School Web Graphics
From LoveToKnow Web-Design
These days, many classes are doing online projects that require suitable school web graphics. Kids today are computer savvy, but there's a lot of shady stuff out there that needs to be avoided in the search for apples, animated blackboards and dancing calculators. Finally, you live in a litigious society where even an innocent school project isn't exempt from receiving a rude letter from some legal department if you're not watchful with the copyrights.
What Makes for Good School Web Graphics?
It should be obvious, but it's easy to get carried away so let's start with the fundamentals: Consider the audience and go for clear, colorful and funny graphics. You're working on a project with kids, for kids.
A web project for middle-schoolers is fun and exciting in itself and just doesn't require whiz-bang scripts that may or may not work on older computers. Bear in mind, most kids will probably want to show off their hard work to parents and family back home, but not all have access to the latest and greatest.
Finding Good Stuff, Avoiding the Nasty
If there are students helping out finding the school web graphics, there's a more immediate and troubling concern. As you're no doubt aware, there are vast amounts of quite unsavory material lurking online, some of it purposefully named just a slight typo away from popular children's searches.
A good Internet filter can go a long way towards squashing the X-rated versions of popular cartoon characters and the like, but it's hardly a foolproof measure. Adult supervision is always a good idea.
Having said that, there are sites that specialize in suitable graphics. Kennesaw State University has a good collection of links to sites with free graphics especially for teachers. Teacher Files boasts a big collection of free school-related clip art. School Icons is another great collection of relevant clip art. Pics4Learning can be a great help illustrating and explaining various subjects. There's plenty more a mere Google-search away, but again, make sure to pre-screen your results if your students are helping out.
Another approach is to purchase a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM with graphics. This approach allows your students to stay involved in the creative process all the way without any risk of accidentally stumbling on the aforementioned unsavory material. Country Clipart offers a collection of nice school-related art for a modest price. Pats Web Graphics has free school web graphics; all you pay is $4 shipping for the CD-ROM itself.
Copyright Concerns
This brings us to another, more unpleasant topic. It would seem a clearly non-profit endeavor like a school Web project would have nothing to fear, but many companies employ a small army of goons in suits whose only purpose is to bring down the hammer on perceived breaches of copyrights. As a result, you have to be vigilant about reading the fine print of any site or CD-ROM you're planning to use for the project. If there's a little "c" or other legal gizmo anywhere in the picture, tread very lightly.
Many sites listed above are fairly generous, offering free use of the graphics in exchange for a clear mention of the source and/or a link back to the original site. Be a good sport and do it; not only is it the right thing to do, it also encourages further development of useful content for your next project down the road.
In Closing
Finally, remember to make it fun for everyone. You're not looking to create a Webby Award winner; it's a kid's project and should be treated as such. Good luck!
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