Videos in the classroom. As a student, I often feel like it's a bit of a teacher cop-out; as a teacher, I feel a little bit of the same. Videos are engaging, however. How can a teacher effectively utilize a video in the classroom so that students don't see it as a "babysitter" but are actively engaged and, in turn, excited about the lesson?
I think it depends on two things: content and context. The content of the video needs to be either extremely relevant to the lesson or completely irrelevant (shown in class merely as a bonding mechanism for the students and teacher). Teachers risk losing student interest or respect when the content of the video is in between the two extremes.
The context of the video also needs to be correct in order for the video to be effective. Videos should not replace teachers. Within the context of teacher instruction and commentary, the video can be an effective and engaging learning experience. If the teacher mentally "checks out" during the video, however, students will do the same.
Videos can capture students' attention in ways that traditional instruction cannot, but, like all technological tools, they must assist the teacher and not replace her.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with you. I remember watching videos in school and loving it. That's because I never watched TV at home:) I think that a teacher needs to show an extremely up-to-date movie for it to become effective. Remember those old videos in high school with people wearing glasses from the 70's???? Yeah those weren't effective, but rather funny and distracting. In technology in education, I really loved the 60 minutes we watched about the i-Pad. I thought it was relevant and effective.
Thanks for sharing:)
Erin
I am so glad that you posted about this. I, myself, had this struggle to avoid using videos for that very reason, but you bring up such a valid point about its effectiveness. As a teacher, I would question whether it was a method to teach less or a method to strengthen the content.
ReplyDeleteFor Erin's lesson on the bean plants in Instructional Design, she ingeniously used a video of herself in her garden. It not only solidified a reason for learning about plants, but it also gave us content that only aided her lesson. She could have taught the whole lesson on the video, thus avoiding having to teach on the spot, but she chose to use both video and activity to her best advantage.
Heather, I think you bring up an interesting point - the teacher cannot check out in the video. The moment a teacher is using the video as a way to distract the class while he or she goes about doing other things, they are no longer using the video as an effective tool, but a "cop-out," as you said. It is so true that whatever the teacher does during the video, the students will also do. I think it speaks to preparedness as a teacher -- showing a video isn't 5 minutes of extra prep time right in the middle of the lesson. I think that effective incorporating of videos requires a teacher to be prepared so that he or she can actually engage with it while the students are as well, both to make sure that he/she is refreshed on the content and modeling the response they want to see from students. Very interesting method to analyze!
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