Photo Editing Software as an Educational Tool

If anyone follows sports, they will surely know what this edited photo is saying:

For those not familiar of with the sporting world, this is an edited photo mocking the “Bounty-Gate” scandal in which former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, was caught for paying his players bounties for injuring opposing players.  To make a mockery of the scandal, the artist of this photo edited a picture of Boba-Fett, a bounty hunter from Star Wars, to look like a New Orleans Saints player.

Why am I talking about this and how does it relate to education?  Well as a social science teacher I feel utilizing photo editing software, like Photo Shop and Gimp, will help me relate political and social commentary to this increasingly tech savvy generation.  Photo editing software is the new form of political comic that allows people to comment on many social issues and has a couple educational benefits. 

First, challenging students to alter an existing image to reflect a controversial event or concept give students an opportunity to exercise their creative muscles.  Using photo editing software not only allows teachers to cover their content area, but also allows them to help students develop their meta-cognitive abilities.  Students will have to think critically about the topic in which they want to comment on and determine how they can creatively visually represent it.  So long as students understand how to use the software, they can make their ideas come to life. 

Second, after bringing their ideas to life students will develop a deeper understanding of the topic.  Visually depicting a comment or concept requires considerable thought and reflection, forcing the creator to dig deeper and deeper into the content.  So, while going through the creative process, students will have a deeper understanding of the topic they commented on.  And if I can get a student to think deeper about controversial issues, then I think I have succeeded as a teacher.  I see using photo editing software as a means to promote thought.

Please feel free to respond and describe how you would use photo editing software in your subject areas.