Journal 4: If You Give a Kid a Video Camera

"If You Give a Kid a Video Camera"

      "If You Give a Kid a Video Camera . . .;" by Laurie O. Campbell from Learning and Leading with Technology, February 2012. 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.

      Laurie Campbell believes that one of the best tools for students to use in school is a video camera; with proper lesson planning students can use video cameras in all subjects such as language arts, history, mathematics and science. This article tells about different ideas that teachers can use to make a successful and fun learning experience.  One of the examples that Campbell shares would to have students in a history class make a documentary dealing with now current social problem and how they are resolved. Students could discuss how they would have solved the problem and even interview people who were involved in the incident.

Question (1): Have I ever used a camera in school? If so how and in what subject?          

Answer (1): Yes, my senior year of high school I used video cameras in two separate classes; one in a film as literary class and the other a U.S. government class.  Each video was very different; in the film as literary class we used a video to give a review of a film. We were asked to act out the basic plot of the movie and then give a critical review of the movie we saw on camera. I had a great group and had a lot of fun doing this project. There were only a few guidelines so we were able to be as creative as we wanted to be. In the U.S. government class we got into small groups and picked a president and we did small campaigns using video cameras that we showed to the class. We were supposed to show what we stood for and try to get people to vote for us. Again, I had a great time doing this project and also learned that it’s hard making a political campaign. These projects stuck out to me simply because they were fun and interesting and they have still stuck with me to this day.

Question (2): how would you involve a camera in an earth science class?

Answer (2): I think a great project would be for the students to do a documentary on the BP oil spill that took place in the Gulf of Mexico. It made the students do research on how the oil spilled happened and  could even have the students try to come up with ways to solve the problem. I would also ask the students to look at the people, animals, and environmental effects the oil spill had on the planet.  I would ask the students to clip together news clips and interviews to back up their findings.