Integrating Technology in the Foreign Language Classroom

Lots of clip art is available on the Internet; some is in the public domain and some is protected by copyright. You are usually required to give credit to the owner of the clip art or photo you use. Clip art is generally just graphic images, often in a collection of images. You can use clip art as graphic objects inserted on a page.  It may be integral to your message or it might serve a decorative purpose.  It is generally not very effective pedagogically to use clip art (or any other feature) for purely decorative reasons.  Make sure that stylistic elements serve a true communicative purpose.

You can find a lot of images on the WWW that are actually free or in the public domain.  Below are several links to collections of images that you might want to use.  Always make sure the images are copyright free and/or in the public domain, and follow the instructions placed on the page for use of these images. It is generally wise to include a note on your page identifying the source.


School clip-art (free)

100clipart.com

#1 Free Clip Art

Microsoft Office Clip art

HassleFreeClipArt

http://free-clipart.net/

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/

Free Educational Clip Art

Public Domain Clip Art

Artvex.com

And many more.  Just search the web for - free clip art - or - clip art - and a word describing what you need..

More Free clip art:

Royalty-Free Clip Art Collection for Foreign/Second Language Instruction:
http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj//FLClipart/

UVic's Language Teaching Clipart Library:
http://web.uvic.ca/hcmc/clipart/

Enchanted Learning:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html

The Internet Picture Dictionary:
http://www.pdictionary.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

Downloading images and clip art from the WWW:  If you are using a pc, right-click on the image or graphic and a dialog box will appear.  Select "Save image as . . ."  and save it in the appropriate folder on your disk. Change the name to something meaningful so you can recognize it in the future.  If you are using a Mac, click on the graphic and hold the button down until a dialog box pops up. Then choose "Save image as . . ." and save it in the folder you have designated for your project or your favorite graphics.
 
 

To learn more about making your own clip-art and making transparent backgrounds, see our Creating Clip-Art page.