Videos Enhance the Classroom

Hello All, In this week's discussion of technology in the classroom we have looked at how videos can really enhance lessons and instruction. Not unlike podcasts, videos should not be used as the primary source for instruction. Their use to engage students in a lesson or to reteach material really helps students grasp concepts. There are some concerns with this use of media. Some teachers feel that video often overtakes the use of reading and writing in the classroom. While I feel there is a danger of this, it is unlikely that this would really happen if the teacher is using video in conjunction with regular classroom instruction. Another concern stems from the slow buffering of videos and the lack of good technology in the classroom. As many of us expressed this week, you need to get the students' attention almost immediately or all could be lost. That said, no one has time for slow downloads. Given that many schools are behind the times in terms of updated technology, software, and network connections. Teachers will certainly have to plan ahead and possibly just download the video all together rather than streaming from online. The last concerned addressed was the content of the video themselves. These videos must bre previewed not only for appropriate content but also to ensure that what is being addressed does not bring up new principle that will only confuse students. This process can be time consuming. One advantage is that once the teacher has found some videos they like, the videos could just be downloaded and saved for future years of instruction on this topic. Then again, there are always new videos being posted so the teacher may want to look again next year anyways. I think overall video will serve to engage students in classroom instruction and assignments. I think the fear of video overtaking the use of reading and writing is a little much since technology has already been around for years and the schools are still really far behind in how they use it. Video serves as an additional tool to reach students and should not be used to supplement teacher instruction as a whole. Thanks for reading! Amy