Digital+Cameras

**Digital Cameras in the Classroom**



1. I learned that when looking for a camera to buy you should look closer at the optical zoom and ignore the digital zoom because the optical zoom actually moves the lens while the digital zoom does not, you can read more about that here. I also learned that buying the cheapest camera for your classroom is not the best because if you buy a more expensive one it will not only last longer but you will be able to do many more things with it. You can use digital cameras to keep track of all of the fun activities you do throughout the year, or make a poster with all of the kids pictures on it for attendance, there are so many wonderful things you can do in an elementary school with cameras. You could take a class picture and then a picture of each student and give it to them and have them write a poem about themselves and bind their poem and their picture in a book with the class picture as a cover. You could also put pictures of the things you are doing in class on your webpage so that the parents of your students could see them. For many more ideas on what you can do with a digital camera in the classroom you can look here. Also, for some ideas on how to use them in younger grades you can look here. 2. I would pick a camera that was light weight and small, so that I could carry it with me on field trips or around the classroom. I would also pick one that I could put on a tripod so that I would be able to take better group pictures, and pictures with a better focus. I think the camera I would pick is the Nikon COOLPIX S6200 because it is light weight, can take good quality movies with sound, is not too expensive, and also comes in a variety of colors.

3. Students are now using digital cameras to show change over time, to collect data, to simply take a photograph, to illustrate their writing, for a class book, to compare and contrast, to define difficult vocabulary, to create digital stories about family, controversial issues, or a passion, to demonstrate how to perform an experiment, or how to perform a skill, or how to create a work of art, to create a book report, or say "thank you" to a hero, as well as many other activities. I would have my students take photos during field trips to share with the class, take photos to prompt creative writing, display students' work on my website by taking a digital photo of it. I would use photos to create class awards, create a birthday book, use photos to create postcards, make a five senses book and take pictures of each of the 5 senses, create video thank you messages to thank visitors or heroes, use photographs for a visual schedule. I would use digital cameras in my classroom as much as possible just to get students use to that technology and being around technology.

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