photos not exciting enough?
Before we carry on with the static ‘photo’ movie and advanced features let me mention the ease of making a ‘video’ movie.
This is such a natural thing for students to do. Head over to teachers.tv and you will see a few class lessons using Interactive Writing Board (IWB). Whiteboard Science Students use a little blue handheld camera to shoot VGA video (low resolution 640×480). They then connect to the class laptop that is connected to the IWB and display unedited video. Easy.
I haven’t found ‘that’ specific camera. However, in the USA you can find many that will do better. There is the Flip Mino HD and the Kodak Zi6. Both shoot HD at 720p. This is _much_ sharper quality than VGA. Unfortunateley, these models are unavailable in Australia and cost over $300 Aus. So what is the alternative?
Recently I spotted a DXG portable HD recorder. It resembles the Flip Mino. Uses AA batteries, has 720p resolution, uses standard memory card (a 2gig card holds 1hr of HD video) and has the built in USB connector. All for a very reasonable $99. Yes, a portable video camera the size of your mobile phone for under $100!
The quality is very good considering the device has no stabilization etc. Easy to carry. Batteries record at least 20mins of video (rechargeables very handy).
Implications foe the classroom? Think about it… Pickup. Turn on. Shoot. Connect. Import. Refine in iMovie or MovieMaker.
Filed under: Uncategorized and tagged class, idea, IWB, lesson, teachers, video
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