In week 6, we talked about creating and editing videos. This topic was somewhat familiar to me. I can look back on my childhood and remember the many times that my friends and I made movies or movie trailers on iMovie. As we got older, this transitioned into making Musically’s, and now TikTok’s. I think that video creation is quite a common activity that kids and teens turn to when they are bored. However, despite being familiar with video creation, I am not too familiar with video editing. I have some experience with editing music when choreographing dance, but have only done this a handful of times. I have also attempted to edit a video once or twice. One example of this is in my free inquiry post about Irish Dance. I interviewed a classmate and then edited the video on iMovie. I would not by any means say that I am good at editing videos, but it is fun to try sometimes.
Using Videos in the Classroom:
When thinking about incorporating videos into the classroom, teachers should think about a few things. –
- Is the video informative? Is it engaging?
- Does it add on to what students are already learning?
- What is the purpose of showing this video?
If you cannot answer any of these questions, you might want to reconsider showing the video. Not all videos shown in the classroom have to connect to what your students are learning, but they should still have an intended purpose. Videos should also be age appropriate and the content should be suitable for the students in your class. There are many examples of the types of videos you could play in class, but I am only going to talk about a couple.
Ted Talks: These are videos that get uploaded on YouTube. Speakers present on specific topics, and there are a wide variety of topics that have been covered. The language in these is more suitable for older students, as the speeches can use big words that young students may not understand. Ted Talks are also not likely to be very engaging for younger students, as it is just a speaker making a presentation. But nevertheless, Ted Talks can be a great resource for older students to learn from.
Brain Breaks / Active Breaks: There are tons of channels on YouTube that create content that is designed to be used for active breaks in the classroom. Channels like DannyGo are a good place to find short videos designed to get kids moving in smaller spaces. Videos like these are more beneficial for younger students, because the language and visuals are catered to small children.
https://www.youtube.com/@DannyGo
Summary:
I think that using videos in the classroom can be beneficial to student’s engagement and learning. I think that if the proper videos are chosen, they can be relatable or entertaining for students. However, if the wrong videos are chosen, the classroom may become chaotic or disorganized. I would say that using videos in the classroom is worth it, but caution should be used to ensure that the videos are age appropriate and benefit your students.