A Picture’s Worth is a web program for people to share photos and tell short stories about the photo. There are thousands of stories and pictures to explore on A Picture’s Worth. The stories are limited to 1000 words. Each story can be placed onto a Google Map to give readers an idea of where the story takes place.

Applications for Educators
The idea of using pictures to inspire students to write creatively is not a new one (I did this as a student in the 80’s). What is new is the idea of putting these stories on the Internet and mapping the location of the story on map created collaboratively with other authors. The text character limit is a good way to stress students the importance of editing for maximum effect in a small space. (Twitter and Pownce also do this to some extent). The mapping feature is a good way to show students what people in other parts of the world are thinking. A Picture’s Worth also gives students an instant world-wide audience for their work. Publishing can be a great motivator for students to take editing seriously, see Teen Ink as an example.