If you're a teacher who has recently lead students in creating any sort of presentation using technology, you know that many can get lost searching for photos in the vast abyss of Google Image Search. Not only that, but safe filters might not be reliable, and students end up using copyrighted material.
I urge you - end the days of using Google Image Search with your students! It's important that students learn that although it is easy and a lot of people do it, they can't just copy whatever pictures they want off the internet and use them as if they are their own.
Here are some alternative photo sites to use with your classes, as well as for your own presentation purposes:
Photos for Class - "Search now to download properly attributed, Creative Commons photos for school"
Out of all of these sites, Photos for Class certainly has the most appropriate content for all ages.
Unsplash - "Beautiful, free photos"
Pexels - "Best free stock photos in one place"
Stocksnap - "Beautiful free stock photos"
CC Search - search feature on the Creative Commons website - good for content other than photos
Students need to also get in the habit of crediting the sources of the photos they use, even if they are licensed to use/reproduce freely.
Diversity Red Flag! While I have been using these sites, I've noticed that many searches yield photos almost exclusively of white people. I'm guessing, based on limited experience, that this is typical to the image search world in general. Perhaps a worthwhile phenomenon to point out to students, and also to have them notice while searching for photos of people for different purposes.
This is so useful!! Thank you Erika :-)
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