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This special issue of Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education<\/em> is devoted to digital video use in the classroom.\u00a0 The topic was chosen as a result of discussions that were held by special interest groups at annual meetings of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education and at meetings of the National Technology Leadership Coalition in 2007 and 2008.\u00a0 As discussions progressed, it became evident that digital video was being used in a variety of ways across content areas in respective teacher education courses and that its use in K-12 classrooms needed to be more rigorously examined.<\/p>\n Moving images have served as tools for science teaching since the early 1900s.\u00a0 Although movie storage and method of presentation have evolved from film to videotape to laserdisc to DVD to online digital video, the underlying event is still the same:\u00a0 a sequence of images and sound that tells a story.\u00a0 These stories are useful to science teaching and learning in many ways, including in instruction, exploration, and assessment.<\/p>\n Instruction<\/strong><\/p>\n The main use of moving images in the first half of the 20th century was the self-contained instructional film.\u00a0 Once the film was turned on, the film\u2019s production team controlled the flow of instruction.\u00a0 Teachers would try to make the event more interactive by providing outlines to complete, but one of the most important capabilities of the experienced teacher was minimized:\u00a0 the ability to respond immediately to the questions and ideas of the students.<\/p>\n The quality of self-contained instructional film improved as commercial motion picture studios moved into the education market.\u00a0 For example, Hemo the Magnificent,<\/em> directed by Oscar winner Frank Capra, was a high quality motion picture featuring live action and animation.\u00a0 Today, selections from other high-quality documentary films can be used for science instruction, as well, such as March of the Penguins<\/em> (2005).<\/p>\n In the early days of film use, the schools either had to purchase or rent educational films.\u00a0 Today, most self-contained instructional films are found on cable or broadcast televisions.\u00a0 Networks such as PBS, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, and National Geographic produce programs that focus on nature, earth\/environmental science, and technology.\u00a0 Programs in the physical sciences are more limited.\u00a0 Classic self-contained instructional television programs that have an exploratory nature can be found on the Internet.\u00a0 Examples include Julius Sumner Miller’s Demonstrations in Physics<\/em> (1969; see Video 1), and Don Herbert’s Mr. Wizards World<\/em> (1983; see Video 2).<\/p>\n Video 1.<\/strong> Julius Sumner Miller’s Demonstrations in Physics<\/em> (http:\/\/www.schoolwax.tv\/physics-julius-sumner-miller-archimedes-part-1<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Video 2.<\/strong> Mr. Wizard’s World<\/em> clip ( http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2sIAVV5HKjc&NR=1)<\/a><\/p>\n Exploration<\/strong><\/p>\n As early as 1924 Frank Freeman, an advocate and researcher of using film in education, saw the advantage of having motion picture film in small units. He suggested that film “should be so designed as to furnish to the teacher otherwise inaccessible raw material of instruction, but should leave the organization of the complete teaching unity largely to the teacher” (p. 79).\u00a0 His advice generally went unheeded until the 1960s, with the advent of the single concept film loop.\u00a0In 1971 Franklin Miller, Jr., listed 14 reasons for using short films that promote science explorations.<\/p>\n Watching digital video can capture students\u2019 attention and engage them in the topic being introduced (Park, in press). If the digital video is carefully crafted, it can also be used to help students explore concepts and gain understanding through explanations within the video. Viewers can compare what happens as variables are changed in sequenced scenes, or they may be challenged by questions in overlaid titles or voice-overs.<\/p>\n Other videos can be used to elaborate or to apply concepts discussed in class to new situations. For example, after doing activities related to average velocity, a video could be viewed that shows the velocity of a car traveling at 55 mph as viewed from a car next to it traveling at the same velocity. A sequence of these types of shots would introduce the students to the concepts of relative velocity and frame of reference.<\/p>\n Computing technologies combined with digital video allow students to conduct analyses that once were limited to scientists. Motion and time measurements can be made using video of events. Video of a specific event can be synchronized with related data. Students can take measurements and make inferences from popular Hollywood movies to see if the scenes are probable or even possible. Stop-motion animations can assist students in understanding scientific processes or mechanisms.<\/p>\n Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n