Get Connected - Fall 2007 - (Page 15)

been at least partially cultivated, and from a very early age, by video games, the Hollywood special effects industry and the interactivity of the Internet. According to a recent U. S. Department of Education study, 23 percent of children in nursery school—kids 3, 4 and 5 years old—have gone online. By kindergarten, 32 percent have used the Internet (typically under the supervision of parents). As Susan Patrick, former director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education, explains: “Young students don’t differentiate between the face-to-face world and the Internet world. They were born into the age of the Internet. They see it as part of the continuum of the way life is today.” If a student misses a class, a video is a great way for the student to catch up on what he or she missed—even if it’s not an actual video of the class, the teacher or the student can easily find a video on the subject. As I type, ENA is observing Wellness Month. My colleagues and I are competing in contests, taking quizzes and listening to experts talk to us during lunch breaks about exercise, healthy eating, herbal supplements, Tai Chi, stress management and other topics. Because our employees are busy, off-site or traveling, many can’t attend these seminars, so ENA is videoing them in order that employees can videoconference in real time or skim the video stored on Google Video later when they have time. Additionally, videos-on-demand can be a dynamic research alternative to catalogs and databases of static-page information when students are working on reports and projects. In fact, it would serve students well to be encouraged to construct their own presentations using video and other media. Chances are they’ll be doing it in afterschool activities and college as well as in the professional world. Video is second nature for many or most students and perhaps even how they prefer to learn. So why not harness the power of technology and the acumen of digital natives to transform classroom instruction? Get in the game! give your video to a teacher down the hall, you are expanding the scope of your classroom, helping students learn that you may never see—especially when you consider the ripple effect of content that’s so helpful to one teacher that he or she then passes it on to another. What’s more, it’s an extraordinary way to create professional learning communities. Digital video-on-demand has the potential to become an incredibly powerful mentoring and sharing phenomenon. For example, Mary Catherine Petty, a fifth-grader teacher and colleague of Caldwell’s at Thomas School, has used video to instruct other teachers in programs and tools such as Publisher, Microsoft Word, Excel, the Internet and netTrekker. Asked if she plans to upload her own videos to TeacherTube, she replies gamely, “I haven’t yet, but give me time. I’m sure I will.” Given her skill and passion for teaching (talking with her and Caldwell, it’s clear that the two of them possess both), I have no doubts she will. Most of all, it works Nor is Caldwell surprised. “There are so many video choices, you can really pick out what really pertains to the lesson you’re teaching. For instance, with my high-level reading class, I can find something on a sixth-grade level. And, vice-versa, for my lower-level learners. Instead of turning to the textbook or the library where everything is on grade level, I can find something on a second-grade level.” And sometimes there’s video that resonates on every kind of level. In the past, teaching history to fifth-graders, Caldwell has used certain videos to introduce the students to the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Because they’re young, she doesn’t go in-depth into the Holocaust, for instance, nor does she want to show them anything too graphic or disturbing. The video she’s chosen features interviews with actual Holocaust survivors. “They talk about what happened to them. They have accents. They can pull up their shirt sleeves to show the tattoos they got in the concentration camps. My students cry. Before, they never really got it. But when they see the video, they see real people and it makes history come alive … It’s the same when they see video of signs that say ‘Blacks Only’ and ‘Whites Only’ above the water fountains in the Civil Rights videos.” “Anytime you can present history in this kind of way, that’s a lesson your students will never forget,” sums up Caldwell. Perry explains it very similarly: “Nothing helps students ‘see’ like video … [it’s] much better than reading the information from a book.” Good teaching + relevant videos=indelible impressions. It sure worked for me with filmstrips—imagine what videos can do! Not a bad formula for success, wouldn’t you agree? —Bob Collie At Discovery Education’s Web site (www2. discoveryeducation.com/products.cfm#), you can download and read two randomassignment, control-group studies on the performance of students exposed to the company’s video content. The first was conducted in rural Virginia in 2002 and showed a 12.6% average increase in third- and eighth-grade science and social studies achievement versus control-group students. The second, conducted in urban Los Angeles in 2004, examined mathematics performance among sixth- and eighth-grade students. Those who received instruction aided by unitedstreaming netted a three-to-five percent average increase over those who did not. Perry isn’t surprised. She has taught enrichment classes after school and summer school classes using digital video-on-demand and other technology. She says that “most of the students who have attended these classes excel in their regular classes after taking these classes. I have had their teachers ask me what I am doing and using to motivate these students.” She adds, “I get excited about this kind of learning, and any time a teacher is excited about something, the students follow.” I’d like to urge you not only to use digital video-on-demand, but to create your own digital video-on-demand! Now with new read/write web applications we’re all empowered to make and share content. When you post videos to TeacherTube or 15 http://www2.discoveryeducation.com/products.cfm# http://www2.discoveryeducation.com/products.cfm#

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Get Connected - Fall 2007

Get Connected - Fall 2007 NSBA Social Networking Study A Letter From the President Network Services for Libraries 25th Annual TETC Conference Partnership for 21st Century Skills E-mail Archiving Social Networking 101 Ramp Up for E-Rate Season News From HECC Notes From the CTO

Get Connected - Fall 2007

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