Flip Camera

One of my favorite tools in my classroom is my Flip Camera. It’s inexpensive (sometimes a free giveaway too!), easy to use, and the kids LOVE it. My 8th graders are so comfortable that I just hand it over and let them go with it. They plug it in, edit, and flag me down just to say, “Watch this, Miss D!” 

There are so many things you can do with a Flip camera, and many cross grade and subject lines.

• Record a skit or play in your classroom (Last year, my 8th graders filmed their 3rd grade “buddies” - The older ones felt important that they were trusted to record and edit, the young ones felt like movie stars!)
• Record a video thank you or greeting. Flip gives you the option of sending a video like a greeting card.
• Record and save clips of various events for a video memory book.
• Create an informational video podcast.
• Have students interview each other as a part of a ‘getting to know you’ activity.
• Produce a news cast.
• Create public service announcements for the school community.
• Start a vlog to keep parents up to date with classroom units/events. 
• Create a “how-to” video to accompany some procedural writing. 
• Record yourself teaching (scary!, I know!) so you can reflect on your practices.
• Record other teachers you  admire (if they are okay with it!), so you can reflect on what makes them so successful. It’s hard to catch all the good things they do! 

One of the sweetest things I saw a Flip camera used for was in a Kindergarten classroom. Just as the students were really beginning to independently read, the teacher recorded each student reading a simple book. She edited each child and burned it onto a dvd as a keepsake for parents. It won the hearts and admiration of all. I’m sure something similar could be done for younger/older students for a holiday, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. I can see this tying into Skype well too. Besides working with an educator/classroom somewhere else in the world, classrooms can make videos for the times they can’t directly interact. 

The possibilities are endless! 

Any more ideas?

Interactive Whiteboards: The Laserdisc of Ed Tech

Heather Wolpert-Gawron of TweenTeacher has put together a compelling and poignant article strongly discouraging the purchase of interactive whiteboards in favor of mobile technology instead. Some of her most engaging points include: 

The big clunky forward facing, whole class method of lesson delivery via Interactive Whiteboard, I believe, is the Laserdisc of educational technology. The overpriced fad of Interactive Whiteboards (whether Smart or Promethean) is imperfect in their current incarnation…inherently these pieces of equipment do not illustrate the spirit of technology in information delivery: all-access, collaborative, open, interactive, etc

She goes on to cite a quote from Bill Ferriter of EdWeek

I’m willing to argue that even with time and training, interactive whiteboards are an under-informed and irresponsible purchase. They do little more than reinforce a teacher-centric model of learning…make presentations, give notes, deliver lectures…I ask you: Do we really want to spend thousands of dollars on a tool that makes stand-and-deliver instruction easier?

Her alternative solution to the interactive whiteboard is mobile devices:

Mobile technology caters to individualization and differentiation, which is the present and future of student-centered learning. Mobile technology is cheaper and also represents the concept of “democratization of information,” the openness of high levels of information to the masses. The Interactive Whiteboard is still locked and loaded into the antiquated philosophy of “sage on the stage” rather than “guide on the side.”

Are whiteboards an irresponible purchase? Is mobile technology the best solution for the classroom?

I encourage you to read the entirety of the original post here.

16% of EdTech Directors Expect 1 Tablet Per Student Within 5 Years

In a recent survey conducted by Piper Jaffray, 16% of school tech directory expect to have 1 tablet per student within 5 years. CNN Fortune contributor Philip Elmer-DeWitt breaks down the data:

• 100% were testing or deploying iPads in their schools. 0% were testing or deploying Android tablets.
• Their schools currently have an average of one computer for every 10 students.
• Nearly half (12) expect to eventually deploy one computer per child; two of their schools already do.
• More than a third (9) expect to deploy one tablet per child; one of them already does.

Hodgkins of TUAW adds the following:

Tablets may be useful for schools, but there are significant administrative hurdles that must be overcome before they see widespread usage. The survey reveals that almost half (48%) of the directors believe a tablet is important as an information gathering tool, but 64% see device management as a significant hurdle to deploying these tablets in a school setting. Also a factor is cost, which is a smaller (20%), but still a significant hurdle schools need to overcome.

Despite these challenges, some schools are embracing the iPad as a valuable teaching tool. In a controversial program, kindergartners in Auburn, Maine are using the iPad in the classroom for learning their basic phonic and math skills. Similarly, the Webb School in Knoxville, Tennesseeis requiring all incoming fourth to 12th grade students to have an iPad.

For information, read the source articles here (CNNMoney, TUAW).