Digital Video Goes to School

Hoffenberg, H. & Handler, M. (October, 2001) Digital video goes to school. Learning & Leading with Technology, 29 (2), 10-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/store/my-virtual-products.

This is an article that outlines one possible future if digital technology is used for projects in multiple classes. The authors are and Apple Inc. educational development executive and a member of the ISTE Board of Directors. What is interesting about this article is that it gives a number of different examples of what students have done with digital technology. Students place their own creativity into these videos while learning at the same time. They are engaged in learning. One example was from a teacher that used an interview of actual immigrants and children of immigrants to showcase the story and process of immigration from a primary source. I too interviewed an immigrant during my childhood but it was not videotaped. Technology in schools allows this to happen on a far wider scale because, public school children now have access to these materials. It is also a resource for teachers as one example the authors give is that the use of student video clips can be used an an enhancement to a resume. Visual communication tools are, and will be in the future a means of doing school work for both teachers and students. The authors also acknowledge that these tools must be used responsibly.

So what about this new digital, and Quicktime mode of classroom participation? Digital media is here to stay and is most likely the main mode of communication that we as a society are exposed to. I know children as early as fourth or fifth grade are aquireing cell phones that are internet capable. It is only logical that they will want to use these tools to get their messages across and demonstrate what they know. As this article points out students that visit other places and and take video can have experiences beyond the purpose of the video. As a future teacher it would be best to jump on board this bandwagon as the digital media creeps into the classroom.

I am encouraged to explore ways of using digital media to do projects. This article has a very short section on guideline for use of video usage. It touches on how to use video, angles and shots to bring the most out of your video message. I would like to explore this further as well. One concern I have is that this article seems to give little consideration for content standards. One example was that students in Cox Bay were filming things that were interesting to them instead of hearing a lecture on a subject. This is one way digital media can be abused. If students have these learning experiences, but do not cover what they are supposed to learn, then it is a useless video and cannot be measured as an understanding of the content standards that teachers are required to teach. It is up to the teachers to guide the use of technology.