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Best Royalty-Free Image Sources
Images are a wonderful, and almost necessary, addition to blog and social media posts, marketing materials, and websites. A great photograph can help convey your message and grab your audience’s attention. Research suggests that social media posts, for example, garner more attention than text-only posts, but finding high quality and royalty free images can be a drag!
While a Google image search may help you in diagnosing a pest or plant disease, it is NOT a proper way to find images for use in marketing or educational materials. Many of the images you may find via Google image search are not licensed for public use. If you find an image online that you would like to use, but cannot find any licensing information, you should attempt to contact the original author for permission. Not receiving an answer from the author is not implied permission. If you do not hear from the author, it is best to find a suitable image licensed under Creative Commons.
If you need a refresher on the types of Creative Commons licenses and allowable image uses, you should watch this helpful video.
The following royalty-free image resources can serve as a starting point in your image search. This is not an exhaustive list, but the resources here offer fairly extensive image libraries that cover a wide range of topic areas.
Pixabay
Pixabay tends to be my first stop when looking for high quality stock images. I don’t always find exactly what I’m looking for, but the site offers thousands of images that cover nearly every topic imaginable (unless you’re looking for something ultra-specific). All images are released under the Creative Commons CC0 license as public domain and are free to use for both personal and commercial projects with no attribution required. Be careful not to click the subtle ShutterStock ads that will take you to the fee-based ShutterStock website.
StockSnap.io
StockSnap.io is a new (2017) stock photo website with tons of great images. From gorgeous images of food to business savvy photos for presentations, you’re sure to find a great selection of royalty-free Creative Commons CC0 images here.
PikWizard
PikWizard offers tons of great images across a diversity of topics. From technology to landscapes, PikWizard is easily searchable and offers tons of exclusive images you won’t find on another stock photo sites.
Foodies Feed
FoodiesFeed offers searchable, high quality, and beautifully colorful photos of food. You’ll find tons of well-composed photos of ingredients and prepared meals, but not many shots of people. No attribution is required for using the photos. I did notice images downloaded as very large files. The image below downloaded at a size of 9.4MB so I used Photoshop to resize to something more manageable (181KB).
Public Domain Archive
Public Domain Archive has a nice, though limited, supply of public domain images that are high quality and free to use. All images are released under the Creative Commons CC0 license as public domain and can be used for both personal and commercial projects with no attribution required.
Unsplash
Unsplash features a variety of high quality and searchable images. You can even subscribe to receive 10 new photos in your inbox every 10 days. All images are released under the Creative Commons CC0 license as public domain and are free to use for both personal and commercial projects with no attribution required. Below is an example of the great images available on Unsplash.
Free Images
Free Images offers many great images that are free for editorial purposes including education. When used for an editorial purpose you should provide proper credit to “FreeImages.com/Artist’s Member Name.”
Public Domain Pictures
Public Domain Pictures is a repository of free amateur images available for download. The free images are released under the Creative Commons CC0 license. Be sure not to click the many ads for fee-based stock photography sites.
Flickr Creative Commons
Flickr offers millions of photos licensed under Creative Commons. You can search for images by each type of Creative Commons license. Always make sure to follow license restrictions for each photo you’re using.
Getty
Another great resource for free images is Getty, though you can only embed free Getty images on websites, blogs, or social media. You will not be able to use free Getty images for printing, PowerPoints, use in 4-H project books, etc.
RGB Stock
RGB Stock offers a lot of great stock photos, all with Creative Commons CC0 license. You will have to register for a free account to download images, but it’s worth it for free access to high quality images!
CFAES Photo Library
The CFAES Photo Library is a great place to find images that represent OSU landmarks, programs, and people.
Bugwood
If you’re looking for images of plants, insects, and plant diseases, Bugwood is one of the best! The database is searchable and offers tons of great species-specific images. When downloading and using Bugwood images, you MUST provide attribution. Images are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 and Creative Commons Attribution/Non-commercial 3.0. If you’d like to use photos for a commercial purpose (e.g. in a bulletin that will be sold), you must get approval from the image author.
If you’re ever in doubt about allowable uses for stock images, check out the website’s about page. Most sites offer additional information about the licensing of their images and appropriate uses.
Whether you take your own photographs or download images from stock sites, keep the following in mind:
- Your images should be relevant to their use
- You should use only high quality and in-focus images
- When required by the image license, provide proper attribution
- Never use an image without permission, unless licensed under Creative Commons
If you’re interested in creating great graphics with the images you find (without learning Photoshop), I encourage you to check out our blog post on Canva.
Questions? Contact Danae.
Want Up-to-Date Extension Tech Info? Follow us on Twitter!
Are you following your Ed Techs on Twitter yet? You should be! Follow Jamie and Danae for relevant tech information as well as updates on available trainings, workshops, and other happenings in Extension Ed Tech!
New social media app offers authenticity over contrived versions of ourselves. Meet @bemeapp. #beme #edtechln http://t.co/JAF7VGDis1
— Danae Wolfe (@DanaeMWolfe) July 17, 2015
So you want to make an app? There’s a decision chart for that! http://t.co/gwOqBbvJ3v #EdTechLN #CoopExt
— Jamie Seger (@JamieMSeger) July 22, 2015
Follow Danae.
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New to Twitter? We’ve got you covered! You can find a primer on Twitter here. Once you’re up and running it’s best to begin expanding your personal learning network. Here’s how.
Want to Ditch the Clickers? ODEE Offering Top Hat Live Polling Workshop
Live polling tools such as Top Hat and PollEverywhere allow individuals to utilize their smartphone or laptop to participate in real-time.
Ohio State’s Office of Distance Education and e-Learning is offering a hands-on Top Hat workshop August 12th from 10:00am – 12:00pm. Top Hat is a clicker-free live polling software that the university now has available for faculty and staff use.
You can get more information and register on the ODEE website here.
You can also learn more about Top Hat on the ODEE Resource Page here.
Another option for free live polling is PollEverywhere.com. This web-based tool is user-friendly and includes handy options such as PPT slide embed tools. However, only the first 40 participant responses are recorded for free accounts.
Image Design for Teaching Upcoming Photoshop Bootcamp
For OSU Extension program staff or anyone else interested in learning how to edit and create images for teaching purposes, OSU’s Office of Distance Education and e-Learning is offering a Photoshop bootcamp on August 19th. You have the option of registering separately for each topic covered during the bootcamp if you are already proficient in Photoshop basics, or you can feel free to register for each topic! More information on what will be covered during the bootcamp is included on their blog where you can also register for each topic during the bootcamp.
Questions? Leave a comment or send Jamie an email!
So You Want to Make an App? Decision Chart!
A collaboration between OSU Extension’s Ed Techs and professionals from New Mexico State University’s Learning Games Lab and Media Productions over the past year has produced a handy decision chart for Extension professionals who are interested in developing mobile apps. NMSU’s Barbara Chamberlin, who directs the Learning Games Lab, developed the large majority of this flowchart which walks individuals and teams through the (very involved) decision-making process that may or may not lead to the creation of an app.
PDF version for printing: so-you-want-to-make-an-app-flow-chart-with-color-v6-ugrxmt.pdf
If you or your program / project team are interested in creating a mobile app, walk through the various steps of the flowchart. If you feel an app is still appropriate and worth the time / monetary commitments, contact Jamie or Heather to discuss how to move forward.
Questions or comments about mobile apps or the decision chart? Let us know in the comments!
How to Use Google Trends to Identify Local Interests
Google Trends, a Google tool utilized to aggregate search engine and news trend data, recently got an upgrade that allows data to boil down to a regional level per state. This is great news for Extension – it allows us to take a look at timely topics that matter most to people on a semi-local level. Here is are a couple examples of how we can use Google Trends in Extension programming:
I searched for three terms in Google Trends: 1) Food Safety, 2) Listeria, 3)Botulism. I was interested to see how many people used which term around the time of the listeria and botulism scares in Ohio. I limited the term search to just Ohio.
As you can see from the graph, the term “Food Safety” was searched for far less over the past 12 months than the terms “Listeria” and “Botulism”, even during the height of the news cycles for these topics. By including the terms that are most often searched for when blogging or posting on social media about timely information, we can make sure that Extension produced content is found by the people who need it.
Another example of how to use Google Trends to track a topic that has a growing interest: Kids and Screen Time. After plugging in “Screen Time” as a search topic over the past few years, here were the results:
According to the graph, this topic has increased in popularity since 2009. The dotted lines at the end of the graph represent Google’s “forecast” of how often Screen Time will be searched for in the near future. The letters on this graph represent when top news stories on Screen Time were posted. If you hover over each letter, information about who posted the story and the title will appear.
Here’s a look at how the topic of Screen Time compares between Ohioans and people who live in Michigan:
Ohioans search for “Screen Time” more often than people living in Michigan.
When “Screen Time” is broken down by region:
After plugging in search terms, locations, or simply exploring what topics people are most interested in, you can generate a shareable link to share the information or you can download as an Excel file. You can also embed individual charts and graphs into a blog post or website, like this graph showing all searches related to “Crops & Seed” in Ohio (hover over the line on the graph to see information):
Other Google Trend applications for Extension:
- Put together an interactive informal “needs assessment” on specific topics to share with your County Commissioners.
- Compare different topics in your region of the state to find topics of interest.
- Share local interests on social media and ask for feedback from residents.
What are your ideas? How would you utilize Google Trends?
Formal vs Informal Learning Environments: Moodle or Blog?
With so many options available to Extension professionals to deliver educational information online, it’s difficult to know which tools and learning environments are more suitable for different curricula or program topics. Some tools available to us operate in a more formalized learning environment – like an online course for credit or certification. Examples of formal learning tools are Moodle or Carmen. Most Extension programs should not utilize Carmen, since participants need to have a name.# in order to access the course. Informal learning tools are blogging platforms (u.osu.edu), social media, educational webinars, Twitter Chats, and now even Live streaming. These are tools that can get much of the same information out to an online audience, but in an informal way. Remember to use the POST method when being strategic about what technology and learning environment you use… start with People… not with the technology. Below are some examples of when a formal learning environment would be appropriate, and when an informal approach makes more sense.
Classes or Programs that Award Certification
If you are currently teaching a face-to-face or online program that awards certificates or credit once the participant has completed the program, than it would be more appropriate for this program to be created in Moodle or a similar formal learning environment platform. If your class requires a lot of hands-on learning and application, it may be more appropriate for it not to go online and remain as a face-to-face program.
Examples of how it can be applied:
- Budget or personal finance program (or similar) that awards a completion certificate to participants.
- Classes in which quizzes are required or beneficial.
- Curricula that can not or should not be be broken into topical segments to share via informal tools such as social media.
Campaigns or Program Themes
If you plan to focus on a topic theme over a specific period of time (an example would be sending out educational information and facilitating classes on local food during the summer months), than an informal learning tool like utilizing a blog or posting to social media would be more appropriate.
Examples of how it can be applied:
- Networked social media campaign during which multiple social media feeds are sharing information on your specific topic during a specified period of time.
- A series of 30-minute educational webinars.
- A series of 2 minute videos.
- A blog post series dedicated to your specific topic or focus area over a given period of time.
- A Twitter Chat focused on your topic area.
- Live streaming via Periscope or Meerkat during a local food event at your Fair.
Program Participant Follow-Up Opportunities & Further Education
Online audiences in 2015 take it upon themselves to search for educational information they’re looking for. Continuing education is becoming much more informal than it ever has been in the past because people tend to search what they want to learn and informally network with others who want to learn the same things they do. This gives us as Extension professionals the opportunity to tap into this desire and follow-up with previous program participants at the same time. With today’s online audience in mind, informal learning environments are much more effective for this.
Examples of how it can be applied:
- Creating a Facebook group page (private or public) for Dining with Diabetes participants to join and share, learn, and keep in touch with one another after completing the program. This group page could be utilized to also share upcoming educational opportunities.
- Invite previous program participants to regularly held Twitter Chats.
- Ask program participants to subscribe to your blog or sign up for educational webinar announcements via email.
- Create a hashtag for your program or topic area. Use this hashtag on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram.
- Always give participants your program’s social media links and information for follow-up.
What are your thoughts? Any other suggestions for formal and informal learning environment tools that we can utilize in Extension?
How to Share Your Outlook Calendar [Video]
If your county or regional director has requested that you share your Outlook Calendar with them, or if you just want to share it with colleagues, below is a great step-by-step video from Lynda.com that walks you through the process:
You may also find this video helpful on how to subscribe to other calendars (this also works for importing your Google Calendar if you do not plan to make changes to it from Outlook):
As always, please let us know in the comments if you have questions or concerns about this recent change to Outlook-only work calendars. If you have technical questions or issues, those can be directed to Don Ordaz.
~Jamie
How to Sync Outlook’s Calendar with Your Google Calendar: Three Options
My entire life is in my Google Calendar… this won’t be an easy adjustment…
Show of hands – how many people panicked recently when your County Director mentioned that per University policy, we’ll all have to switch to Microsoft Outlook’s calendar to keep track of our daily schedules? I know I didn’t particularly have a good feeling in my stomach. I’ve kept track of my work, personal, and kids’ sports schedules on Google Calendar for more than 5 years… and, being the Google Geek that I am, I don’t feel like switching over any time soon. For those who would like to continue utilizing Google Calendar, but don’t want to manage two separate calendars, you do have a few options.
Google Sync used to be the tried-and-try method of syncing Outlook with Google Calendar. But it’s now long gone with Google no longer offering or supporting it as of August, 2014. Boo. BUT this is the best summary I’ve found with new options that are out there if you really want to sync your calendars without switching completely to Outlook: https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/2013/11/20/sync-google-calendar-with-outlook/
I apologize for the lack of a step-by-step video, but there simply aren’t any good ones out there yet since the change with Google Sync occurred so recently. I’ll keep searching and let you all know if I find anything – or share a video link in the comments if you come across one!
You also have the option of only syncing both calendars on your mobile device. When you log into your OSU email and Google account from your mobile device, it will pull both calendars into your mobile device calendar. Of course, this however will not allow you to edit one event on both calendars simultaneously… you only have access to both calendars in one location. Bummer, I know.
Of course, the final option is to simply stop using Google Calendar and completely switch over to Outlook. You can do this by importing what is currently in your Google Calendar… and then only use Outlook from that point forward.
Questions? Let us know in the comments or you can contact Don Ordaz with technical questions and issues. If you have found a better tutorial than the ones shared so far, let us know in the comments!
~Jamie