Digital Video is yet another great tool to use in the classroom. It not only is an interactive activity students can participate in, it is fun! I believe I would have learned more about any subject if we would have had more interactive tools in our classroom like digital video.

I do remember having one video project for a social studies assignment in 11th grade. We had to "act out" a scene from a certain time period. We were put into groups of five and we set up a time to get together out of school to film our story. It was fun - I still remember doing it!

It's been a while since I have had classes in anything, but thinking back to my undergrad years, it would have been extrememly helpful to have actually watched videos on people and the social issues they face. My major was social work, and even though we read case studies in class and were told about problems people were facing, let me tell you, it was quite an eye-opening experience for me when it actually came time to go out and do my internship! Watching actual footage of people, just like the Water Buffalo video, would have been very educational and would have better prepared us for real life. It would have given us more understanding of the circumstances as to why the people were living the way they were, which would make it easier for all parties involved to help them become productive, successful, confident people. Podcasts would have also been invaluable tools for sharing experiences and learning about other social workers experiences.

When I actually get to teach, I think it would be fun to incorporate video into class projects! I could use clips from the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, PBS, and maybe even C-SPAN. Hopefully, I will have an LCD projector and a white board to display the videos, but if not, I could even have small groups of students take turns watching on the computer screen. Plus, there are so many educational websites that have video clips available for teachers to use as a supplement in the classroom.

Podcasts are a cool tool to use in the classroom as well. They get the students excited about learning and sharing their opinion, especially when they realize their audience isn't just the teacher! They can be viewed by other students and teachers all over the world. When I was in elementary school, the only connection I had with students in other schools was a pen-pal. I remember getting a name of my pen-pal - I was so excited to learn about her and tell her all about me and my life. I thought she was from a far-away place, and then later learned through our letters that she lived about 20 miles away from me! It was still fun to learn about someone new, but it would have been even better to hear from someone my age who lived in another country!