I like to imagine tools that will make a teachers job really easy…..

• Imagine if there was a super simple, plug and play camera that you or your students could learn to use in seconds.
• Imagine if it never needed batteries, if plugging it into your computer installs the software and codecs and if it charged simply via USB and then worked for hours for fieldtrips and out of class activities.
• Imagine if an hour of video could be stored on it composed of up to hundreds of clips made by different students.
• Imagine if the FREE software supplied with it made it effortless to edit the clips into movies or take the videos and save them so you can use them immediately in flipcharts.
• Imagine if it automated the process of publishing the video online for sharing with students or colleagues!

Well imagine - something like the Flip Mino!

This is not the only device of this nature. Some Promethean schools are using the RCA SMall Wonder Camera which is virtually identical for classroom video and there are others by manufacturers such as Creative.

Clearly designed for the young “YouTube Generation” (the top search on Google in most places are “YouTube” and “Facebook”) - the Flip cameras and others that are similar, fulfil all of these requirements. Sure you can get snazzy digital cameras with similar functions - but they can cost more or are far more complex to learn and manage.

What I find makes the Flip Mino and the like really great for classroom use, other than its simple functionality, low cost and robustness - is the amazing quality of the video the camera produces.

For real creative use - it has simple editor built in that you can use to trim clips, join them together and add titles and music. More advanced students can also take the raw clips and in moments transfer them to more specialised programs such as Windows MovieMaker or iMovie on MAC and edit and add to titles to create high quality creative works. There is even a HD (High Definition) version which records and stores broadcast quality video for work that needs to show serious ‘production values!’

Because the camera is small - you can use it in many creative ways -  my own young learners placed it inside a moving toy vehicle to create an amazing “point of view” scene for an video story they were making and it is always in their pocket ready to do a quick interview or capture a learning moment.  They also regularly use it to capture video to put online - clips which can then be embedded into blogs and webpages - using the easy to use features of most video sharing websites.

“Flipshare” - the free supplied software

Of course, its use does not have to stop with the kids.

Video is also an ideal medium for capturing live action - such as sports or dance movement and similar activity for post-event classroom review on the Activboard.

You could also use the device to quickly capture students comments and descriptions of their work for a range of formative and summative assessment purposes or formally record interviews to help whem developing personal learning plans and portfolios. The easy online sharing tools make it easy to create a workflow that could see such interview pieces and video clips available on a learning management system or password protected video sharing service.

To show just how easy it is - I used the Flip Mino camera and the free software that comes with it to make a video of me using it. You will also see me utilising the clips in the new Promethean “Inspire” software that is in BETA testing with some lucky teachers at the moment.

Uploading the clip to YouTube was a simple step also provided by the software - so I could embed it into this blog and share it with others!….

Enjoy…