The Power of Mobile Technology

My students have really been pushing the power of mobile technology for the past few years.  I continue to be amazed at both the evolution of the technology and how quickly the students find new ways to use it.  It cost me between $10,000 and $12,000 in 2000 to purchase one Media 100 editing station and a Canon XL1 for our classroom.  The following film was shot this past spring on an ipod touch that belonged to one of the student filmmakers:  Bad Luck

He shot and edited the entire film on the ipod.  The editing program cost approximately $1.  The cost to the school....$0.  

The students in my class produce a lot of high quality films during the course of the year.  As of now, there will continue to be a need for high cameras and editing stations.  However, the time may be quickly approaching that we need to not only rethink how we purchase and what we allow students to bring to school.  As for my students, they feel more comfortable working with their phone or ipod than they do a $5,000 camera.  The cameras on the mobile devices continue to improve with each new generation.  I look forward to this coming year to see what the class of 2012 can do.  

Best,

-joe