With the Internet, teachers and students know have wide access to a large sum of information, but it is oftentimes more helpful to have this information broken down into content areas. Lots of sites on the web are geared toward teachers and students in exactly this fashion. By organizing information into sub-categories, students have a much easier time finding what they are looking for.
Video and Podcast sites enhance student learning as they reach a multitude of learners by playing to different learning styles. While many sites are made with academics in mind, there are certainly some sites which are better tools than others. SchoolTube, TeacherTube, Khan Academy, and PBS Learning Media are all sites with videos for different content area, though each is very different.
SchoolTube is very amateur in nature and has many student-made unprofessional videos. It is also difficult to navigate, as there are many ads that are easy to confuse with site features. Much like YouTube, virtually anyone can upload videos, which brings the overall quality of videos down. It may be more difficult to find good resources on this site since one has to sift through all of the videos that are teacher specific or of poorer quality.
|
TeacherTube, conversely, has a much more polished look. While there are still amateur videos on the site, they seem to be in smaller numbers with more of the videos being of a high quality. The site is also much more user-friendly. Users can through either videos or audio clips and can search individual and extensive categories within those criteria. However, there are still a large number of distracting ads. in addition, use should be monitored as many videos, like the one shown to the left, are more biased than educational. This site would be recommended for classroom use over SchoolTube, though, for its ease of use and general better presence.
|
Khan Academy is vastly different than the previous two sites. Khan Academy was developed by one man originally who made tutorial videos on math and science subjects for students on YouTube. This has become what is today a very specific style of tutorial videos that span across all subjects. These videos break down concepts into simple and easy to understand steps. Many students also like this tool because they can pause, rewind, and fast forward through different content, allowing them to tailor their learning. Khan Academy is great for review and remedial help or for a flipped classroom.
|
PBS Learning Media is one of the higher quality video and podcast services available for teachers and students. It also provides a number of other media including audio clips, documents, images, etc. It is a Public Broadcasting Station service and a .org site, which reduces its bias. It is also incredibly easy to navigate and only contains high quality, professional videos, as does not allow users to upload their own videos. Users can search using filters such as grade level, topic, and media type. The screenshot to the left shows some of the results when the criteria 5th grade U.S. History videos were searched. This site is by far a personal favorite.
|
YouTube should also be discussed. While this site certainly contains lots of great educational videos, teachers should be wary about encouraging its use. Many schools have it blocked; however, in the case that students do have access, teachers should know that YouTube is not an educational site and has a large array of distracting or flat out inappropriate content. Only in rare cases should students be using the site for school. In the same vein, though, teachers may find that the site is a good tool for them when searching for videos to show.
Some sites also provide lesson plans and activities on different content. One such site is Michigan Learns Online. This site breaks down different units, courses, and lesson plans by grade level. It also often shows different standards related to each lesson. For instance, in the 5th-8th grade section, there are resources for a unit on water complete with links to different infographics and videos to show. Or there is a section on bridge building that includes worksheets, readings, websites, games, and videos. While there are a limited number of topics, the ones listed are quite thorough and complete.