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Using Digital Photography in Your

Classroom!

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We are going to look at using digital tools in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning, by using

slideshows and image galleries, both on the computer and the web!

Digital Tools

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Digital CamerasDigital cameras allow you to photographically document objects, people and events with the ability to quickly preview the photos taken.  No need to finish the roll of film and have it processed. 

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Digital Cameras In addition, the digital cameras ability to take photos in available light and up close allow for photos considered difficult to take using film cameras. 

Since there are no additional costs in taking pictures with digital cameras, experimentation is encouraged.

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Megapixels, File Size, and Resolution

• Most of the digital cameras take pictures with 5 megapixels or greater.

• The higher the megapixel value, the better the quality of a picture.

• What are pixels and megapixels?– Digital pictures are composed by small

squares of a solid color called a pixel.– A megapixel is one million pixels.

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Each tiny square is a pixel. There are 3,871,488 pixels or 3.9 megapixels.

The more pixels, the smoother the image.

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How many pixels do I need?

• It depends on what you are doing with the picture.

• On a computer, photos need only 72 pixels per inch (ppi)– For the web, email, or a presentation -

(longest side ~ 500) – Home printing 150 ppi– Professional printing 300 ppi

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Compression is another consideration

• The smaller the file size, the greater the file compression. A highly compressed file may look “noisy”.

• For the most part, a JPEG is the format you will use.

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What file format to use….

• Most classroom materials - .jpeg

• For higher-end printed materials such as posters or brochures - .tiff

• For diagrams and clipart - .gif

• To have a transparent background - .gif

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Digital Storytelling

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Digital Digital Storytelling?Storytelling?

Using digital images in relating a series of events, thus telling a

story!

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What is digital storytelling?• Digital storytelling is the process

of writing about a story, and adding the multimedia elements of voice, imagery, and music to create a visual story.

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Digital Storytelling . . .

• provides an authentic personal learning experience- as such; student investment is greatly increased resulting in greatly improved motivation and end product.

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Digital Storytelling . . .

• teaches elements of technology and information literacy– students use many different

computer applications and must be conversant about locating and managing visuals, images and video, as well as being able to do so in the context of copyright and fair use.

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Why?Why?

• One of the ways to move from data to understanding is to tell the story and make the relevant connections

• Students sew the information together in an organized way that forces students to think about the entire body of information

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Photo Applications• Apple – iPhoto

• PC – PhotoStory

• Others?

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Web 2.0 Tools

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Classroom Examples

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Why Use a Camera?• Ease of use by students

• Instant Feedback/Gratification• Students are visual

- motivated to write about what they see and capture with a camera

• Research shows that student writing improves through writing often. – Take a picture each day and write – Writing about images that are important

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Why Use a Camera?• Reluctant writers

– overwhelmed by the whole writing process– trouble getting started unless assigned a topic

• Spark the composing process of writing

• Students photograph objects, people, and places that are important to them

• Personal photos can help build risk takers excited about reading and writing.

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Ideas for the Writing Process

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Ideas for the Process• Newspapers• Reports• Fiction• Letters to penpals• Class books• Alphabet books

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Ideas for the Process

• Illustrate Sequences• Stories, science experiments, processes

• Document Class Activities• year-end journals or “scrapbooks”

• Prompt Memory• on field trips & during special events

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Samples

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umbrella

u

Long Vowels

Short Vowelsa

fan

globe

oa

tape

Vowel/Alphabet Books

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1. Gather materials

2. Cut circle at the top.

3. Scoop out the insides.

4. Draw the face.

5. Cut out the eyes.

6. Then the nose and mouth.

7. Put a candle inside and your ready for Halloween.

8. But they don’t keep TOO long! Yuck! That’s really scary!

Sequencing

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Career Choice

I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I want to help people get better. They have to be smart to make a lot of money. They get to use a lot of neat stuff like a stethoscope and big machines that check your body. I don’t really want to give

shots.

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Field Trips

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Samples• Autobiographical - Students make a 3 to

4 slide presentation about themselves.

• Opposites-Take pictures of opposites such as hot coffee and cold water,

• Take a picture of anything and describe it in detail - like “I Spy”

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Samples• Create scenes to go with a creative

writing story. When publishing the story, insert the images as illustrations.

• Write a how to essay describing how to do something. Take pictures of each step to include in the essay when published.

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Samples• Everyday Objects – Personification:

Take pictures of ordinary objects. Write a story or description of that object using personification.

• Making Inferences or Deductions -Take a picture such as a boat on the water. Ask students what clues they see that tell which direction the boat is sailing

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Samples• Compare/Contrast - Take pictures of two

objects, people, or places. Make a venn Diagram

• Adjectives - Take a picture of an everyday object. What are all the words or phrases you can think of to describe the object?

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Samples

• Early in the school year students can take pictures of classmates and write biographies. Students can use the digital camera to photograph classmates posing as characters in books they are creating.

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Not so Obvious Uses• Create “concentration” like game with

matching photos of vocabulary

• Create a story outline of events

• Document characters or settings in a story

• Capture adjectives (textures, colors, emotions, etc.)

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Not so Obvious• Created book about local history

• Choose 3 random pictures and then incorporate them into their story.

• Write an alternate explanation or use for an object (ie use a fork to comb)

• Extreme close-ups and have students write about what the object is or the point of view of an ant

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Ideas & Examples• Ideas for the classroom can include:

• Documenting field trips

• Visual material for student projects

• Documenting student projects

• Creating "How To" guides

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"A picture is worth a thousand words."

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Questions?