Article Response #3: If You Give a Kid a Video Camera…

This article was written to inform educators about the many educational uses of video cameras or recording devices. It also gave excellent insight into the ability to use a video camera through different subject matters from language arts to science. Laurie O. Campbell explains, “If you give a student a personal mobile device, such as a video camera, he will want to use it to learn more”(p. 30). And it is very true because as the article explains a video camera can be something used to either reinforce a concept or to help students with topics that are difficult to understand. It has multiple uses and can fit a broad spectrum of needs simultaneously.

One idea in the language arts area was to use a video camera to send messages to a pen pal. Middle school students, at a school in Texas, made short videos to share with other middle school students in Spain. Positive feedback was returned from the Spanish students who said that they were able to learn and benefit from hearing actual voices of students their age speaking English. The learning experience is excellent and not to mention the cost of sending the videos over the internet: free! It is something students can do individually, in a group, or as a whole class.

In the area of math Campbell gave quite a few ideas from doing a math scavenger hunt by using iPods to record findings, to creating math story problems which can also tie into the language arts domain. The great part of these activities is that once they are recorded they can be kept until someone physically deletes them. Videos could be kept and archived for years without taking up too much space. Campbell also discussed how resourceful classroom videos can be for students who do not grasp a concept immediately. During the school day there is not enough time sometimes to go over topics thoroughly on an individual basis, but with video recordings of lessons students can go home and sit down to watch the lesson multiple times until they understand what the teacher was teaching and then be able to ask further questions if needed.

Looking at the ISTE NETS-S I noticed that this article touched on the communication and collaboration and technology operations and concepts topic. The students are able to communicate and collaborate with one another on projects such as sending videos to pen pals. In addition they are able to learn the technology operations and concepts behind a video camera such as being able to troubleshoot systems and applications and really understand what the use of technology systems is.

Campbell, L. (2012). If You Give a Kid a Video Camera. Learning and Leading with Technology, (39) 5. 30-33. Retrieved fromhttp://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learningandleading.