"Simple" Machines

Teachers have begun to struggle with how to introduce technology appropriately into their classrooms without overwhelming themselves or their students. (as I mentioned in my iPad incident a few posts back)  However, the answer to this question may not be as hard as it seems.  To be honest, until a few weeks ago, the thought of integrating technology APPROPRIATELY seemed very daunting.  But it doesn't have to be.  What about teaching our students with projects based on "simple" technology.  What I consider to be simple technology would be a piece of technology that has been around for a while and has become familiar to us.

 A camera or standard video camera are two very "simple" technology tools that most everyone is familiar with.  Now, yes, there are some very complicated and expensive devices that fall under the digital camera and camcorder category, but we'll stick to the basics.

Recently I have watched some of the most interesting and creative class projects come to life via video. When I say video, however, I don't just mean moving pictures.  Some of the projects that I watched were just voice overs of a slide show of pictures as opposed to actual video.

Video courtesy of SchoolTube
This is an example of a video production solely put on by students.

Video courtesy of SchoolTube
This is another example of a video put on by students, however this video only uses pictures/video without student faces.

I believe this may be the easiest way to incorporate higher thinking, such as creativity, with technology.  Have your students create videos based on their own videos or pictures or through animation sites.  The technology is so broad that almost any topic can be transformed to a video presentation as opposed to the boring book report.

I cannot wait to implement video based projects in my classroom.  I plan on doing everything I can with videos, from critiquing already made videos to the creation of their own.  I think that by teaching the kids with the aid of technology such as videos, it teaches them to not only be critical of the videos that they watch on their own time, but also teaches them the hard work and thoughtful planning that goes on when trying to create their own video.