Digital Imagery in the Classroom Week 6

Digital Imagery in the Classroom
Paul Heinrich, November 2002. First published in "Connected 10".


The article I chose to write my blog about was using digital imagery in the classroom. The article first introduced the fact that this technology has been around for quite some time but its just been recently that cheap and reliable cameras have become available. The article talked about ways to use this technology in the classroom and gave some interesting findings on what types of pictures or images different age levels are interested in. This article also went into to some of the technical aspects of using this type of technology.

The use of photography and digital imagery in the classroom is a great way to teach students ways to learn or think outside the box. Its interesting to read that younger children, when given the opportunity to use photography, like to capture emaotionally stimulating pictures such as their parents and also visually stimulating pictures like bright colors. The fact that children at the age of only four are able to capture images and take photographs. This is amazing to me and just shows how far we've advanced in technology in the past few decades. The article talked about how older students (11 yrs old) started taking pictures of natural settings without people. Teenagers were more likely to use the camera for social events, capturing images of their friends. This technology can be used in so many ways in the classroom and gives the teacher a large array of options on how and when to use this to inhance a leasson.

In my opinion the use of digital imagery in the classroom is a newer cost effective way to stimulate students and to allow them to use a hands on tool to enhance the learning experience. I myself love the digital camera and couldn't put it down the first time I used one. I plan on using this technology a lot when I become a teacher and am excited about all the possibilities and creative options I can have with a digital camera.

I think it would be interesting to do more research in the use of this technology with different age groups. As a fan of psychology I found it very interesting to read about these different findings in the article and would love to do a little investigating myself.

You can read this article yourself by clicking on this link:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/heinrich/papers_6.htm