Phoenix

=**Phoenix Photo editor** =

Overview:
   ||  ||< Phoenix is the photo editing application of the Aviary suite. It is similar to Adobe's Photoshop and Macromedia's Fireworks in style and function. You can begin with a blank work space or upload a picture to work from. Adding layers, applying filters, using the magic wand, resizing and distorting, and all of the other typical tools are present in Phoenix.
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Link to Aviary site ||  || 
 * Educational Benefit:**

The benefit of Phoenix is the same that you can draw from any picture editing software; the ability to alter pictures and add text in such a way that you make the picture represent what you want. It is often difficult to find a picture that exactly encapsulates all of the aspects you may want included; that is when a photo editor becomes useful. As I was preparing to teach the characteristics of living things, I looked for a picture that would show students the concept "living things are made of cells". I was unable to find any picture that I felt would show what I wanted, a real living thing (not a drawing) with some wort of cut-away to show cells inside of that living thing. I have included a video that shows how I used Phoenix to make such a picture. It is of an Elodia plant with an inset picture showing Elodia cells. media type="custom" key="5259119"

This application gives you the tools to create and later images or to have students create and alter images. This is an excellent way for teachers and students to create their own visual representations of course content. The power of it is limited only by your creativity and familiarity with the program as evidenced by this "tutorial" video: media type="custom" key="5259093" This is not a video that I created, but it does show you what you can do with Phoenix. One of the things that you may notice in the video is that there are many different brush types; you can use this to add leaves or flowers to any picture. This would be a popular option; I know my daughter thinks that pictures look better with flowers!


 * Drawbacks**:

A key drawback to this is the degree of familiarity it takes to create images. If I was presented with this application without having learned how to use a photo editing program (Fireworks) I would find it very challenging to create anything that I would value. I mentioned that I made the circular Elodia leaf cells picture by using a mask to change it from a rectangular image into a circular one; if I had not previously worked with masks I would not know how to do that. With any application there is going to be a learning curve; the more that you can do with the program, the steeper the curve seems to be. What helps with this challenge is the presence of tutorials. A good tutorial video shows users the key functions of a tool and helps to get them over the initial "what can I do with this" hump. While some of Aviary's tutorials are excellent, this one is not. It is too fast to show steps and too complex for beginning users. It does not show how to accomplish typical tasks like importing images, resizing, or even exporting images. This leads to another negative I found with Phoenix; exporting pictures seems like a simple process but it does not seem to work. I have tried to download images as png or jpg files but have had no success; the download process never starts. I have contacted Aviary and am waiting a reply.


 * Literature review:**

I could not find any specific research articles that discuss the use of this tool in an educational setting. There are, however, many articles that discuss the use of photo editing software and its use in educational settings. Many of these articles focus on the use of the software as a way for students to create their own content. This is why I have focused on this tool, and FotoFlexor, more so than others; it is directly applicable to students and is something that they can see a clear use for.

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