Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching andLearning

From the study done by Zogby Analytics, there have been many rapid changes to the way people use their smartphone and smartphone camera. In the field of education, it is important to be aware of and adapt with these changes because the kids we will be teaching will be growing up with smartphones while most of us grew up without them.

Some of these statistics are as follows:
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.

These statistics show that times have changed and with that, the way we teach our kids needs to change. If 87% of people say their smartphone never leaves their side, then we should be using this statistic to show our kids how to use it to their advantage. With as many great things that we can access on our smartphones, is as many bad things that could be accessed as well. I think having iPads in the schools is the greatest thing in this transition and the fact that they use certain apps which filter what pops up is even greater. Having this kind of technology in the classroom can really improve the children's way of learning by getting them more involved with the technology they know and by engaging them in the lesson with more than a lecture and pen and paper. Having a camera on a smartphone or iPad is great to screenshot work you have done or to quickly capture a moment or object. There are tons of ways to incorporate the camera function in the classroom.



Some ways of incorporating the camera in the classroom are: 
1. Showing cause and effect of a science project
2. Taking pictures of objects around the classroom/school that resemble certain shapes
3. Taking pictures of clouds and writing about what they look like
4. Using the video function to reenact an event in history
5. Taking pictures to capture scavenger hunt clues
6. Taking pictures on a field trip to capture things they want to remember to help them in a lesson or to write about later
7. Taking pictures of their art work to start a portfolio
8. Take pictures of plant growth over time
9. Take pictures to see weather changes and season changes
10. Take pictures of things around the classroom/school to learn about colors
11. Taking pictures of things in the classroom that appeal to the 1 of the 5 senses
12. Taking pictures of each student in the beginning of the year next to a tape measure to see how tall they are and compare at the end of the year :)