With the standardized assessments (CRCT, EOCT, and GHSGT in Georgia) mandated by NCLB, test preparation now occupies a significant portion of a classroom teacher's time. Students need to be coached on how to succeed on multiple-choice exams, and one of the bets ways to prepare the students is to give them many opportunities to practice with questions similar to those they will see on the exams. Test-prep books provide a valuable resource for the classroom teacher but are limited in the number of questions they can provide on a given topic.
Several Internet resources give teachers additional avenues to prepare their students for state exams. In Georgia, teachers can use the Georgia Online Assessment System (www.georgiaoas.org) to access questions that are directly aligned to the state standards and objectives. In addition, commercial websites such as USA Testprep, Inc. (www.usatestprep.com) and Study Island (www.studyisland.com) allow students to work online to answer questions similar to those they would see on the state exams. These websites also provide students with a multitude of interface options and allow them to compete against themselves and classmates. By using these online test prep resources, teachers can help their students prepare for these high-stakes exams that have become prevalent throughout education.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Using Online Videos to Illustrate Complex Topics
In many science courses, it is difficult for a student to actually see with his or her eyes the concept being described in class. This applies to diverse topics ranging from cell organelles in biology to electron clouds in chemistry to orbital mechanics in astronomy. Prior to television and VHS movies, teachers had to use static illustrations of a concept or perhaps a 3-D model that the teacher happened to have in the classroom. This limited the teacher to either flat, non-moving models of the topic or expensive physical models. As you can see below in the diagrams of DNA transcription, these illustrations could be limited in their usefulness to students.
With the advent of television, teachers could now purchase videos of whatever demonstration they needed. Again, however, the teacher needed to physically own the video or, more recently, DVD that they wanted to use to illustrate a given phenomenon to the class. While this was certainly an upgrade over the static illustration or model, it still required the teacher to have a specific piece of hardware for each demonstration.
Finally, as the Internet became more and more prevalent in classrooms, teachers had another tool to use in the classroom. Video sharing sites such as YouTube allowed teachers to access first-rate animations for free from anywhere in the world. Compare the animation of DNA transcription below to the static image above.
By making such animations accessible worldwide, the Internet has provided teachers everywhere with the resources they need to provide a first-class science education to their students and help those students who are visual learners master complicated science topics.
With the advent of television, teachers could now purchase videos of whatever demonstration they needed. Again, however, the teacher needed to physically own the video or, more recently, DVD that they wanted to use to illustrate a given phenomenon to the class. While this was certainly an upgrade over the static illustration or model, it still required the teacher to have a specific piece of hardware for each demonstration.
Finally, as the Internet became more and more prevalent in classrooms, teachers had another tool to use in the classroom. Video sharing sites such as YouTube allowed teachers to access first-rate animations for free from anywhere in the world. Compare the animation of DNA transcription below to the static image above.
By making such animations accessible worldwide, the Internet has provided teachers everywhere with the resources they need to provide a first-class science education to their students and help those students who are visual learners master complicated science topics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)