On Top of the News
Webcams See All
1/8/14 | New York Times

Behind the Headline
Lights, Camera, Action!
Spring 2011 | Education Next

“While the public is increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of government cameras and Internet snoops recording their daily behavior, there does not appear to be much introspection about routinely monitoring people, pets or handymen,” writes Quentin Hardy in the New York Times.

Thanks to advances in miniaturization and cheap digital storage, tiny cameras are moving onto houses, people and nature. Everything is being filmed — from nannies and sleeping babies to vandalism-plagued parking lots to fireplaces awaiting Santa Claus.

The article looks at the many uses people are finding for video cameras costing under $200 that transmit images over the internet.

Could webcams in classrooms be next?

In 2011, Mike Petrilli wrote for Ed Next about using video cameras in classrooms to record footage that could be used to evaluate teachers and help them improve.

“There are a number of huge advantages to video,” [Tom] Kane told me. “One is it gives you a common piece of evidence to discuss with an instructional coach or supervisor. Second, it will prove to be economically much more viable because you’re not paying observers to drive around to various schools to do observations.” Furthermore, he contends, “If a teacher doesn’t think that their principal is giving them a fair evaluation because of some vendetta, they can have an external expert with no personal ax to grind watch and give feedback.”

-Education Next