Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

1. 87% say their smartphone never leaves their side.
2. 80% say the very first thing they do in the morning is reach for their smartphone.
3. 78% say they spend 2 or more hours per day using their smartphone.
4. 68% say they would prefer to use their smartphone instead of their laptop or personal computer for personal use.
5. 91% say that having a camera on their smartphone is important (61% very important)
6. 87% say they use their smartphone camera at least weekly. 59% use their smartphone camera at least every other day. 44% use their smartphone camera for still or motion picture taking every day

Part A

This information was shown to us on our EdM Classblog and was a recent study done by Zogby Analytics. I myself have recently upgraded to an Iphone 5c, and since then I have started using my cell phone in more ways than I ever thought I would need to use my phone. I spend most of my day with my cell phone no more than 5 feet away from me, and I use it for almost everything. In my use as far as education goes I use my phone in one way or another for every class. Whether I am googling how to do something for a math problem, or looking for a quote in my English paper I am always using my phone. I think the worry for some teachers is that cell phones may be a distraction, and for some students this can be the case. However, with students growing up around new smart phones and different technologies I believe that they will develop the maturity and restraint to use their cell phones during school in a purposeful manner.

We all have to be open and willing to learn new things at all times. The technology is changing, and it is changing rapidly. We as future educators needs to be up to date on the technology in order to keep up with students and keep them interested in our teaching. I think that everyone needs to stay open minded about technology, and work to keep up with the changes.

Part B

The use of the camera on smart phones has opened up a whole new experience to technology and learning. I use the camera on my phone right now at a minimum of once a day. That might be a little excessive, but it is enjoyable for me! Different ways to incorporate the use of cameras in a kindergarten class could be through just taking pictures of different scenery, classmates, etc., in the class. This can help to grow bonds between students, but also enhance their picture taking and editing skills. You can assign different projects such as reading aloud, and having them record themselves while doing so. This can show them what they need to work on in their reading abilities. A fun way to use cameras could be to do a class scavenger hunt. This scavenger hunt could be identifying different objects around the school by taking a picture of it and having the students go find it...while being supervised of course. This will allow them to learn what these objects are by seeing them once they find them, but also is fun to get outside of the room and search for different things. We can all work together to create book trailers so they can be excited about the book and excited about reading! There are endless ways to incorporate smartphones and other technologies into teaching you just have to get creative!



Smartphones