Use of Videos in Teaching and Learning

http://cgi2.nhk.or.jp/bunken/english/reports/pdf/08_no6_05.pdf

REVIEW/SUMMARY

In this article entitled "Digital Technology in Classrooms:  Video in Teaching and Learning" written by Ronald Thorpe, we learn about the importance of video in relation to classroom instruction.  Thorpe provides his readers with a background of film and video.  He reminds readers of reel to reel 16mm projectors that were prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s.  In the 1960s this author recollects the instruction of "new math" through the medium of television.  However, he also notes that the majority of the time television was mostly used to show current events.  In the late 60s he mentioned the introduction of Sesame Street which aided the instruction of preschoolers.  Moving on to the 1980s he mentioned how teachers started to use VHS tapes to aid with instruction, but sometimes this type of technology became a replacement for the instructional process rather than something to enhance learning.  In 2005 (VITAL) or Video in Teaching and Learning was created by Thirteen/WNET to begin a study of how video could be included in instruction.  Thirteen has had a history of producing quality television since the 1960s.  This organization was also responsible for EdVideo Online created by United Learning which  was then bought by Discovery.  For achievement to take place in instruction through the use of video, VITAL took steps to provide an allignment of curriculum, instruction, and standards.  In conclusion Thorpe notes that the use of video in instruction does make a difference when it is used appropriately in comparison to printed material.  He backs up this finding with a report from the CPB (The Corporation for Public Broadcasting) entitled "Television Goes to School:  The Impact of Video on Student Learning in Formal Education" (2004) that television allowed for more effective teaching.

REFLECTION

Through the reading of this article, I definitely could relate to the various phases of film and video in my own education as well as that used during my instruction of middle school students.  I remember the use of the 16mm film projectors and how we all laughed when the teacher would rewind the reel and everything was moving backwards.  I could also tell that this type of visual instruction was rather cumbersome to the instructors who used it on occasion.  In the late 1960s and 1970s I do not remember the television being used for anything except current events.  I remember watching the landing on the moon when I was in kindergarten.  Other than that, I do not remember any teachers using the television for instructional purposes during that time period. 

After becoming a teacher in 1998, I incorporated the use of VHS tapes to aid with instruction especially in the subject of history.  As instructional videos became available through United Learning which later became Discovery, I remember having the technology person at our school help me provide a connection between my computer monitor and the television in the classroom with a connector box and an S-video cable to allow students a better viewing of the good quality instructional videos that were being provided through those venues.  As one of the few teachers in our school who was utilizing technology at that time, I was selected to have an interactive whiteboard mounted in my room which proved to be quite beneficial with instruction through interactive games and videos for my special needs students at that time.  I must concur with this author that instructional video used appropriately in relation to the curriculum can certainly benefit the educator and his/her students.