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Technology Tools

Expand your teaching toolkit with technology tools. Find reviews of tech tools, gadgets and software that can be used in your classroom to complement and augment your curriculum.

You’ll Flip over This New Tool!

Video recording can be a valuable classroom resource,but the video camera is an expensive tool for schools to purchase,and a pricey instrument to place in the hands of a student. Enter: Pure Digital Technologies, Inc, who one year ago introduced an inexpensive, compact video camera that anyone from ages 5 to 95 can use, called the Flip Video Camera. Currently, three different styles of Flip Videos are available along with additional accessories including a miniature tripod and an underwater case.

The Flip Video Camera is small enough to fit in a pocket, purse, backpack or hand. This trendy, little gadget allows the simplest form of “point and shoot” with one button technology. Once it is turned on, it is ready to record in 2 seconds. It includes a small LCD-screen along with icon-labeled record, play and delete buttons. A unique feature is the exceptional quality of the videos shot in low light. Once the video is recorded, a side button "flips" open a USB jack to provide an easy access for editing, or a port for a TV connector cord for quick viewing.

Ideas for use in the classroom are endless. The Flip Video can be used to create video projects such as a video diary of a field trip, commentaries on news events, digital story telling, speech presentations, interviews or video surveys, structured narratives, student presentation examples, podcasts, and videos for concept development such as colors or math, just to name a few. Mark Warner, a primary teacher in the UK, displays in his blog examples of his students using the Flip Video. As these little cameras gain popularity, more and more ideas will be shared by teachers across the world. The key factors for teachers are the cameras’ simplicity and their price of $105.00 -$179.00, depending on style.

The Flip Video Camera merits review by teachers k-16 because it is a technology tool that needs few directions, is economical and can provide a quality end product.

For more information, visit Flip Video Camera’s website.

Disclaimer: The Corporation for Educational Technology (Buddy) has no agenda other than the interests of K-12 educators. Technology product reviews render no financial incentive to our organization.

This article appeared in the ETC...and More! volume 2, number 2 newsletter and is published by the Buddy Project (Corporation for Educational Technology), in collaboration with the Hoosier Educational Computer Coordinators (HECC), Indiana Computer Educators (ICE), the Indiana Department of Education, and Promoting Achievement through Technology and INstruction for all Students (PATINS).