Another "Take" on Distance Learning

Recently, while working on a project with my first grade class, we viewed a National Geographic special called March of the Penguins. It was an spectacular movie showing a year in the life of the Emperor Penguin. The scientists actually lived among the penguins observing their lives, habits, mating, hatching and many other occurances including their amazing ability to weather terrible blizzards and winter storms.

What caught my attention was the technological equipment the scientists used to enhance their study. Among the cameras and video equipment was a device that had invented called a "Critter Cam". This is a scientific tool that is harnessed on an animal. It records audio, video and environmental data that allows scientists to gather information that has never been collected before. The camera attaches to animals with straps and buckles and is able to record the activities of not only the “host” but the other animals in the area. One part of the apparatus is the TDR (Time, Depth Recorder). It is able to now give insight to eating habits, swimming and hunting habits of predators as well.

This is a new way of looking at Distance Learning, in my opinion. With Critter Cams now being used, we are able to gain insight into the lives and habits of many different types of animals that we may not have had the opportunity to study before. This same type of technological tool is being utilized with the meerkats that are so popular on television.

When I was a small child, we would sit as a family and watch TV together on Sunday nights. At some point during the year, Disney would host Jacques Cousteau and his shows on animals. We would sit and see the amazing footage of fish that was taken by human photographers and videographers. I am certain that the shows would have been much more interesting if the Critter Cam had been used. The wildlife would have not been disturbed as much as when the humans were interacting with the animals.

My point is that with devices being utilized, like the Critter Cam, we are able to now see much more, and observe more closely, the previously secret or “distant” lives of animals. We are able to use this footage to instruct our students and have actual pictures and film from which they can learn first hand. We can now teach using equipment that can take us a further distance.