A couple of weeks ago, my friend Patti Henderson asked me if I had ever used the Flowboard application. I had read and bookmarked an article Flowboard App Will Be The Most Important Free App You Download This Month [Daily Feebie] but that was about it. She indicated that she was going to give it a workout to see what she could do with it. Yesterday, she published “Going with the Flow” to her blog. The post was a prelude to a Flowboard that she had created titled “The Great Northern Cottage Adventure“.
In the Flowboard, she used the tool to document her recent trip to Georgian Bay and environs.
Now, I’ve been known to go to a destination and take a picture or two. In fact, yesterday, we visited Amherstburg’s Fort Malden for the Military Muster days and I took a few pictures to post. If you’re friends with me on Facebook, you can view the complete set. It’s what I think many people do with collections of images – you put them in an album on Facebook, Flickr, Google +, or whatever and share with the world.
Sometimes, you can enhance the images by adding a description to the album or to the individual pictures.
With the use of Flowboard, Patti made her collection of images into a fully documented story. Within the Flowboard, she took the time to document where she was, what she saw, and the significance of what you’re viewing. The result?
A full-featured story of her trip!
Navigation is simple – click the arrows and work your way through her vacation story. However, at each slide, she’s included a related gallery packed with images. In this case, the galleries get displayed in full context by location. You still can’t go over the top without great pictures. Patti uses her photographer’s eye to take some unique pictures – I love the waterfall – and some have been enhanced for your enjoyment.
The net effect is a gorgeous story of her vacation. Of course, anyone who has made the trek there knows what a dream the place is for a photographer. Patti’s work truly reinforces the concept.
In the classroom, I think of how many times field trips are accompanied by the class camera (and now with student smartphones). Wouldn’t this be a terrific way to assemble the results at the end of the trip and incorporate storyboarding, image editing, and an authentic writing experience for the class?
Check out Patti’s vacation story at the link above. Patti, very well done!
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here. I’d enjoy reading them.