Flipping out!!

Have you heard of the Flip video camera? Neither had I until the week before Christmas. Then, days later, my husband and I received one for Christmas and it seems to be taking the world (at least MY world) by storm! I returned to work after the Winter Break to the entry Caught on Video from Bob Sprankle on TechLearning.com about the Flip and his insightful vision for its use. So, what's so beautiful about the Flip?

1) It's so easy, even a child can use it (as you can see, my 2-year old niece is a master!)

2) It's affordable- approximately $100-$150, give or take, depending on recording time (30-60 minutes), etc. You could buy a classroom set for the price of one camcorder.

3) It's easy to download - "flip" out the self contained USB and plug it in. It appears as a drive and, generally, you just pull off your .avi file.

4) It has a self-contained microphone that picks up audio pretty well.

5) It's compact - about the size of my point and shoot camera.

For all of these reasons, I feel like this is a tool, with the cooperation of the budget-holders in my building, that could be in the hands of students and teachers in a matter of minutes! A tool that could impact and facilitate assessment, storytelling, evidence gathering, and on and on and on.
So, THAT's why I'm ready to FLIP out!!