Creative Classroom Online - Tech for Learning


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	FEATURE: Kathy Schrock's Tech Quest

Digital cameras in the classroom
by Kathy Schrock

Improvements in technology and reduced prices have encouraged many teachers to purchase digital cameras. Having a digital camera in the classroom is fun. You can easily add photos to everything from your school Web site to personalized notes to parents. It is also a practical teaching and learning tool. Let's take a look at some features you should consider when buying a digital camera. Then we'll discuss some useful and innovative ways you can use digital cameras in your classroom.

Buying a digital camera
With the myriad of choices in digital cameras
on the market, there are a few important things
you should think about before purchasing one.
Price is probably thefirst thing you will consider.
For a quality digital camera, plan on spending
$350 to $600. But price isn't the only factor that
you should think about when looking at the various
models. You will also need to look at the following features:

Resolution Digital photographs are made up of tiny squares called pixels. The number and density of the pixels in an image is referred to as its resolution. The higher the resolution, the more pixels there are in the image and the sharper the image will be. The resolution of an image can be stated in two ways: by the number of pixels in the length and width of the image (e.g., 1024 x 768) or by the total number of pixels in the image (e.g., 2 megapixels, which means there are 2,000,000 pixels!). If you want to print out pictures that are no larger than 5" x 7", a 1.3 or 2 megapixel camera will be fine. But if you plan to print 8" x 10" or larger pictures, a higher-priced 3 megapixel camera would better meet your needs.

Kathy Schrock is a retired technology director and the creator of Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators.

Lens Digital camera lenses come in three varieties: fixed focus, optical zoom, and digital zoom. Fixed-focus lenses are comparable to the ones on point-and-shoot cameras that do not allow you to zoom in or out.

Zoom comparison illustration

An optical zoom lens reduces the amount of the scene that is actually photographed and produces a sharp, quality picture. These lenses usually are identified in terms such as "a 5X optical zoom." The higher the number, the closer the camera lens can zoom in.

A digital zoom lens captures a normal-sized image and then enlarges or reduces the picture using internal software. The enlarged photograph uses the same number of pixels that are in the original, and the software fills in the areas between the pixels. The resulting photograph, when viewed or printed out, is usually not as clear as one taken with an optical zoom or fixed-focus lens. Many lower-priced cameras come with the lower-quality digital zoom lens. Better cameras include the higher-quality optical zoom lens as well as the digital zoom lens.