No Cost Educational Videos
From IAE-Pedia
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[edit] Introduction
Teachers, and their students, are used to the 45-minute or 50-minute class period. The teachers know that such a long period of instruction needs to be broken down into a number of much shorter "pieces" of instruction, large group and small group interaction and activities, seat work, and so on.
Teachers and their students are well aware of videos and their use in instruction and learning. Today's students (and indeed, their parents) have grown up with television and a steady diet of the fast action of the wide range of programming that is available. They have also grown up with electronic games that are interactive and engaging. Many of these games are video-like, with the computer system generating relatively high quality video in real time.
The use of films, film strips, slides, and video in teaching has been common for many decades. Often they have been over hyped. Indeed, educators like to laugh at the following two forecasts by Thomas Edison:
- Books will soon be obsolete in the schools. ... Scholars will soon be able to instruct through the eye. It is possible to touch every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. (Thomas A. Edison, 1913.)
- I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks. (Thomas A. Edison, 1922.)
There are a huge number of excellent educational videos. From a teacher point of view, it is desirable that the equipment to show videos be a standard part of their classroom setup, that videos need not be ordered well in advance, and that whatever video they want to show is immediately available. None of these conditions existed in "the good old days" when a school had a couple of film projectors, a school district had a central repository of films, and individual teachers were unlikely to own films that they used in their teaching.
The VCR helped change this situation. Many classrooms were equipped with a large TV display and a VCR. The school district's film library was gradually changed into a video library. Individual teachers collected videos and segments of videos. With diligence, it became possible for a teacher to accumulate a large collection of videos, including a large collection of short segments designed to fit into various instructional units, and to routinely use video as an aid to instruction.
Computers and the Web brings us a new way of storing and accessing videos. The teacher who collected short video segments—perhaps maintaining a personal library of many hundreds of short videos—can now store these materials on a computer. This computer may be a server available to teachers, a classroom computer, or a teacher's laptop computer. Assuming that there is a computer projector or large computer display screen available in a teacher's classroom, the teacher can quickly access video and display it to the class.
A very large number of people and organizations make available free videos on the Web. The makes it possible for people to access video materials from their computers, and at a time they find convenient. This also opens up a new way of teaching and of providing staff development.
[edit] A Teacher's Digital Filing Cabinet
Many teachers are finding it desirable to keep some of the contents of their "traditional, hard copy" filing cabinets in an electronic digital filing cabinet. Vidos can be a quite useful component of such a filing cabinet.
Here are two examples of Digital Filing Cabinets designed for use by teachers and by teachers of teachers.
[edit] Creating Short Video Segments
We are all used to the TV format of half hour (perhaps 24 minutes without the ads) and hour length programs, 90-minute or longer feature "films" and so on. While these can be useful in a classroom teaching or teacher workshop setting, much shorter is often much better.
The Web and powerful, inexpensive hardware and software for creating and editing videos, has brought us a huge number of short, educational and entertainment videos. For example, we now have the idea of a "five minute workshop." A short video can be used to help teach a specific topic. Indeed, the idea of five-minute workshops has recently received a lot of attention. Here are some examples:
One relatively standard format is to put together a small collection of slides and then do a voice over for the short set of slides. The slides might be text, pictures, graphics, or some combination. A brief discussion of this technique and some examples are available at:
Another approach is to video "something," recording it with sound and then adding text and/or voice overs to enhance the overall production. Here are a few examples that you might enjoy viewing.
[edit] Some Major Free Video Resources
There is a large and steadily growing collection of suitable video materials that are available free on the Web. Here are a view examples.
[edit] General Video Sharing Sites
YouTube. Access at http://www.google.com/support/youtube/. YouTube is a good example of a video sharing site. Quoting from a Wikipedia entry on YouTube:
- Few statistics are publicly available regarding the number of videos on YouTube. However, in July 2006, the company revealed that more than 100 million videos were being watched every day, and 2.5 billion videos were watched in June 2006. 50,000 videos were being added per day in May 2006, and this increased to 65,000 by July.[3] In January 2008 alone, nearly 79 million users had made over 3 billion video views.[4]
- In August 2006, The Wall Street Journal published an article revealing that YouTube was hosting about 6.1 million videos (requiring about 45 terabytes of storage space), and had about 500,000 user accounts.[5] As of April 9, 2008, a YouTube search returns about 83.4 million videos and 3.75 million user channels.
TeacherTube. Access at http://teachertube.com/ . Identical in design and function to YouTube, TeacherTube focuses specifically on sharing videos of interest to teachers. To quote the site, "It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill."
More Video Sharing Sites. A list of about 50 sites is available in the Wikipedia.
There is a lot of literature on video sharing sites. For example, a 8/11/08 Google search of the expression video sharing site produced more than 41 million hits. Some people will be interested in MetaTube: Search 100 video sharing sites at once.
[edit] Renewable Energy
Wikipedia article on solar energy..
Solar energy technology breakthrough
American Solar Energy Society.
[edit] Environment
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3482299/The-Dangers-of-Plastic-Bags
[edit] History
Archives.gov (n.d.). The National Archives. Retrieved 4/12/08: http://video.google.com/nara.html.
Ease History (n.d.). An Experience Acceleration Support Environment. Retrieved4/12/08: http://www.easehistory.org/index2.html.
History.com (n.d.). Video Gallery. Retrieved 4/12/08: http://www.history.com/media.do.
HNC (n.d.). History News Network. Retrieved 4/12/08: http://hnn.us/roundup/42.html.
iCue (n.d.). Site sponsored by NBC News. Provides no cost access to a large number of film clip. Both student-oriented and teacher-oriented. http://www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/welcomepage.
Knowledge Navigator. Apple's 1987 view into the future.
NASA (n.d.). Video Tour of Spaceflight History. Retrieved 4/12/08: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/history/h-t-video-main.htm.
Seattle Cable Channel 21 (2006). Black History Month. Retrieved 4/12/08: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/watchVideos.asp?program=blackHistory.
[edit] Juggling
- Juggling is a physical human skill involving the movement of objects, usually through the air, for entertainment (see object manipulation). The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, where the juggler throws objects through the air. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, beanbags, rings, clubs, and bouncing balls. Some performers use dramatic objects such as chainsaws, knives and fire torches. The term juggling can also refer to other prop-based circus skills such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar box manipulation, fire-dancing, contact juggling, hooping and hat manipulation.
Spend a minute thinking about whether it is appropriate to teach juggling in school. What might students learn about? Some possible answers include physics, math reaction time, hand-eye coordination, concentration, an island of expertise, self esteem, how one gains in expertise over time through study and practice, and so on. See the article at http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr393.shtml.
There are lots of free materials on juggling available on the Web. Quoting from http://www.juggling.org/:
- Welcome to the World Wide Web's Juggling Information Service, serving the Internet juggling community by connecting all of the juggling related resources that we can find. If you're a juggler, or want to learn to juggle, or just want some information on juggling, this is the place to be.
Free Juggling Instructions provides instruction for beginners. Video of three ball juggling.
Here are some short videos showing world class jugglers in action.
[edit] Math
See Math Education Free Videos. Quoting from this Web Page:
- There is a steadily increasing amount of video materials available free or at low cost on the Web. This page explores some of these sites and what they have available.
- Math education is traditionally taught in a stand and deliver manner. In higher education, the stand and deliver usually provides a reasonable amount of interaction in the form of students asking question, but the "deliver" part dominates the class period.
- At the precollege level, much less time is spent in the stand and deliver mode, because quite a bit of class time is devoted to students doing seat work.
- In both settings group work can be a useful aid to teaching and learning. However, for many teachers, this represents a considerable change in how a class is structures and the values places on non-traditional activities.
- In group work, for example, students might work on an activity together, or them might explain to each other the process they used to solve a problem. A short video may be quite helpful in stimulating small group or whole class discussion.
[edit] Miscellaneous, Noteworthy Videos
Steve Spangler Science. See http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/who-is-steve-spangler.html for information about Steve Spangler. On the right side of the page is a list, "Top 10 Experiments." Each is accompanied by one or more short videos. Here are a few examples:
Dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) experiments. See:
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1098140376903-10-18-04-spangler4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1129590272310-10-17-05-spangler-dryice-4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1162253013446-10-30-06-spangler-4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1130195012346-10-24-05-spangler-icebubble.wmv
Corn starch and water. See http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000088.
Bill Nye the Science Guy. I spent some time searching, but did not find much of his work available free on the Web. See:
- The Eyes of NYE, work supported by the National Science Foundation.
[edit] Science and Technology
Mirror Neurons (2005). 14 minute PBS video. Retrieved 12/2/08: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html.
Powers of 10. Retrieved 10/14/08: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22Powers+of+Ten%22+film+OR+video&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#.
This site provides access to several slightly different versions of a nine minute video illustrating powers of 10. The video was "Made by the Office of Charles and Ray Eames" for IBM." Many viewers describe the video as "awesome."
The Futures Channel (2008). Connecting learning to the real world. Science and technology. Retrieved 10/7/08: http://www.thefutureschannel.com/movies/science_tech_movies.php. Fifteen videos in the range of 3 to 6 minutes each. Example:
- Reliable robots. 5:35 minutes. When it comes to designing robots for space, making sure that they can complete their missions is the name of the game for NASA’s robotics engineers. That requires math, especially probability.
The National Science foundation has a Multimedia Gallery that currently (as of 9/10/08) contains 92 free videos. These are adult or high school oriented.
Just for the fun of it, take a look at: Babbage's Mechanical Calculator Comes to Life. This video is approximately 4 minutes in length. (You also are forced to view a 31 second ad at the beginning.) Quoting from the Website:
- Charles Babbage completed plans for an elaborate, all-mechanical calculator in 1849. His Difference Engine #2 was so complicated, with more than 8,000 separate parts, that it was never built during his lifetime. But now, thanks to the efforts of dedicated, historically-minded engineers at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, plus a generous donation of cash from Microsoft gazillionaire genius Nathan Myhrvold, Babbage's Difference Engine is on display in Silicon Valley.
Most students find that there is a large difference between hearing a teacher or a textbook talk about Charles Babbage's work and actually a video such as this.
A search of the meta site http://www.metatube.net/ using the search expression science OR technology video produced more than 550,000 hits on 8/16/08. Some specific videos and video sites of potential interest to educators:
- PBS has a number of Sid the Science Kid videos available on the Web. A 8/17/08 Google search using the expression "Sid the Science Kid" PBS return over 300,000 hits. Some examples:
- The first Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conference was in 1994. Since then, its scope has broadened. TED is now an annual conference that brings together a fascinating collection of some of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. They give short talks—typically, about 20 minutes in length. Many of these talks are then made available on the Web.These videos allow one to see and hear "world class" people in many different disciplines.
- Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds. 18 minute video, filmed February 2008, discussing underwater exploration. Quoting from the Website:
- Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. Google Ocean, anyone?
- David Bolinsky: Fantastic voyage inside a cell. Quoting from the website:
- Medical animator David Bolinsky presents 9 minutes of stunning animation that show the bustling life inside a cell. Built by his company, XVIVO, to teach Harvard medical students, the clip features sweeping cinematic values and even a little drama. It communicates not only the facts of life, but life's truth and beauty.
- Larry Brilliant: TED Prize wish: Help stop the next pandemic. A 26 minute video illustrating the science behind attempting to have early detection and early intervention to prevent worldwide pandemics.
- Jeff Hawkins: Brain science is about to fundamentally change computing. A 20 minute 2003 video of a talk by Jeff Hawkins. Quoting from the Website:
- To date, there hasn't been an overarching theory of how the human brain really works, Jeff Hawkins argues in this compelling talk. That's because we still haven't defined intelligence accurately. But one thing's for sure, he says: The brain isn't like a powerful computer processor. It's more like a memory system that records everything we experience and helps us predict, intelligently, what will happen next. Bringing this new brain science to computer devices will enable powerful new applications—and it will happen sooner than you think.
- Amory Lovins: We must win the oil endgame. Quoting from the Website:
- Energy guru Amory Lovins lays out his plan for weaning the US off oil and revitalizing the economy in the process. It's the subject of his book Winning the Oil Endgame, and he makes it sound fairly simple: On one hand, the deadly risks of continued dependency, and on the other, some win-win solutions.
- TestToob. Quoting from the Website::
- You’ve entered a world of video sharing, community networking and scientific fun for middle school and high school students. Here in a sophisticated Web 2.0 setting, young people from around the world showcase their experiments, get feedback on their scientific trials, and learn from each other.
- TestToob is a place exclusively developed to showcase experiments done by school-age scientists. It offers the most up-to-date tools, fosters wonder, and gives youth an opportunity for creative self-expression. Simply, it’s a place to learn, to grow and to have safe fun.
- While TestToob is a geared to youth, parents and teachers are also essential parts of each student’s team. Every budding scientist needs a cheering section, competent mentors and safety suggestions. We want this site to enhance formal science education and to encourage students to consider science as an exciting and possible career destination.
- Regardless of age, grade, or experience level, we believe all students are inherently creative and natural scientists. Here on TestToob they can learn to film and share their experiments with a broader community in ways that will increase curiosity about the world around them in both the inventor and the viewer.
- The Khan Academy offers more than 650 free videos covering a wide range of topics, including physics and math.
- The videos I examined were about 10–15 minutes in length. They are informal (not carefully scripted in advance) "chalk and talk" presentations of moderate quality. A computer screen, with multiple colors of "chalk," is used with voice over to do the presentations.
- Many of the videos begin with a black screen showing only a white cursor. Others begin with a screen full of writing—perhaps left over from the previous video in a series. The "drawing" on the screen is mostly like modest quality on a chalkboard, although the computer system the teacher is using provides facilities for more precise (computer-like) drawing.
[edit] Soap and Other Bubbles
- A soap bubble is a very thin film of soap water that forms a sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few moments and then burst either on their own or on contact with another object. They are often used as a children's plaything, but their usage in artistic performances shows that they can be fascinating for adults too. Soap bubbles can help to solve complex mathematical problems of space, as they will always find the smallest surface area between points or edges.
Dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) experiments. See:
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1098140376903-10-18-04-spangler4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1129590272310-10-17-05-spangler-dryice-4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1162253013446-10-30-06-spangler-4p.wmv
- http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/1130195012346-10-24-05-spangler-icebubble.wmv
This section remains to be written.
[edit] Yo-yo
[edit] Robots
- US army military robot. PackBot See video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaP0waiz43w.
Video of an imitation of PackBot built of Legos.
Quoting from http://science.howstuffworks.com/military-robot3.htm:
- Controlled by a Pentium processor that has been designed specially to withstand rough treatment, Packbot's chassis has a GPS system, an electronic compass and temperature sensors built in. Packbot manufacturer iRobot says Packbot can move more than 8 mph (13 kph), can be deployed in minutes and can withstand a 6-foot (1.8-meter) drop onto concrete -- the equivalent of 400 g's of force.
- U.S. soldiers regularly take advantage of this ruggedness, tossing Packbot through windows of hostile buildings and then using it to search and find out where enemy combatants are hiding. Even if Packbot lands upside down, it can right itself using powerful treaded flippers, which also help it climb obstacles.
This section is a work in progress.
[edit] References
[edit] Author or Authors
The first version of this Page was created by David Moursund.
Categories: Video | History | Math | Science | Teacher Education | Work in Progress
