EDUC 7108

Mod 1
Responded to Burian Kitchen and Laine Pagan blogs.

EDUC 7108

An Emerged Technology

A technology that has emerged in the last few years that has shaped my industry has been the digital camera. Several years ago I worked as a special education teacher. Our class always had photo moments and I would take pictures of the completed assignments, with parents’ permission, they turned in as evidence they had mastered an objective. Often times the pictures would come out too dark or if we were involved in a special Olympic activity it wouldn’t come out at all. That became very frustrating. I recall using the digital camera for the first time and viewing the students on the screen. I thought it was so magical! If the students and I didn’t like the snapshot we would do them over. I think digital cameras can serve many functions in the classroom. You can create class projects, evidence of students work, storyboards, and students can be introduced to photography as a form of art.

As with most new innovations I think there are some challenges associated with its use. One of my initial challenges was with my memory card. There was a defect in the card so I did not use the maximum amount of storage on the card. Other challenges for consumers may be associated with the cost as they tend to cost a little more than the cameras with films. Consumers also have to purchase and charge the batteries for the cameras to function properly. Learning to operate the camera may present some problems. Many of the newer models have additional features that require the user to consult the manual, whereas for those who have the traditional Polaroid and Kodak film cameras only one or two steps are required to take a picture.

Digital cameras are not only great tools to have in the classroom, but others can benefit from them as well. What better way to preserve ones’ history than through photos and videos. Most of the cameras have video recording features. Individuals who want instant pictures are able to take shots on their cellular phones as they have digital cameras as an added feature. We live in such a fast paced society where we are accustomed to having things instantly. Having the option of obtaining the product quickly may be an added benefit. Hopefully in the very near future as the digital cameras become more emerged in our society they will become less expensive. Perhaps there will be a model that will have a built in printer like the Polaroid camera that will minimize the number of steps needed to print a photo from the computer.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech147.shtml

http://www.wacona.com/digicam/digicam.html