Presentation from Edmedia 2011 on an add-on to the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment that I wrote to show carousels of images on (the typically dull and static) module pages. The code was released back to the community for anyone to use.

1. Integrating Flickr-based Images into Moodle
to Increase Visual Appeal and Dynamism
of Teaching Spaces
Dr. Ian Glover
City University London
ian.glover.1@city.ac.uk
Ed-Media 2011: Lisbon, Portugal – 29th
June 2011

2. Session Topics

Relevant Theory

Moodle Basics

Flickr Introduction

Moodle Tool Overview

Alternative Method

Demonstration(s)

3. Relevant Theory
• Visual information easily integrated into existing knowledge (Lord, 1980)
• otherwise how could we survive the real world?
• Possible separate Visual/Verbal information processing mechanisms (Paivio,
1969)
• Images and words can reinforce each other’s meaning – “multimedia effect”
(Clark & Mayer, 2003).
• Left brain/Right brain split (Gazzaniga,1970)
• Left = sequential, logical (i.e. textual)
• Right = holistic, synthesising (i.e. image-oriented)
• Increased dynamism of web content leads to higher ‘revisitation’ (Adar, Teevan
& Dumais, 2009)

4. ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’
A couple of illustrations…
In Summary:

5. Westworld (1973) [Polish Film Poster]
Plot Summary (from IMDB)
An amusement park for rich
vacationers. The park provides its
customers a way to live out their
fantasies through the use of robots that
provide anything they want. Two of the
vacationers choose a wild west
adventure. However, after a computer
breakdown, they find that they are now
being stalked by a rogue robot gun-
slinger.

6. Trading Places (1983) [Polish Film Poster]
Plot Summary (from IMDB):
Louis Winthorpe III is a successful
Philadelphia commodity broker with
mansion, manservant and girlfriend to
match. Billy Ray Valentine is a hustling
beggar. Winthorpe's employers, the elderly
Duke brothers, make a bet that by switching
the lifestyle of the two Billy Ray will make
good and their man will take to a life of
crime. Suddenly Louis finds himself
uncomprehendingly with no job, no home
and only a new acquaintance, glamorous
hooker Ophelia, prepared to help him. So at
least in one way things could actually be
worse.

7. Moodle Overview
• Default – very plain,
• but can be templated
• Very 'Flat' structure
• Little Dynamism
• Mostly textual.
• Low Visual Appeal
• Problems with adding it.

8. Templated Moodle Module

9. Flickr Basics

Image sharing / cataloguing
site

Some social networking
aspects

Creative Commons aware

Free, limited accounts available

Upload by Email possible

10. Embeddable Slideshow – Flickr’s Own Technique
• Requires some technical knowledge to add to page.
• Moodle strips it from the module homepage – for embedding in resources only.
• Require additional software to view – Adobe Flash.

11. Moodle Tool Overview (1)

Images from a single Flickr
account

Any public account

Starts at random position in
image collection

(depending on configuration)
• Allows scrolling through image
collection

12. Moodle Tool Overview (2)
• Static image when no
JavaScript
• Caption = link to
original on Flickr
• Doesn't save images
on Moodle server
• Stores image details
for up to 7 days

13. Adding/Configuring the Block
1) Add ‘Flickr Image Carousel’
block.
2) Enter account details
• 3 possible options
1) Refine selection using tags
and albums (optional)
2) Save and wait for image data
to be cached
3) Enjoy!

14. An Alternative Method
• Same techniques can display random
inline image:
• e.g. page with 1 photo tagged with
‘statue’, 1 ‘small’ image, 1 from a
music festival – link
• Useful when ‘colour’ needed for a
page
• But not when need a specific image
• Install on server with PHP, use URL
in emails, on web pages, in VLE, etc.

15. Demonstrations
Does anyone have a Flickr account?

16. Questions?
Code available – send me an email for details

17. Contact details
• Dr. Ian Glover (Ian.Glover.1@city.ac.uk)
• Or try the QR Code 
• Code Available – just email!

18. References
• Adar, E., Teevan, J., & Dumais, S. T. (2009). Resonance on the web: web
dynamics and revisitation patterns. In Proceedings of the 27th international
conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI '09). ACM, New
York, NY, USA, 1381-1390.
• Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2003). e-Learning and the Science of Instruction.
San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Gazzaniga, M. S. (1970). The Bisected Brain. New York: Appleton-Century-
Crofts.
• Lord, C. (1980). Schemas and images as memory aids: Two modes of
processing social information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
38(2), 257-269.
• Paivio, A. (1969). Mental Imagery in associative learning and memory.
Psychological Review, 76(3), 241-263.