Blog Entry #4: Video in the Classroom

Videos are a fantastic asset to the classroom and have been one of my favorite breaks from simple lectures as a student. They can turn math lessons into Saturday morning cartoons, instead of a boring history lecture you're wandering through ancient ruins, and science class can suddenly perform any experiment in a safe environment. While the teacher is the most critical component of the classroom, lectures can get stale week after week and can cause children to lose focus and drive. Videos as a regular part of class will help capture children's imaginations and get them more engaged. Apart from showing instructional videos, allowing the children to make their own video projects would undoubtedly get them excited. Joe Gaston's talk today opened up a few doors I hadn't really thought of such as live recording with other classrooms around the world, and I would definitely use the EDpuzzle application to incorporate quizes and class discussions while watching.