Stefanie Lauer

Digital cameras have many uses, in business and personal affairs. But now, they can also be used to help educate students in classrooms.

There are so many different ways that pictures can help students grasp concepts better. For example, as stated at Education World, a teacher could take pictures of students dressed for their future career, and use these to personally illustrate a career report.

Another way to use digital cameras in the classroom would be to put students in groups or pairs and then let them walk throughout the building with a camera. Assign them the task of finding geometric shapes, and then make a book out of their pictures in which they must define each shape.

For an English class, a teacher could make the students take photographs and then write a short story to go along with their photographs.

For an elementary class, the teacher could take pictures of easy-to-read signs and create an “I Can Read” book for them to share with their family.

In our technology integration class at the University level, our teacher used a digital camera to snap each of our photographs. Then he put them all on the computer, and we had to learn how to format them through Microsoft Word.

As you can see, digital cameras are not only limited to certain subjects and classrooms, but instead have a variety of uses in all curriculum areas.The use of digital cameras is not only a fun way to engage students in their work, but a great way to allow them to stay focused on the assignments. Many students these days have shorter attention spans then they did 50 years ago, so teachers must find alternatives that allow them to stay focused. I believe that digital cameras are a good way for students to be able to grasp concepts easier, while having fun at the same time.