Well what if the DVD isn’t some Disney movie you got from Blockbuster the day before? (This happened to me more than once when I was a sub years ago.) What if the DVD relates directly to the curriculum the students are covering in class?
What if the DVD was created by you?
If I was in a position where I would actually have a sub when I took a day off, I would definitely do this. (I’m more of a resource person than a classroom teacher. If I have a day off I just reschedule my classes)
I think the best part about Mr. Meyer’s aforementioned (aforelinked?) blog entry is that he doesn’t make it too fancy. Yeah, yeah, he uses Final Cut Pro, but Lawrence Lessig does the exact same thing with iMovie. That means anyone with an out-of-the-box macbook (or iBook, Powerbook, or Macbook Pro) can do this with very little effort.
This isn’t technology that we can think about using years in the future, it’s technology that we can use tomorrow. (Or Monday, rather, since tomorrow’s Saturday.)
If you want to get your more technophobic teachers to buy into using all these wonderful toys, this is one good way to do it.