Discover innovative online tools for education. Explore strategies and resources to enhance teaching, learning, and collaboration in the digital age.
Most of us these days, when trying to capture a special moment or a beautiful scene, use our cell phone cameras to take the shot. And while that’s great for portability, it may not result in the best pictures. We’re usually in a hurry (Why won’t the cat hold still while I take a picture of her doing something cute?). Add to that the fact that the more features our cell phone cameras add on, the less we actually know about how to take great photos. The result? Photos that are too dark, too bright, or just not right.
The good news for us photo amateurs is that artificial intelligence (AI) can how help improve our photos, even after they’ve been taken. AI Photos is a free website where you can upload any photo and the artificial brains will then make it better automatically; you don’t have to know anything or do anything. The tool’s creators claim that it can even “translate ordinary photos into DSLR-quality images.” (DSLR stands for Digital Lens Single Reflex and is the preferred tool of professional photographers.)
Photo Editing in Action
Below is a photo I took of one of my sons while he was in college. You can see the “before” look on the right and it’s really dark. The “after” look on the left shows how the photo appears once the AI has done its thing. Then I simply download my enhanced photo (as a JPG) and pretend I took it that way from the start. There’s no fee or registration required, which is amazing.
The final, saved image looks like this. The AI seems to have not only lightened the background, but also sharpened my blurry image.
Now this may not be the slickest photo editor on the planet. But, to be honest, sometimes I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles to have to pick from. Usually, I just want my photo to look good without a lot of work. AI Photos is fast and efficient and doesn’t require me to know a lot about photography. That’s what I’m looking for in any artificial intelligence, something that will save me time and make me look good!
Classroom Applications
Because the AI works automatically, this isn’t a great tool for teaching students how to take better photographs. But when you’re in the middle of a project and students need good photos fast, this is the perfect resource. Even elementary students can use it because of its simplicity. And, after all, the world needs better photos!
More Photo Editing Resources
If you want more resources on photo editing, check out these blog posts:
- Powerful Photo Editing for All Devices
- Communicating with Photos
- Helping Students Find and Cite Photos
This has to be the easiest Twitter wall to set up. You have multiple themes available, can upload your logo, and identify one Twitter keyword, username, or Instagram keyword on the free version. There are four layouts (text, text and images, images, and instructions) which you can use in any combination or use all four (my preference) set on timers.
Though not quite as extensive as The Wallrus, Activity Walls does do a nice job of showing the most recent tweets. Just identify your hashtag, set the colors (which can be a little quirky, depending on what browser you are using), and your wall is instantly created. Using Chrome, I can quickly jump to full screen for a nice projected view; using Internet Explorer, I can customize the accent, background, and text colors.
Tweet Monsters is simple and focused. The free account is for personal use; you’ll need to contact them for pricing on corporate and other uses. Begin by identifying your hashtag. Customize text and background colors as well as the font, transition type, and transition speed. If needed, you can use the custom word filter to identify words to be filtered out and to either not show the tweet or substitute the bad word with an *. The downside of Tweet Monsters is that you only see one tweet at a time.
This Twitter wall has the most options available without a cost. You can add lists, searches, tweets by geolocation, exclude specific hashtags or words, and color code your timeline, mentions, and direct messages if needed. You do have a variety of setting to change regarding the speed, fall size, language, font size, and whether or not to show retweets. When finished tweaking your wall, you will want to click on the Presentation Mode link for easier viewing for your attendees. Though not the most professional looking wall, it does give the most flexibility. And, when I’m in a Twitter chat, I use this wall to follow the exchange and participate.
Now that you have a few Twitter walls to choose from and some tips to get you started, we’d love to see what you do with them. Share the link to your Twitter wall in the comments below.
But now they’ve released a new tool specifically for geometry, and it’s just as amazing. Although not as fully featured as a website like 
(correct). Its choices for me to select from were presented across the top of the screen. I simply clicked on the sun icon and here is what I was given as Google corrected my poor work into something more recognizable.