Video In the Classroom

Video is a powerful way to teach digital natives in the classroom.  

a. Based on Prensky’s descriptions, are you a digital native or a digital immigrant? Why do you think so?

"Digital Natives" by Juan Cristóbal Cobo CC-by

I think I am a digital native because we grew up together, computers and I.  I have been interested in computers ever since we got a TRS-80 while I was in Jr. High.  I learned a little programming in BASIC on that computer and the Commodore 16 that my brother gave me for Christmas.  Then in High School our math teacher somehow got the school to install a computer lab of Commodore 64s and let him teach a computer science class.  We programmed our own computer game, and I was hooked.  I've had a computer ever since.  The technology has shrunk, becoming cheaper and more ubiquitous, and I use it everyday.
  
b. How are you equipped to teach the “digital natives” in your classroom? 
Being a digital native since consumer computers began, I understand them inside and out.  I know how to use technology for productivity and creation in addition to using them for entertainment.  I use technology several times a day and have taught with technology since I began my career.  I use social media to stay current on the latest technologies and their uses in education.  I think I'm equipped.

c. What further steps could you take to learn the “language” of multimedia?
Creating is the highest level of learning.  I can use multimedia and reading to learn multimedia and then create my own using their techniques.  I learn something best by using it.  A 365 project would be be a great way to learn the language, by posting something every day, be it a photo, video, audio, or other media.

By Matti Popesku (http://orange.blender.org/background) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

d. What steps can you take to keep students safe from undesirable social video content?

By hengsheng120 Uploaded by Hengsheng120 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

First, always watch the video first to make sure it is appropriate.  Then, there are several options for using safe videos with students.   One is to embed specific videos in the class LMS or on the class web page.  Safeshare.tv is a way to watch Youtube videos without all the distracting ads and related videos.  YouTube for Schools is one alternative to regular Youtube.  Creative Commons-licensed videos can usually be downloaded from Youtube and used if it is blocked at school. Whereas SchoolTube is an another video hosting service just for schools, TeacherTube and WatchKnowLearn pull videos from all over the web categorized by subject and level. SnagLearning has hundreds of good educational documentaries.  Those are just the free alternatives to school-safe videos.  There are other paid services like Discovery's United Streaming and Brainpop.  So, there are several ways to keep videos safe for students.  

Helping My Colleagues Get Better

Helping my colleagues be more effective instructors will require me to have conversations with them about what effective instruction looks like.  Unless I am directly instructing them about or modeling for them effective instruction, most of the help I would give my colleagues would be more informal interactions.  These are often the hallway or doorway conversations I have with colleagues about what is working or not.  Often just talking through reflection with someone else helps sort through the good and bad of a lesson.

Helping my colleagues be more effective instructors will require me to focus on improving students during our team or faculty meetings.  Faculty meetings tend to be more about school business.  Team meetings seem to be the place to talk about effective instruction.  However, in team meetings we could set aside time to talk about what is working in our teaching, maybe sharing teaching materials, and what still needs work in our classes.  This reflection time is a productive way to learn from each other, seeing how effective instruction works.  Thinking together, would also generate lots of possible solutions to problems with which each teacher would like help.

License: CC0 Public Domain 

We are preparing students for tomorrow, not 1991.  We can't still teach like we did in 1991, and must change.  Change is hard, but is much easier when there are others around you going through the same change.  If I lead by example, then have conversations and share in groups, I can be there to support my colleagues through changing times, 

Instructional Design

"Education has missed the boat, with respect to instructional design. Teachers come up with lesson plans on the fly, with little thought to why they are presenting information or even who their audience is. Teacher training, at the university level and during Professional development, needs to focus on helping teachers become comfortable with instructional design principles."

This is a complex statement, of which I agree with some parts and disagree with others. Education is a big field made up of a lot of teachers.  To say that all teachers put little thought into their planning, presentation, or their audience is an overgeneralization.  Sure, there are some who just teach with lecture, textbook, test, but I disagree with putting all teachers into that pot. 

Even some professional development and preteacher training falls into this pitfall of a lecture with no goals for the learners or assessments to gauge success.  I would agree with part that says teachers need to be taught (and modeled) how to use instructional design principles. Instruction needs to carefully plan the message of why the objective is important and take into account in the needs of the audience.

Student ownership of the learning is key to success.  The teacher need to convince the students to make the end objective their own learning goal.  Then the teacher can guide each student along a path to get him or her to the goal.  Some paths will vary from others, because not all students learn the same way. Finally, the students need ways to check how they are doing along the way and know when they've reached the goal.  

Instructional Design, like good teaching, comes from careful planning for the message and the audience.  Once teachers are comfortable using Instructional Design principles, then public opinion will begin to turn from the belief that education has missed the boat of effective teaching.