Hello Holtville
Staff. This is Theresa Long your
technology integration specialist. Today’s
technology inspiring video is about allowing students to create videos to show
their level of understanding of your content area. There is plenty of evidence that states
allowing students to create their own teaching videos encourages more in depth
learning. In the online article “The
Benefits of Students Teaching Students Through Online Video” Katrina Schwartz
cites examples of students producing videos for other students using scenarios
and terminology that makes sense to their peers. I can attest to that kind of logic. When I was in college I had a hard time
understanding complex math concepts. My
brother, who was a math major, worked in the school’s math lab as a tutor. It just so happened that he worked in the
math lab right after my math class ended.
I would take my notes and assignments across the hall the math lab and
sit with my brother as he put it into terms I could understand. It was the only way, I believe, I ever passed
that class. So, it makes sense to me
that this medium could work for students today.
Schwartz also cites how these videos could also help parents understand
many of the new math concepts. By
students creating videos, parents can view them at home and help their own
children with homework. And this concept
is not just for math. Examples of
students learning complex chemistry concepts was also cited in the
article.
So, here’s the real
deal. How can you use it in your
classroom? That’s what this video is about,
putting this concept to work in your classroom.
The Horizon Report 2015 reinforces the concepts from Schwartz’s
findings. The one item that the Horizon
Report points out that Schwartz’s article did not is that for this to work the
teacher must be comfortable with the technology. This is where we will spend the rest of our
time. Getting you familiar with some of
the applications available to you as a teacher.
Play with it. Make your own
videos. Get comfortable with the
technology so you can teach it to your students and they can begin teaching the
class!
Do you have a
camera, smartphone or tablet? Then you
can make a video. One suggestion I offer
is to hold the phone or tablet landscape style.
This will allow for easier viewing of the finished product. Record the video. Then upload to your computer by plugging in
your device and choosing the picture/video you want uploaded for easier
viewing.
The second
application that is fun and easy to use is a screen casting program. I like Screencast-O-Matic. It is easy to use, it’s free and it can
publish directly to YouTube so viewing is very convenient. What it does is basically screenshots or
video of what is on your computer. You can narrate while the program is
recording. Instead of just handing out a sheet of paper with instructions you can
demonstrate the steps of producing a PowerPoint. Another screen casting application that is
free is Jing. It works basically the
same the other. Both can be uploaded on
the web for easy viewing.
The last application
I want to show you is Moviemaker. It is
a Windows based program so you can have it on your computers and the computers
in the computer lab. If you can use
PowerPoint you can use Moviemaker. You
can upload text, pictures or videos. You
can add background music or do a voice over narration for your video. In fact, that is what I used to make this
video! Your video can be saved to your
device or can be published to the web using such sites as YouTube. So now you have some basic ideas for using
video in your classroom. I will be
available to help you and your students when you are ready to try this fun,
engaging and instructional technology!
And that’s it for today’s 5 minute Tech Tip!
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