Using Flickr & Wikimedia Commons in Moodle
Moodle offers an easy integration of the free to use image and media repositories Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.
In Moodle, you have the option to integrate images and other media content into your course. However, due to copyright laws, it can sometimes be challenging to find freely usable images on the internet. Here the two digitally available archives from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons can help. Through the Moodle file browser, you can conveniently embed media available from these repositories directly into your Moodle course.
Using Repositories in Moodle
Whenever you can use the TinyMCE editor, you also have access to the repository search function from the Moodle file browser. To do this, use the buttons in the text editor provided for uploading multimedia content (for more information on this, please refer to our FAQ article on the functionalities of the TinyMCE text editor).
Application example
In addition, it is possible to use the repositories directly through the File and Folder activities (see also the FAQ article Uploading Learning Materials).
In the following example, we will demonstrate how to embed images from the Flickr repository using the File activity. Using the repositories in the TinyMCE text editor works similar.
First switch your course to edit mode by clicking the Edit mode button in the upper right corner. Then click the Add an activity or resource button in the desired course section and select the File activity from the activities selection.
In the Select files section of the File activity, you can now access the Wikimedia Commons and Flickr image repositories (see image “Available repositories in the Moodle file browser”) via the Moodle file browser (see image “Moodle file browser”)
The Flickr image search offers some additional options compared to the Wikimedia Commons repository. For example, you can specify whether the images embedded in Moodle should be available for commercial use or if they can be edited later. Furthermore, you can search the Flickr image repository using either individual keywords or more detailed texts. If you have your own Flickr account, you can also find the images you have uploaded by your username. Once you have entered a search term and clicked on Search, the file selection of the chosen repository will open. In the case of Wikimedia Commons, this method allows you to find not only images but also video or PDF files.
Now select the desired file from the repository by clicking the button Select this file. Wikimedia Commons files also show you the author and the license used directly during the file selection. You can now upload the selected media file to your course. Afterwards, it will be available in the course just like files you upload from your personal computer.
