Russel Tarr at Classtools has come up with another great little tool for teachers and students. The new Image Hotspot Generator on Classtools makes it easy to add interactive annotations to any picture that you upload to the site. The annotations that you add to your pictures can include text and links. Your annotated images can be shared by embedding them into a blog post or web page as I’ve done with one below. Your annotated images can also be shared by simply distributing the URL that is assigned to it.

Using the Image Hotspot Generator is easy. You don’t need to register in order to use the tool. Just go to classtools.net/hotspot/ then click the upload button at the bottom of the page then upload the image that you want to annotate. Once your image is uploaded simply click on it wherever you want an annotation to appear. Click the save button when you are finished adding all of your annotations. When you click save you’ll be prompted to pick a password for your project, remember that password if you want to be able to go back and edit your annotations later. Click the embed button to get an embed code, a QR code, and a URL for your annotated image.

Applications for Education

The Image Hotspot Generator could be a great tool for students to use to annotate all kinds of images, diagrams, and maps. As it doesn’t require an email address or any student information, it can be used at any grade level. I can see the Image Hotspot Generator being used in a geography lesson to have students create annotated maps. In a biology lesson students could use the Image Hotspot Generator to make interactive diagrams of cells. In an art lesson students might use the Image Hotspot Generator to identify and label techniques or important aspects of a work of art.