Creative Commons Images that Better Represent ALL Learners

I was putting together a PPT for adult job seekers and trying to find images related to using technology. I was using MS PPT and checked to use creative commons license images online and most of the images were white hands, white people, and it was very hard to find images that historically underserved populations could relate to and feel like technology is for them.

I have also struggled to find photos of occupations with diverse audiences (not many female welder photos that are license-free). 

Are there any creative common image websites dedicated to more diverse and inclusive photos? 

Do you think about this when choosing photos for your PPTs or classroom materials?

How do we work towards having a collection of better images and photos to use in our field?

I will also add that a year ago, I honestly didn't even pay attention to this when searching for images, but after quite a bit of DEI-related training, this recent search for photos was an awakening experience for me. 

 

Comments

Christie& all,

As an ESL teacher, I’m always sensitive about representing diverse groups in PowerPoint and other images. One of my main go to sites is Pixabay.com - an arm of Shutterstock that is royalty free and free. Although it’s not diversity oriented, I can often find photos and videos representing diverse groups of people. Another tactic I have taken is to search for a topic, such as women welders, and ask permission of the copyright holders to use their image on my blog or ppt. I hope this helps. 
Dorothy Taylor

Retired ESL Teacher/University at Buffalo

Hi Chrissie,

Thank you for bringing up this important topic. 


Here are some of my favorite collections:

Nappy
The Gender Spectrum Collection
Disabled and Here

These and more open photos, illustrations, and icons were compiled in this list on Twitter.

That said, I also want to share a very helpful resource for exercising a principled approach to increasing the diversity and representation in materials - “How To Write Inclusive Materials” by Tyson Seburn. He talks about some of the chapters in his recorded conference presentation here.

-Xavier

Thanks for posting, Chrissy, and thanks to Dorothy and Xavier for the great suggestions! 

I have used Black Illustrations before, too, which cost money but you do get to purchase a pack of images that might relate to the projects you commonly work on. As a note, that site is included on the compiled list from Twitter that Xavier shared so I highly recommend bookmarking that list! 

Thanks, everyone, for the sites you've shared!

Heres a great collection from the SABES ESOL Content and Instruction Center in MA:

https://sites.google.com/hcc.edu/sabes-esol-dei-resources/dei-images

Thanks everyone for sharing these great resources. This is what I love about the LINCS community, we truly help each other out and share such great ideas and materials. 

 

Chrissie