Putting photos on 25 USB sticks at the end of each month would mean doing it 250 times a year. Edited May 16, 2015 by Wildflowers
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted May 16, 2015 Posted May 16, 2015 For that sort of thing we had a slideshow on a digital frame which was seen when collecting/ dropping off children, so they could see it but not access the pictures.. but we had space for parents to spend a bit of time before and after sessions with their children. Sometimes I wonder if we all do far too much , do all school classes do the same sort of thing or is it only early years that tend to try to give so much to parents.. My concern would be for parents to give the password to aunties, cousins, etc etc.. if you go this route I would look for something you can invite them to rather than a password to get in.
AnonyMouse_23964 Posted May 16, 2015 Posted May 16, 2015 Thanks for replies. Most of our pictures are of groups of children doing things together and their purpose is for children to revisit their learning experiences and parents to get an insight into what we've been doing. I was hoping to be able to put all photos (with parents' permission) of the week online at its end, for everyone to access with a password. Parents can then pick out and keep what they want. Putting photos on 25 USB sticks at the end of each month would mean doing it 250 times a year. Hi Wildfolowers. Do your parents sign to agree that their children may appear in group photos that are shared? We have had issues with this in the past. When the children left, we used to put all their photos onto a disc for their parents but then it took so long to double check everything so that child 'A' was not not any discs we stopped doing it. It was a lovely idea but we had to ask ourselves the question - why do we take the photos? Answer to provide evidence for the learning stories, which the parents are given so we were essentially doubling our workload. We do not have the time or the finances to do this. We have also used a digital photo frame during dropping off time and parent consultations. We do not have access to the internet so do not use tapestry just old-fashioned scrapbooks and paper
AnonyMouse_33773 Posted May 16, 2015 Author Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) We get written parental permission for their child to appear on pictures given to other parents and on our website. Then these can of course be shared with relatives and the rest of the world. We display photos at the end of the day on a photo frame for parents to see what we've done. The photos going home are for the children to revisit experiences and talk about them with siblings etc. It's also a way to involve the parent who isn't collecting. Yes, it is very time consuming, but then we don't do learning journeys. However, we have a very time-consuming tracking and planning system, partly so we can keep parents informed. (And I do both the photos and updating of the learning and assessment records myself because staff don't have time outside of work.) I feel that much of the work I've created when not with the children, parents or colleagues (9 am to 4 pm every day) isn't essential. The children would learn what matters at this stage of their life by us 'only' sensitively observing and extending their experiences, explorations and expressions. At times I feel slightly demoralised by continuously having to prove that being at our setting is a good thing. Edited May 16, 2015 by Wildflowers
AnonyMouse_23964 Posted May 16, 2015 Posted May 16, 2015 I am sure that being at your setting is a good thing Wildflowers and you obviously care very deeply about your children and families. No offence was intended . We can all identify with your comments about how much of ourselves we give to this job.
AnonyMouse_33773 Posted May 16, 2015 Author Posted May 16, 2015 Oh no! It was just an explanation, not a response to critique because I didn't feel criticised. Rather, I was questioning why I do all this work with photos! 1
AnonyMouse_2157 Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 Can I just add an issue that could occur with parents bringing in USB sticks - unless these are brand new and never been used there could be the potential risk of them having a virus on and therefore unknowingly bringing that onto your systems.
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 Oh no! It was just an explanation, not a response to critique because I didn't feel criticised. Rather, I was questioning why I do all this work with photos! I also wonder how many parents actually use them for the purpose you supply them.. if you get my drift... and how do you know ??
AnonyMouse_33773 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Posted May 17, 2015 Possibly most parents just pick out the ones of their own child, to keep as childhood memories. My thinking is that the likelihood that the photos were used to enable the children to revisit and share experiences would be greater if they were available to look at on an online site weekly, rather than months later at the end of term.
AnonyMouse_5970 Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 I wonder if your could use Tapestry and just have the whole setting as one "child"? Then you could create a "learning journal" with photos and info about what you had been doing collectively instead of individual children's learning journeys as most of us use it for. Not sure if that would work but it's an idea... 1
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