How To...Use Digital Images and Video

For Reproducible click here. PDF 428KB

Lights! Camera! Action! Using video projects in your classroom is an engaging way to incorporate technology into your core content. The availability of free video editing software tools – like Microsoft's Movie Maker for the PC and Apple's iPhoto for the Mac – makes it an affordable project for every classroom and explains the proliferation of demand for how to do this successfully in your curriculum.

Whether you use free video editing software tools or decide to invest in Pinnacle Studio (about $99) or one of the other outstanding video editing software products on the market, you and your students will embrace the creativity and assessment opportunities that digital photos and video offer.

Why use video?
The reasons for embracing video and all it can offer your curriculum are many. The cost of digital cameras for still images and digital video cameras (DVC) has dropped, making them more affordable for classroom use. The wide range of choices and options provide easier access to digital still and video cameras that will fit your curricular needs. Another primary reason for using digital video in the classroom is the wide range of possibilities for video production in the classroom:

• Electronic student portfolios for assessment and teacher portfolios for professional development.


• Tutorials for management options such as class rules and procedures.


• Student projects that benefit the school, such as An Introduction to Our School or a Book Talk for a Book Day.


• Begin a video scrapbook of the school year to send home in May.


• Video for online classes – self-contained web delivery.

More project ideas
Whether you decide to make a narrated animal habitat video for primary science or a campaign advertisement for a previous U.S. president to learn more about the election process, you'll find your students readily engaged in learning with the use of digital storytelling. Download the Reproducible PDF that lists several Internet resources with additional lessons and ideas for implementing video in your classroom. You'll also find video clip resources where you can get research elements that students can't film themselves.

Keys to success
We have to be careful not to thwart the success of a digital storytelling project. Some of the stumbling blocks can involve setting expectations too high, not setting up adequate assessment, lack of a firm tie to the core curriculum, failing to enforce group responsibilities in collaborative projects and time. Time, time, time is always a key factor. There must be enough time to use the equipment, time to complete all the elements of the project and time on task when equipment or technology doesn't work. To avoid the stumbling blocks that sometimes affect the successful outcome of a project, here are some helpful hints to follow.

• Expectations – Start small! Begin with a limited, manageable project and then build from there into more complex collaborative projects.
• Assessment – Use of technology is part of the core content. NCLB says every child will be computer literate, so establish a rubric to define the assessment for your video project. For help, visit RubiStar to build your assessment (rubistar.4teachers.org/), visit Project Based Learning Checklists (pblchecklist.4teachers.org/) to design a project guide or go to the ISTE website (cnets.iste.org/) for project-based learning using the technology standards and searchable lessons and units for tying technology to the core content.
• Managing group responsibilities – I assign a role to each member of a collaborative team so that every member of the group is an active participant and has a task with which they can be successful. Visit www.TeachingK-8.com, click on the "Technology" link and then on "How To" on the resulting page to download a pdf of an assignment chart for a Video Production Team.

Comparison shopping
With the availability of more and more digital still image and video cameras at affordable prices, using digital images and video in your classroom is easier than ever. A comparison of digital cameras for both still images and video clips can be found at www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp

I've been using a digital camera from Olympus. It's the Olympus D-580 Zoom with 4.0 megapixels. It's easy to use, and features an Olympus xD-picture card, which comes in different memory sizes. The 16 MB card will hold about 20 high-resolution pictures and more than 150 at the lowest resolution.
The Olympus website at www.olympusamerica.com also provides an excellent Web PhotoSchool with online lessons for using the camera as well as complete lesson plans for incorporating digital imaging into the curriculum. Existing lessons and activities are focused on science, but more lessons will soon be available for the other content areas.

Now is the perfect time to add digital technology to your curriculum with digital storytelling. This format requires less technology expertise than you might imagine. Develop the content and have students plan their video/image story sequence before they ever begin working with the software and digital technology.

Be sure to download the storyboard reproducible for students to use in planning digital storytelling sequences. Decide on your focus, assign the project and begin working on the content now. Next month's "How To…" will discuss the use of digital imaging with specific steps for creating your digital story.

For Reproducible click here. PDF 428KB

Linda K. Lindroth is Technology Editor and Web Coordinator for Teaching K-8. She is also a Technology Resource Teacher in a K-5 computer lab in Lexington, KY.