by Katharine Isbell
Cameras broadcasting still and video images 24/7 over the World Wide Web are no longer the purview of social experiments in faraway Scandinavian countries. A quick search of the web indicates that webcams are gaining in popularity among individuals, businesses, governments and educational institutions. The majority of webcam sites use a digital still camera mounted in a fixed location and set up to take shots at programmed intervals. These images are then fed to a website and displayed. In relatively simple sites, viewers may have to refresh the images manually. More sophisticated sites refresh images automatically -- typically, every 20 to 30 seconds -- and some even have control links that allow the viewer to manipulate the direction in which the camera is pointing. On one site I found an animated GIF made from a series of stills taken over a 24-hour period, offering a time-lapse view of the changes that had occurred during that period.
Webcam sites have a lot of potential in environmental education, especially for students living in urban areas. These sites provide change-over-time settings in which students can develop and refine observation skills, strengthen descriptive writing skills by recording their observations, and practice higher order thinking by making predications based on past observations. In short, these sites allow students to experience the structure of field work within the confines of the classroom.
Naturally, webcam sites are not without their pitfalls. The most frequently occurring problem is that there is nothing to see. For example, many zoos around the world have webcams on popular exhibits such as penguins and seals. But even penguins need to rest, and when the animals are asleep or the cages are being cleaned, there is little action. Another problem is that some sites require the viewer to download plug-ins in order to view the images -- easily taken care of on one machine, but this could be a nightmare with a lab full of computers and students ready to get to work.
One of the better developed webcam sites is the Iowa Farmer Today's CornCam (see below for net addresses). Yep, viewers get to watch corn grow from sunup to sundown in an Iowa cornfield. Although the site shuts down for the winter, it is extremely popular during the growing season, and last year its hosts received over 8,000 email messages commenting on the site. Some people waxed poetic about the joys of simply watching the corn grow while others posed questions about the science behind it. The site has a frequently asked questions (FAQ) link on corn, archived pictures from last year, harvest yields, agricultural statistics and links to other pages about corn.
The Toledo Zoo's site (below) offers webcams on seals, hippos and polar bears. Clicking on the link opens a pop-up window which has links to animal facts and profiles. Another feature I like is the Best Shots link: if you are unable to see something live, you can click here and see a collection of interesting images of the animals.
Another interesting site for seeing animals is Africam (below), which displays images from 14 cameras located at game preserves around the northeastern tip of South Africa. Most of the cameras are fixed, but a few are hand-held by the rangers. Once you click on one of the cameras listed on the navigation bar, the image appears in a pop-up window which is refreshed automatically every 15 seconds. Field guides and rangers' biographies are only a few of the additional pages in this nicely designed and maintained site.
Webcam sites can also offer virtual expeditions to places most of us will never visit. The University of New South Wales sponsors a site (below) that displays images taken by the Automated Astrophysical Site-Testing Observatory, a self-powered observatory located at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. While the winter images are fairly static, during the summer there are researchers living at the station who post daily diary entries and pictures.
These are only a few of the many webcam sites of potential interest to environmental educators. There are several online webcam directories that will help you find more of what's available (below). Please let me know if you find these sites helpful and feel free to send me the URLs of sites you like.
Directories to webcam sites: www.discovery.com/cams/cams.html
www.camcentral.com www.webcamworld.com www.virtualfreesites.com/cams.html
Katharine Isbell is Assistant Professor of English at Miyazaki International College in Miyazaki, Japan.