Journal 4

Campbell, L. (2012). If you give a kid a video camera. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(5),  30-33. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx.

 I found the article very informative. While I was trying to locate the article on the ISTE website I thought to myself what it could be about. As it was loading I thought back to the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and the title of the article made sense to me then. Sure enough I smiled as the introduction addressed the book. It makes sense if you think about it. I thought that some of the ideas for assignments and activities were excellent. I think that by the time I'm up in front of a classroom the kids I will be teaching will have such a strong understanding of technology that assigning them 1-minute video presentations could bring the subject matter to life for them. It's something different and it will engage other students who are more visual learners. I think filming or documenting the growth of a plant or some grass over time is another excellent lesson and shows how easy it could be to incorporate the use of technology in lessons. With the technology that is available, especially what comes on mac computers nowadays, kids are capable of creating amazing things and sharing that knowledge with their peers.

 Q1: How would I use this idea in the classroom?

As an assignment I would have the kids walk around interviewing people asking a question. Have one of the kids edit the video down to a few minutes so it's just the footage that is relevant. I'd then ask the class to look at the bigger picture. Everyone is an individual with their own opinions. Opinions can be money driven (Rush Limbaugh apologizing for his comments recently due to the fact that he is losing sponsors) or belief driven. The main thing I want kids to walk away from the exercise with is that they should question everything. Why are things the way they are? Making them think for themselves is the greatest lesson of all.

 Q2: Will I use this in the classroom?

Definitely. Technology has the capabilities to reach students that learn differently. I'm not an expert, but I don't think it would be difficult for me to create a blog (I've already done that) or a youtube page and the kids that I'll be teaching, some of them surely are going to be more technologically knowledgeable than I could ever be. I'm sure they'd help me set it up.