Hello Integrating Technology Colleagues,
I remember the first time I saw a participant at a professional development session take a photo of a presentation slide using her smartphone camera; it was eye-opening. I had used my smartphone camera to take a range of kinds of photographs, but had never thought of that. Since then, when I see a useful presentation slide, rather than wait for slide deck to be uploaded somewhere, if it is, and if I remember to look for it, I just snap and it's saved to my phone and automatically to my computer's cloud storage. This is one example of how smartphone cameras can be used for personal learning. They can also be used in teaching. For example, a few years ago I learned from Integrating Technology member, Susan Gaer, that she asked her (I think beginner or intermediate level) ESL students to use their smartphones to take a picture of something at home in a closet or drawer or on a shelf, that they had brought from their home country. It might be a family or birthplace photograph, for example, or a garment or piece of jewelry worn on an important occasion, or a gift from someone special. Then the photos were uploaded to a class writing website where Susan asked the students to write about the meaning to them of the photo they had taken. This produced some highly motivated writing.
Since the 2010 decade is coming to a close today, I ask you to think back. How have you, or your teaching colleagues, used your smartphone camera for teaching or your own learning learning? Ask your students, too, how they have used their smartphones for learning. You may be surprised at the creative ways they use them. Please share your examples here so we can all learn from them!
HAPPY 2020, a new year and a new decade in which, if the past decade is an indication, we will probably see new ways in which technology can enlighten us, make our work easier, eat up our our free time as we learn how to use new technologies well, and frustrate us when technology goes awry ; - )
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group
Comments
Students will snap screens with directions for logging onto something ... sometimes they'll write it down (say if there's a password) and then take a picture of it. (More often I'm working with students getting out the phone to get those pictures so I can get them going on something online, like registering for classes or ... doing something on our community computer when they don't have to log in at home, so they forgot...)
Math problems... tho' that sometimes is dangerous, falling into the "oh, I'll engage the brain later" and ... it doesn't necessarily happen...