Utilizing Digital Photography in the Classroom

It is a proven fact that students learn best when they're actively engaged. It is this reason why many teachers are now using digital imagery in their classrooms. One of the newest forms of digital imagery being implemented in schools is digital photography. In short, digital photography “involves taking pictures/video with a digital camera and storing/printing them on digital devices such as a computer or a printer.” (Wikipedia, 2008) Digital photography actively engages and enhances students’ learning experience because it is hands on and something students can do themselves. It offers a fun way to tackle difficult subjects, and taps into different learning styles. The following essay will outline ways digital photography can be implemented across the curriculum for every grade.

Starting as early as kindergarten, there are an abundance of educational lessons that could incorporate digital cameras. Students at this level could take part in many different types of digital picture hunts. For instance when the teacher is introducing the topic of shapes (mathematics), the digital picture hunt would involve students using a digital camera to capture images that containing a particular shape (triangles, squares, circles, octagons and so on). The same could be done for when the students learn about numbers, colours, and textures. Digital cameras could also be applied to the area of language, where students could take digital pictures of objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet, take pictures of their loved ones (learning/identifying important people in their life), and students could even create their own digital pictionary (a dictionary that defines terms using digital pictures instead of words).

In older grades, digital photography could be incorporated into the areas of history, drama, and language. For example, students would develop a short story about a historical, literary, or current political/social hero. Instead of presenting the information they acquired through the traditional means of an essay, test or public speaking, students could combine an oral presentation with digital technology (slideshow, video etc.). Through their researching, students could find costumes that their characters would have worn during their time period, take a digital picture to record this fact, then explain and display the image for their classmates. For local stories, historic sites and artifacts that are important to their story could be captured with the digital camera. Likewise, the students could reenact a pivotal moment in their character’s lives, and then capture it with digital images/video. The students would be responsible for using the digital camera to tell the story of their character as if they were actually that person. This results in the students having a deeper understanding and comprehension of the material that they are learning.

Another activity that is similar to the previous example integrates digital photography with geography, history and art. For this lesson, students grade four or above would be required to research and attend locations/events/celebrations, then use a digital camera to document their findings. Once they return to school, they would transfer their images to a computer, and use digital imagining/editing software (such as Photoshop Elements) to create a poster. The poster would include some of the digital photos as well as text that would describe the activities shown. The poster would then be placed on a bulletin board where other like posters would be displayed. The teacher could bring in travel brochures/flyers to use as an anticipatory set so students would be able to see a finished product before they start their own.

Yet another language arts lesson that can incorporate digital photography is poetry. The following example is intended for grade four however it can be altered to be appropriate for any grade. The teacher/students will gather a selection of poetry that is highly detailed in terms of imagery and symbolism. The students would be required to create a multimedia experience of these poems by vocally performing the emotional content and creating a montage of images and videos that go beyond the literal meaning. This results in the students illuminating a deeper personalized understanding of the meaning found or intended.

Digital photography can also effectively be utilized for special education and ESL students. For example, in a grade 4 language arts class, students would use a pumpkin to create a language experience story on how to make a jack-o-lantern. The teacher would first demonstrate carving the jack-o-lantern while the students would provide directions and vocabulary. Then, students would take digital photos for sequencing the process. The students could then use their digital photos to write a "how to" paragraph on how to make a jack-o-lantern. They could then read this story (which would be accompanied with their digital photos) as a group or individually. For the special education students, they could also retell the story individually or to a group of students by arranging the digital pictures in sequential order.

Some other methods of incorporating digital cameras into the curriculum can be found in the subject area of science. Digital cameras would greatly benefit students with their science fair projects/experiments which require step-by-step documentation. With a digital camera, students can quickly, accurately, and effectively capture every phase of the experiment. The use of digital photography in their science experiments adds visual depth and interest for the students.

Another method of incorporating digital photography with science would be using student captured digital images to create a student classification science book. The students would take pictures of objects that are classified as: being hot/cold, made by humans, natural objects, common plants/flowers, and even simple machines. The students could create their book using a variety of user-friendly software (MS Word, Power Point, iPhoto, Final Cut Express, etc), and then present this material to their class. This type of activity allows individual student learning, as well as student discovery that they have something worth sharing with others. The above activity can be modified to incorporate any grade level, with the classification of objects having greater depth in higher grades.

In senior grades, science students could use digital images to portray interdependence. In this activity, students would take pictures of different things in the environment that depend on other living or non-living elements to live. For example, honey depends on bees, which depends on flowers, which depends on soil, which depends on sun/water and so on. Students would be required to identify the dependence, record findings and discuss them with their class.

Digital photography is an excellent teaching method that presents students with unique, challenging and engaging learning activities. It allows students to discover their artistic talents and originality, while at the same time allows them to have a deeper understanding and comprehension of the material that they are learning. The activities can be incorporated across the curriculum for any grade.