Google Docs has offered handy image editing tools for years. But until this week Google Docs hasn't offered a good way to fix images in place. On Monday Google announced an update to the image editing tools in Google Docs. That update includes the ability to fix or lock an image in place in your documents.
The option to fix an image in place in Google Docs can be found when you highlight an image and then select "image options."
As is the case for most updates to G Suite products, this Google Docs update will roll out over a couple of weeks. If you don't see it today, you will see it soon.
Teamimg is a free tool that is a bit like Thinglink and Classtools' Image Annotator without the hyperlinks. Teamimg lets you upload an image and share it. Once uploaded you can click on the image to write comments and reply to the comments that other people have written. The comment threads can be expanded or collapsed to depending on your viewing needs.
In the following video I demonstrate how to use Teamimg to collaboratively comment on images.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for sharing Teamimg in one of his recent Ed Tech Digest posts.
Applications for Education
Teamimg could be a good tool for students to use to annotate all kinds of images, diagrams, and maps. As it doesn't require an email address or any student information, it can be used at any grade level. I can see Teamimg being used in a geography lesson to have students create annotated maps. In a biology lesson students could use Teamimg to make interactive diagrams of cells. In an art lesson students might use Teamimg to identify and label techniques or important aspects of a work of art.
As I wrote on Saturday, Watch2gether is a nice tool to use to have students share observations, ask questions, and answer questions while watching video clips in your classroom or as part of a flipped lesson they're completing at home. The service is free to use and doesn't require registration in order for you or your students to use it. In the following video I demonstrate how to host live online discussions about videos through Watch2Gether.
