September 1997 — Ed-Tech Trends
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Digital Imaging Is Innovative, Useful and Now Within Educators' Reach
Digital imaging has grown phenomenally in a very short time. (Weíll define digital imaging in this article as taking digital pictures, manipulating them on a PC and printing them out or integrating them into various projects.) This rapid acceleration of growth is due to a few recognizable factors: plummeting hardware prices; cheaper and more user-friendly image manipulation software; a continuously growing base of installed computers capable of handling digital imaging; and, finally and perhaps most importantly, the rapid growth and acceptance of the Internet -- a natural arena for this technologyís application.
Now, many educators are recognizing the benefits digital imaging provides. Benefits like immediate access to their pictures; control over the image enhancing and editing process; no money spent on film and processing; and integrating images into multimedia-based projects, Internet projects, Web sites and more. The best part of all: these benefits are now available at prices most educators can afford. (One caveat -- image resolution still canít quite match that of regular film.) This article will point educators to good deals and reveal applications for this burgeoning technology.
The Technology
A quick study of digital imaging technology reveals that a digital camera is no more difficult to operate than a regular camera. Whatís different is inside: instead of conventional photographyís chemical reaction process, digital photography (like all digital processes) utilizes an electrical reaction. Suffice it to say, images are stored in a cameraís on-board memory, or removable PC (PCMCIA) cards. Using a PC card adapter like ActionTecís (800-797-7001) CameraConnect or serial or parallel cable, images are transferred to a PC where image-editing software lets you convert, enhance and edit images. After integrating these images into a plethora of projects, or simply touching them up, you can print images out on color inkjet printers.
The applications for this technology in the education environment are limited only by oneís imagination. How about capturing a schoolís media inventory with a digital camera and downloading the images into a digital picture-enabled database? Or printing up a program for the school pageant, with pictures of all the cast in their various costumes? Or producing photo-identification cards? Or utilizing the camera for a university newspaper? As you can see, it only takes an active mind to come up with new uses every day for digital imaging.
The Cameras
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