#11 Integrating Video in the Classroom by Laurie Williams

Background:

Television has the undeniable power to inform and inspire. Media and education professionals are working together to put the power and potential of video into the hands of creative and well-prepared teachers. By training teachers to comfortably and effectively integrate technology into classroom instruction, both teachers and students benefit:

• Teachers are better able to convey information
• Students are better able to comprehend and retain information
• Students and teacher can access new and immediate information about the world and engage in dynamic discussions, problem-solving and research activities.

Objectives:

1. Students will identify differences between traditional use of video and NTTI's suggested method.
2. After having attended the seminar on NTTI strategies, the learner will apply the strategies in their classroom teaching method.

Materials:

1. A summary of strategies from PBS's National Teacher Training Institute.
2. Video clips from The New 3 R's: Reading, Writing, Rewind (available from KLRU).
3. TV and VCR
4. An instructional video to demonstrate the methods

Activity:

1. Prior to video, ask students to compare the typical class with an NTTI-type of class. What are the differences?
2. View the first segment and discuss.
3. Discuss topics addressed in packet.
4. Demonstrate NTTI's method using any instructional video.
5. Discuss the strengths of the NTTI method over traditional viewing methods.

Follow-Up Activity and Assessment:

1. Follow-up discussions will be held during observation conferences.
2. Assessment of technique skills will be made during observation sessions.

Bringing Education into the 21st Century
Part I: Partnering Teachers, Television, and Technology

If you could somehow transport a turn of the century doctor into a modern hospital, the bewildered time-traveler would be unable to function amongst the dizzying array of new technologies. Transplant a turn of the of the century teacher, however, and they would probably feel right at home in most contemporary American classrooms. As we approach the Twenty-First Century, most schools are sadly still reminiscent of the little red school house of old. While video and other technologies have pervaded nearly every sphere of human activity, our schools still rely on faded filmstrips, antiquated texts, and the proverbial "chalk and talk."

Television has the undeniable power to inform and inspire. Media and education professionals are working together to put the power and potential of video into the hands of creative and well-prepared teachers. By training teachers to comfortably and effectively integrate technology into classroom instruction, both teachers and students benefit in two important ways:

• Teachers are better able to convey--and students are better able to comprehend and retain--ideas and information.
• With the aid of television, students and teachers can access new and immediate information about the world and engage in dynamic discussions, problem-solving and research activities.

Rather than a replacement for classroom literature, video technology serves as an additional text, taking students places no field trip or textbook could take them. It also supports reading by piquing children's interest in a wide variety of topics.

Studies in the past have shown that teachers are hungry to use instructional technologies but lacked the training to use it effectively with their students. Students in turn report that subjects are more interesting and understandable when video is part of the curriculum.

Teachers College at Columbia University has been evaluating the success of the National Teacher Training Institute (NTTI), a project aimed at providing educators with the training and resources needed to use video and other technologies strategically in the classroom. Developed in 1990 by PBS' Thirteen/WNET, the project has already impacted more than ninety-five thousand teachers and nearly thirteen million students nationwide. Sponsored by Texaco and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NTTI partners two of education's most valuable yet seldom-paired resources: teachers and technology. More than thirty public television stations across the country conduct local Institutes where regional teachers can attend workshops and receive training and materials that enable them to begin implementing television and other technologies into their daily classroom instruction. Each NTTI site recruits and trains a corps of local master teachers to develop innovative hands-on, video-based lessons and conduct Institute training sessions.

• Instigate problem-solving and investigation activities
• Dismantle social stereotypes

By broadening children's horizons, video allows teachers to expand students' experiential as well as their emotional palettes. It enables teachers and students to make connections between curriculum topics and between previously thought discrete subject areas. Perhaps most important, video is a window on the world, and asks students to discover links between what's learned in the classroom with its context and applications in the "real world" outside the classroom. With live-action footage, engaging animation, and compelling dramatic re-creations, television makes Science, English, Math and History and a host of other subjects "come to life."

How to Use Video Effectively in the Classroom

Television can be a powerful educational and motivational tool. However, a great deal of the medium's power lies not in itself but in how it is used. Video is not an end in itself but a means toward achieving thoughtfully selected learning goals and objectives. Effective in instructional video is not television-to-student instruction but rather teacher-to-student instruction, with video a vehicle for discovery. Using specific techniques, teachers can strategically use video to promote student interest and understanding by targeting video content and use to promote teachers' own unique instructional agenda.

Before Viewing

Preparation is the key to the successful use of video in the classroom. Teachers should:

Pre-view the program(s) prior to classroom viewing. By pre-screening a videotape and/or acquainting themselves with a program's support materials (Teacher's Guides, etc.), teachers can assess whether a given program will be both appropriate and useful to a lesson.

Select segments from the video that are most relevant to the lesson's topic and specifically target lesson objectives. To conserve valuable classroom time and focus the lesson for the students, teachers can choose to use only those parts of a program pertinent to that day's curricular focus. Even the briefest video clip can spark student interest or demonstrate a concept.

Prepare classroom for viewing. Teachers should check equipment (monitor, VCR, remote control), arrange seating and lighting, and cue videotape(s). Lights should be left on as often as possible to reinforce the fact that the video is not a passive, entertaining feature.

Provide a focus for viewing. By charging students with a specific responsibility while viewing, teachers can keep students "on task" and direct the learning experience to the lesson's objectives.

After Viewing

Teachers can plan post-viewing activities that will reinforce and extend the topic(s) covered in viewing. These can include:

• Hands-on exploration of concepts examined in the video
• Student-centered projects
• Field trips
• Student- or teacher-designed investigations
• Guest speakers in the classroom
• Letter-writing projects
• Journals to record thoughts, information, and emotions

Teachers and students alike will find that video is an effective catalyst and facilitator for classroom discourse and analysis. Coupled with hands-on learning, a video-enhanced curriculum is invaluable for expanding the classroom's four walls so that they encompass no less than the universe. By reaching out to students with a medium that is as forceful as it is familiar, teachers can do better what they do best: teach. As Arthur C. Clarke reminds us in his book, Hammer of the Gods, "any teacher that can be replaced by technology--should be." Educational television is not intended to supplant educators but to supplement them, and once teachers discover the power of video they are likely to adopt it as an essential part of their instructional arsenal.

Bringing Education into the 21st Century
Part II: Using Video and Other Media to Enhance Equity in Science and Math

While there are many resources teachers can use to promote girls' - and other students' - interest in math and science, video can be particularly useful in:

1. Providing students with a range of role models. It is vitally important that students see people like themselves engaged, and succeeding in, science, math and technology careers. Instructional video allows students to witness a diverse array of professionals involved in a wide range of jobs and activities. Some instructional videotape series, including Futures and Women in Science, specifically focus on women and minority achievers in math and science occupations.
2. Highlighting science and math's relevance to real word concerns and careers. In addition to linking curriculum topics to their role in a variety of occupations, video demonstrates science and mathematics' real world applications impacting social and individual interests. Anchoring topics in girls' and minority students' experience helps make science and math more relevant and usable.
3. Contextualizing science and math topics within engaging narratives. Many girls - and boys - relate better to subject matter when it is presented dramatically within the context of a story or real life incident.
4. Addressing the spectrum of learning styles or modalities. Many students learn best when information is presented visually as well as orally. Instructional media and technology, such as CD-ROM discs and on-line telecommunications, allow students to kinesthetically, visually and orally experience a topic.
5. Taking advantage of girls' need to communicate. Video provides a common experience that can act as a catalyst for class discussion and writing. Telecommunications is also an excellent vehicle for allowing students to communicate with science and math professionals - and their own peers - worldwide.
6. Incorporating "girls' interests" into math and science curricula. Since males have long been considered the primary "consumers" of science and math education, much of the curriculum material in math, science and technology centers around traditional "boys' interests." Many instructional television series and other media highlight the role science and math play in topics related to girls' experience.
7. Instigating mentoring relationships. Videos can inspire students to pursue learning more about a given person, field, or occupation. With access to a modem, students can forge ongoing dialogues with a variety of diverse math, science and technology professionals.

In Jo Sanders' book, Lifting the Barriers, she recommends several ideas for involving girls (and other students) in math, science, and computers. These include:

• Invite female and minority scientists, mathematicians and computer professionals to visit your classroom. Conduct field trips to facilities where they work.
• Have students read novels dealing with science to appeal to girls (and boys) who relate primarily to literature.
• Present information on science occupations and earning annually to students.
• Change the course description of a multimedia course from one that emphasizes the equipment to one that emphasizes the final products.
• Invite girls to be your computer aides. Ask them to be responsible for the technical clean-up (dumping files, etc.) at the end of the day.
• Have students construct various types of graphs, manually or with a computer illustrating labor market and earnings statistics.
• Use lots of manipulatives in the lower grades to boost students' spatial skills.
• Have students make holiday and get well cards on the computer.
• Teach students to use a desktop publishing program so they can publish their own newspapers, newsletters and creative work.
• Display students' computer graphics work in the hallways.
• Have students create a multimedia video scrapbook as an alternative or addition to the school yearbook. This can involve writing and filming skits, interviewing people on tape, editing, transferring to VHS, and recording music and transferring it to tape too.
• Have students create a visual presentation on girls and boys in non-traditional roles. Also, have students create multi-media presentations on non-traditional careers.
• Have students "own their own businesses" via computers: use spreadsheets to process the income and expenses and project cash flow; use graphics programs to prepare advertising flyers and letterhead.
• Consistently make your students your students aware of the equity issue; show them examples of sexism and sexist assumptions from media past and present. Invite students to write a skit about gender equity in science, math or computers.

Building a Library of Instructional Videotapes

KLRU purchases off-air taping rights for all participating schools to legally tape and use ITV programs at any time during the entire school year, unless specifically noted otherwise. If a school district is not participating in KLRU's ITV Services for the school year, an educational institution within that district may record a program for unlimited use during the 7-day period following its broadcast, unless rights are otherwise purchased from the distributor or granted by the producer.

The ability to integrate instructional videotapes into the classroom is directly related to the teachers' access to a video library. Therefore, many schools and libraries are developing collections of instructional programs for use in the classroom. The following suggestions have been gathered from teachers and librarians who have created successful instructional videotape libraries.

1. Establish a central site, (i.e. library, department office) to house videotapes. The location should be in easy access for teachers who are using videotapes.
2. Identify an individual (i.e. librarian, media specialist, teacher) to oversee the collection. A successful videotape library is usually the result of an individual's efforts.
3. Identify the series which best meet curriculum needs and the school's goals. Once the series have been selected by teachers, highlight the air date and time for each series.
4. For ease in cataloging and use, tape only one series per tape. For example, a literature, history, and science series taped on one tape will be difficult for more than one teacher to use.
5. Leave approximately 30 seconds of blank tape between programs (video black) for ease in locating separate programs.
6. Tape no more than four programs on a single tape. When using videotapes in the classroom, the fewer programs per tape will make locating the programs much easier.
7. For best quality, record programs at standard speed.
8. Students and parents can be valuable resources when it comes to taping programs.
9. If indexing tapes with counter numbers, remember that different VCR models display different counter numbers.
10. Arrange for a checkout system which allows both faculty and students access.
11. Store teacher guide materials with the tapes where they are readily accessible.
12. Keep up-to-date information on rights to ITV programs from year to year. To determine whether rights still exist for a program, call KLRU's Educational Services or refer to KLRU's Calendar/Index.