Using Digital Videos, Images and Audio in the Classroom

Students today live a digital world where such technologies as digital video, images and audio are all around them. The average household, and more importantly the workplace have embraced the digital media and so it would be remiss of the education system not to ensure that students are ready to face the challenges of the outside world on leaving school. Not only do students need to know how to use digital media, but such technologies in themselves can be a useful tool in making learning in the classroom en enjoyable experience for both students and educators.

Gone are the days when the classroom experience consisted of the teacher standing at the front of the classroom in front of a blackboard or whiteboard, a piece of chalk or marker pen their only tool. Thanks to the digital media there is now a range of different educational tools which, when used well, can add a new dimension to the classroom experience.

While many adults may not see the advantages of using such video-sharing websites as YouTube in the classroom, there is some very useful educational content to be found there. One only has to browse YouTube to find many interesting and beneficial clips which can be used in the classroom. These include old movie clips and documentaries which may be difficult to find elsewhere. Digital cameras are also a useful tool in the classroom making it easier to use images in reports and projects, adding photos to the school or class website or emailing photos and class updates to parents. Podcasts are also a great method of communication in the classroom allowing students to create audio files and download them to share with others. Podcasts are easy to produce and do not cost a lot of money to make. One of the biggest challenges teachers face is improving literacy and numeracy and technology can go part of the way to solving this problem with the growing number of literacy and numeracy computer programs available. Computers can never replace the teacher in the classroom but they can act as a tutor, assisting the teacher to do his or her job.

Unfortunately there are a few downsides to relying too heavily on technology in the classroom, particularly when not everyone is a technical expert. Technology is wonderful when it works just the way we want it to, but can be tedious and frustrating when it doesn’t, particularly perhaps for teachers who haven’t had a lot of technological experience. There is also the danger that teachers and students can rely too heavily on technology, not allowing students to think for themselves. This is of particular concern in relation to mathematics. Many people are also concerned that whereas teachers take into account emotional issues when dealing with children, digital tools do not and as a result some students will be disadvantaged.

While all of the arguments against the use of digital technology in the classroom are valid, I still feel that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Education plays a huge role in preparing students for the outside world and it is a fact of life that we live in a technological world. Technological tools in the classroom make learning more interesting and more fun, as well as giving students and teachers more access to information. Computers can never replace teachers in the classroom but unless education reflects the world in which we live, our education system would be failing our students miserably.