K to 5 Educational Videos

School Videos: The Best of Classroom Technology

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

A teacher has to have a lot of tricks up her sleeve: to deal with disciplinary issues, to deal with different levels of ability, to deal with different learning styles. Technology is another trick, another tool, for creating an environment where learning can take place. Dr. James Marshall of San Diego State’s Department of Educational Technology says it perfectly: school videos and other media complement “what a great teacher does naturally. It extends their reach.”

How can a video improve the quality of your lesson? We know that videos, which can be found on any number of subjects at any number of levels, provide invaluable educational content: when we’re teaching our students about the four seasons, for example, video can be part of an exciting unit. You can use the video to explore seasons in different areas of the country; you can see weather extremes; you can hear music and see visuals that are far more effective than just words.

You can go on nature walks to see the foliage; you can have the kids write to relatives in different areas to see what the seasons are like there (or use email), you can check the weather forecasts online. There is an infinite range of possibilities, and video is a valuable component – but it is never the only component.

Besides that, digital media appeals to the students’ need for instant gratification, for auditory and visual stimulation. Our goal is to help students build better attention spans, to help them learn to focus – but doing it through means they connect with has much better results than if we ignore the fact that they are typically far more engaged with technology. We can lead them to our instructional goals using a language they understand.

There are times when school videos are counterproductive in your lessons. While they are great, like Dr. Marshall indicates, they should be an extension of the teacher – not a replacement for the teacher. You should not view it as an “extra” or something that allows you to check out: videos work well when teachers are engaged. If the teacher is engaged, then the chances that the students will be too is much greater.

Are you unlocking the potential in the videos you share with your students? You will be amazed at some of the results – improved critical thinking and problem solving skills to name but two. Click here for more information on using this remarkably effective tool.

Tags: classroom technology, school videos
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Are You Making the Most of Each School Video?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Media in the classroom gives us a world of experience that we can share with our students. We can show them the inauguration of a president or Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” We can see history, or we can see how letters fit together to make words, or how numbers can do whatever we want if we know some rules. With the right school video, we can show our students virtually anything.

But will they see what we need them to see? This is where the teacher comes in. Videos are wonderful tools, but like any tool, the outcome depends on the skill of whoever holds them. So to make sure your students are meeting your instructional goals, it is important to use videos correctly. Some people look at me like I’m crazy when I say this: how do you not use a video correctly? You just put it in the DVD player and there you go. No! If that’s all you’re doing, then chances are your objectives are not going to be met.

There are a few problems that can occur with videos – through no fault of the videos themselves! But whenever you turn off the lights, little people are likely to get sleepy. Students are going to start thinking about what they want to do at recess or who they will sit with at lunch or can I sneak and check my text messages. Teachers are distracted by their lesson plans for tomorrow or what they want to do at recess! It combines to create a colossal waste of time for everyone involved. Learning? Not so much.

This is why it is so important when you use a school video to use it well. The most important thing is to keep your instructional goals in mind and keep the students focused on those goals. How do you do this? Here are just a few good tips:

• Give your students pre-activities, discuss what will be on the video and what they should look and listen for.
• Provide viewing activities. These can be worksheets or any type of activity that keeps the focused and makes them accountable for the material.
• Break the video into segments. 50 minutes of video is often too much, but five or ten minutes can be remarkably effective. Use what you need to teach, not to fill time. The rule is the video clip should be no longer than twice the age of your class.

Are you using media to its best advantage? Are your goals being met? If not, don’t throw out the video. Just change your method of using it. For help in using videos more effectively, check out this link.

Tags: lesson plan, school videos
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School Videos Help the Learning Process

Saturday, August 1st, 2009

Teachers often use videos or TV clips to supplement lessons they are teaching. School videos are an effective way of to address different learning modalities by stimulating visual memory. Maybe you read something that you can’t remember all of the details of, or you recall the teacher saying something but you can’t quite pull it fully into your mind. Because images often stick in your mind, using videos allows you to apply your visual literacy in learning.

In the ninth grade I was shown a film about the consequences of smoking cigarettes. It had a cowboy in the tight Wrangler jean, the big belt buckle, and the faded hat. He had that leathery wind-weathered skin. The film showed him out on the range, corralling a bunch of cows in front of a big sky sunset, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. In the next scene he was in a white room. He was speaking through his throat. A hospitalized Marlboro Man with lung and mouth cancer.

Talk about visual literacy! How did I read that? No one in that video had to tell me smoking was a bad idea. All I had to do was read the images to know that I didn’t want those problems. School videos are often very effective in this way. They are able to instill a point that might have otherwise been overlooked. My teacher could have said that smoking was bad. I might have read it was bad. None of that made the same impact as seeing a video that had the same point, but in a much more real scenario.

Visual literacy includes how our brains process visual imagery and how imagery is a powerful learning tool. Click here for research and information on visual literacy.

Tags: educational videos, school videos, visual literacy
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Educational Videos Help Your Lesson

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Videos Aren’t The Enemy

As a teacher, I know first hand that a lot of time goes into creating lesson plans. Typically there are four steps:

1. Picking the topic
2. Researching the topic
3. Developing a presentation to keep students engaged

The truth is, we live in a visual world, but videos aren’t the enemy. They can help get a point across. Using educational video in your lessons is a great way to make the curriculum come to life. There is nothing like teaching a unit on the ocean and having a video full of detailed images and full of ocean sounds for the students to see and hear. Video helps capture and present the many different habitats, species and regions oceans encompass around the world.

Research has proven that visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners benefit from video resources in addition to lectures and white boards text. For the learner that needs to experience the lesson visually, educational videos present another option. With hundreds of videos available across subject areas and designed for specific grade levels and units of study, all teachers can utilized these resources to make their lessons more effective.

As much as we would all like to show full length videos, it’s not always an option. Carefully placed video clips placed at important points in your lesson improve your lesson. Teaching a history lesson on the Louisiana Purchase? Find short clips to make it relevant. Teaching about metamorphosis? Let your students see the changes of a butterfly in real time. They’ll love it and you’ll love watching them.

Using video in your lessons will help you turn on the light bulbs in your students minds. As educators, that’s why we teach – the “Aaah ha” moments. Have one in each lesson.

Tags: educational videos, visual literacy
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School Videos: Replacing TV and VCRs with New Delivery Systems

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

As technology becomes an ever more important part of our society, teachers and other education professionals must learn to harness its power to create a positive learning environment by integrating the technologies provided by schools and school district and the vast resources of the Internet.

By using what we know already about television as a delivery system and educational resources via video, we can transfer the delivery of video and interactive visual media through new classroom technology.

It is well known that simply standing in front of the class and lecturing them is not the best way to ensure that they remember the lessons that are being taught. The question is, “How can teachers get students to pay attention and play an active role in the learning process?” I believe that the answer lies in the effective use of educational media.

One important thing to note is that when movies are played in the classroom students have a tendency to stop paying attention. They may assume that the information will not be on the test, and so assume that they do not need to listen. It is crucial that teachers and professors find some way to break this habit. Think of an activity that will help keep them involved, and reward them for paying attention. When used properly these videos should improve student retention and make lesson planning easier for the teacher.

Tags: school video
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Teaching Effectively with School Videos

Monday, June 29th, 2009

It has been said that our world is moving faster than it ever has before, and that our attention spans are shrinking to fit those changes. Unsurprisingly, students today are more difficult to entertain than ever before. Oftentimes it is difficult to get them to pay attention at all, if a teacher has developed a reputation for being boring. It is important to adapt our teaching methods to these changing times. One way to do this is through the use of educational dvds.

When used correctly, these tools can help to keep your students interested in the lesson plans that you have written. When interspersed with your usual cirriculum, educational dvds can provide a chance for students to learn in new and exciting ways. This keeps your lessons from becoming monotonous and gives students something to look forward to. With all the technology that is currently being used in classrooms, it would be a shame to let something as powerful as school videos go to waste.

If you’re ready to start to stop making “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make Using Video in the Classroom” and start experiencing the benefits of using video effectively in your classroom, your next step is to download a free copy of “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make Using Video in the Classroom” right now.

Tags: school videos
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The Advantage of Educational DVDs

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I believe educational DVDs and videos help add interest and excitement to a classroom lesson. Textbooks and other types of written media, even when filled with interesting information, cannot carry us off to places the same way a school video can.

For example, I can read about an expedition through a Brazilian rainforest and get a sense of what it might be like, but seeing a well-produced video can make me feel as if I am actually there. I can see the trees and the wildlife, I can hear the sounds of the animals and birds, and I can practically feel the cool rain pouring down in an afternoon thunderstorm. These images and impressions are ones that I could not get from reading a textbook or even looking at still pictures.

School videos also appeal to a wide range of students. There are students who do not enjoy the reading process or find learning from books to be difficult, but almost all students enjoy educational DVDs and videos. I think they do a great job of holding the interest of nearly all learners, and they often have interactive content, such as interviews and bonus materials that make them a great classroom resource. Click here for some valuable information on how and why to use educational DVDs and videos in your classroom lessons.

Tags: educational videos, school videos
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Why School Videos are Important

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

There are many reasons why school videos are important in school. They provide a visual to what is being taught in the classroom. They are interesting to watch because you are actually seeing what is being explained rather than just looking at a teacher the whole class period. Other than these two reasons there are many more to consider.

Usually when hearing that there is going to be a video during the class period, students will take this as a time to take a nape, pass notes, skip class, etc. Unfortunately, some students do this and some do not. I have asked some people how their views on videos in school were, and surprisingly, even some of the bad students said that they remembered a lot of the videos and that they wish they had paid more attention back then because it was actually interesting what they were “learning” from the videos. However, being a young teen in high school, they only halfway paid attention to the videos, which is why they do not remember all of them.

If we make sure that videos that are being displayed in the classroom are interesting videos then we have more of a chance that he students will watch them. Obviously choosing boring videos with a boring monotone voice explaining the video will be boring to them. The good thing about videos is that due to the visuals in the videos, students are more likely to soak in, and remember what they are watching, because it is more interesting when you see what is going on, rather than being explained it in class by the teacher, and having to use your own imagination to create an image.

School videos are a positive part of the classroom and should continue expanding young adolescent minds into the world of education.

By using videos consistently in instruction, you can take advantage of the natural interests of your students to watch and listen to teach your lesson objectives more effectively and more efficiently.

Tags: educational videos, school videos
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Making School Videos Interactive

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

Choosing the right school videos to supplement regular class work can be challenging. On one hand, you want to find a way to appeal to students on their level—and in the age of MySpace, YouTube and iPods, school videos seem like a good choice.

On the other hand, you don’t want the kids to just zone out or write off the video as boring simply because it’s being shown in a classroom. When it comes to class movies, students have a tendency to approach them the same way they look at healthy food—if it’s good for you, then it can’t possibly be any good.

I’ve found that the best approach when showing a video is to make it as interactive an activity as possible. That means pausing the video at certain points and having an informal class discussion about what has been viewed so far. Since most educational videos come with a lesson plan, it’s not very difficult to find useful discussion guidelines.

I also make it a point to ask kids what they think an answer or result will be (“How many salmon do you think will survive the migration?” or “How do think Einstein felt when his teacher told him he wasn’t intelligent? How would you feel if someone told you that now?” or “How do you think Helen Keller is going to get around the fact she can’t go to school with other kids?”) before I show them the result. This keeps them interested.

The best advice I can give, however, is to never rely on a video as the sole part of a lesson plan. A school video should never stand alone but instead should be merely a small part of an entire lesson plan.

If you’re ready to start to stop making “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make Using Video in the Classroom” and start experiencing the benefits of using video effectively in your classroom, your next step is to download a free copy of “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make Using Video in the Classroom” right now.

Tags: lesson plan, school videos
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