Using Cell Phone Cameras as Art Tools...

I am going to a teacher job fair tomorrow ("Education Recruitment Event") so I will keep this brief... I read a few weeks ago on The Tempered Radical a quote about how we work to get funding to get computers for our students yet we ignore the fact that our students have them in their pockets already.

Reflecting on this, I have been struggling with the idea of how to get photography equipment in a classroom with limited resources. Yet we hear everyday a new story of how the ever-present photo technologies are causing some sort of mischief (best case) or trouble (worst case). What if we harnessed this technology, the .02 to 2.3 megapixel photography equipment that nearly everyone has to teach photography skills? Documentary-style photography, a la Weegee? Or even staged events, like the images of Jeff Wall? How about the almost-comforting repetition and conformity found in contemporary industrial and retail settings (see Andreas Gursky)?

Now, I am aware of the potential downfalls and problems possible. But with any technology, that possibility is in existence. Including "regular" digital cameras (point and shoot, digital SLR, etc.). Should we not teach students how to use these gifts responsibly? I have taught at sites where the students were given more freedom with X-Acto knives than with their cell phones. If rules are carefully crafted and adhered to, then might this become a non-issue?

My Inspiration

From time to time, I like to take a few minutes and reflect on why I became a teacher. Recently I was thinking about how my experiences in High School have influenced my career choice. When I was in ninth grade, I was a member of a (now successful) pilot program called The Expedition Academy at my high school. Influenced by Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, a teaching methodology created by Harvard University and influenced by the educational work of Kurt Hahn, ELOB seeks to create lifelong learners, compassionate human beings, and responsible stewards of the earth. This program had a huge impact on my life through the learning that occurred. Reading books like Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and Nectar Through A Sieve (I can't remember the author) influenced my learning and made me grow by leaps and bounds. Both of the academic area teachers who taught me became friends and influences, and i became very close to everyone in the class as a result of the backpacking and camping trips and strenuous classroom work. One of the teachers, an English teacher, showed me that teaching is the single most important profession and that being an educator can have a deep and long lasting impact on students. As an Art Educator, I hope to inspire and influence my students in much the same way that my Exped teachers influenced me to be the most intelligent, caring, and best person I can be.

A New Thought on Education and Standards...

I was reading Bill Ferriter's blog, The Tempered Radical, and he posted a recent discussion highlighting the division between education theorists and front-line educators. As one of the readers posted:

"Unlike some lunatic educational theorists who believe that teachers should be mere "facilitators" who only allow children to "discover" the "answers" and "wisdom" that are within each of them, my business card reads "Teacher."

This got me thinking. One contemporary line of education thinking posits that the best way for students to learn is to explore their own line of questioning (inquiry learning). What if, instead of plowing through standards like snow on an Ohio highway, student/learners were required to create, research, and answer one question every two weeks or so in each of their content areas? This has been, in my (limited) experience about the amount of time I require to teach a high-quality lesson to my students. Could we then use the Content Standards (state and national) as more of a guideline that can be given to students to guide their learning?

Obviously, this idea has a few flaws... I have no idea how you would grade this as a teacher. Additionally, you would need students to be highly intrinsically motivated. But, i think this would hold great potential to help students learn... possibly helping students become more self- and intrinsically motivated.

What do you think?