As this weeks reading suggests using web videos and images are extremely valuable and effective for engaging students if combined with best practices. One of these best practices is the use of the anticipatory set as described by the Hunter Model lesson plan. This crucial part of the lesson sets the stage and gets students excited or curious about what they are about to learn. One effective strategy to accomplish this is to use videos found on the web that may provide you with a discrepant event, demo that is unsafe in the classroom or movie clip that intitiates a discussion about the days objectives.
The advent and proliferation of YouTube has provided many educators with a multitude of clips to choose from. One way that I have used them in class is to ask my students to PREDICT what is going to happen in a video. I have the students write down their prediction on a piece of paper. From here I could facilitate a discussion with my class or proceed to play the video. I then ask them to DESCRIBE what they saw on that same sheet of paper and then attempt to EXPLAIN it in their own words. This is an effective literacy strategy in that it gets students to express themselves, they get practice writing and (usually) they are engaged in the material. Depending on the video and topic discussed I then ask students to share their responses with the class.
This may also be an effective strategy to use in conjunction with a blog. Teachers could post a video on their blog and students would have to comment on it by explaining and giving reasons as to why a certain event occurred. Might result in some interesting and dynamic discussion.
Here is an example of a video from YouTube I have used when introducing uniform circular motion.
It provides some entertainment and makes for a good discussion starter. Dare I say "edu-taining."
I used to have a video clip that I liked for the difference between inference and observation from the movie Coal Miner's Daughter (it's been pulled off of youtube site unfortunately). There's a scene where they're at a social and the girls have all made pies, then the boys bid on the pies and get to sit and eat pie with the girls (this also brings up an interesting class discussion on dating customs). Tommy Lee Jones takes a big bite of Sissy Spacek's chocolate pie and gets the most interesting look on his face. It turns out that she used salt instead of sugar. It was a nice and novel way to lead students in to the discussion of observation vs. inference.
ReplyDeleteThats a great way to begin a lesson.You are right in saying that short you tube videos help introduce, reinforce and/or review a lesson. A favorite of mine is the `Dr. Quantum video` on double slit diffraction.I used to directly stream the Youtube in class. After this course however I will try and post it on my blog,jing or use one of the file conversions on the youtube.
ReplyDeleteJayanthi
ReplyDeleteI too have used that Dr. Quantum Video it works well when discussing wave-particle duality in my physics class. Another great resource that you should check out is the PI Institute. They have created a number of resources for teachers you may be interested in. Here is a link to it http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Outreach/General/Teachers/
Kristian