Minneapolis School Strike by Francis Miller. 

Photo URL

Since the first televisions glowed in living rooms across the country and schools purchased film projectors, students have found themselves drawn in by visual images.  The question is this:  Is video a valuable and worthwhile tool to use in the classroom?  Does it have value beyond entertainment? 

At this point in our nation’s history we have proof that the answer is a definitive yes.  Video has been used for decades in schools worldwide.  How will video be used in our classrooms in the future?  How is it being used right now?  What works best? 

We can only imagine how video will be used in our classrooms in the future.  According to the National Teacher Training Institute website, video helps students "make new connections between curriculum topics, and discover links between these topics and the world outside the classroom." 

Video link.

A classroom teacher filming his students. 

Photograh URL 

Keith Lightbody has a collection of online resources on his website that discuss how technology can be used in the classroom.  He also has a list of ways video can be used in the classroom.  Here is list from his site:

- create learning resource video clips (for use by students or the professional development of staff)

- prepare educational segments on safety issues (e.g. on roads, in playground, at home)

- assist in a variety of ways with the learning of other languages

- preparation of mini documentaries, interviews or news reports

- record students role playing difficult social situations

- record school performances, excursions, special events, field trips, visits by specialists, etc.

- collect video of authentic workplace situations that can be analyzed in maths or statistics classes

- use frame by frame analysis techniques to accurately record rapid change in experiments or sport

- compile still images over a long period to produce time lapse movies

- use frame grabbing software to record and analyze critical events

- increase student awareness of manipulative techniques used in advertising

- develop greater critical literacy skills by comparing television or movie segments with own creations

- view difficult, dangerous or expensive experiments or activities (recorded with specialists)

- assist in the introduction of disabled students into mainstream classes

- show skills that are quicker to learn by observation (e.g. sewing a French seam)

- record and analyse student or teacher presentations

(Lightbody, 2009)

In this photo students and teachers are using a webcam to create a basic stop-frame animation.  Photo URL

Digital Storytelling has also become a tool used in the classrooms that brings together visual images, sometimes film, sometimes animation, into the teacher's tool bag for use in the class room.  Edutopia has a nice "How To" on using Digital Storytelling In The Classroom.

More resources for Educators wanting to use video here: 

Digital Video For Educators.

Integrating Digital Storytelling In The Classroom.

Matthew Needleman has been a teacher heavilly involved in the use of video in his classroom.  Here is a link he provided on his site giving some research-based study into why video should be used in the classroom.  Here are links to studies that related to use of video and multimedia technology in the classroom.

Video in the Classroom Introduction

Jeff VanDrimmelen, an instructional support technologist at University of North Carolina, created a list of five ways to incorporate video into education.  The article is also included in the

Educause site of resources for video in education.

VanDrimmelen explains that these five are just a few examples of how educators can effectively use video into their courses,  He also asks that other educators expand on the list with additional ideas and respond to the question, “…how can we as educators, utilize the budding social ramifications of internet video in the classroom?”

References

Foster, B., Ferraioli, R., & Goldstein, P. (n.d.). Digital Video in the Classroom. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from 

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listdigitalpa.html 

Lightbody, K. (n.d.). Digital Video in Education. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from

http://www.zardec.net.au/keith/digvideo.htm#Uses

New, J. (n.d.). How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom | Edutopia. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from  

http://www.edutopia.org/use-digital-storytelling-classroom

Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2009, from

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/resources/video1.html

SDUSD Educational Technology - Digital Media Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2009, from  

http://www.edtech.sandi.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=351&limit=1&limitstart=1

VanDrimmelen, Jeff (2007, January). Five Ways YOU Could Use Video In Education. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from Edutechie: http://edutechie.com/2007/01/23/five-ways-you-could-use-video-in-education/