Digital Imagery

Digital cameras have been around for many years and are becoming less expensive each year that goes by. It used to be that few people had digital cameras of their own, for personal use. Now it seems like every family has at least one, if not more! The world we live in today relies on attaining information quickly and efficiently. A few decades ago, for instance, fliers for shows or important events were mostly covered with writing and maybe a few pictures. Now, everything from billboards to movie posters to special events are advertised using pictures. The quicker someone can understand something, but better. It would take me about 30 seconds to read about certain type of animal and try to understand it. On the other hand, show me a picture, or perhaps a short slide show of pictures, and I will have a pretty good understanding in almost half the time it would take if I read the same information.
For this reason, schools are beginning to incorporate the proper use of digital cameras into their curriculum. Some schools are now able to have a class set of digital cameras due to the drop in cost which allows students to learn how to use a camera the right way. As a result, students are learning many different advantages to having digital cameras. For example, students can take those digital cameras on field trips and take pictures for future reference when writing a report or just reflecting on the experience. As you can see, many more lessons can then be based on these pictures. For instance, teachers can then show their students how to make collages, or put pictures into a word document. The possibilities are endless.
I believe that utilizing digital imagery by means of digital cameras will definitely benefit students. Not only will it enhance the knowledge of these children, but it will also enhance their creativity as well. Many kids these days are interested in doing some sort of graphic design when they are older, and this is a great start for them!
I would like to see further research done to see what type of cameras these students are using, and how much they are learning that they did not know already just from personal use with cameras.

Article Link: http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17145