Tuesday Previews - Popcorn Provided
Videotaping in the ESL Classroom
8 Reasons to Use
Multimedia in the Classroom
Educational Media
This three-times a year newsletter is published by the Renton Technical
College Library. If you have any suggestions for topics, please call the
library at (425) 235-2331, or email Laura Staley at
lstaley@rtc.ctc.edu
The library has over 1300 videos and DVDs covering the RTC curriculum. Want to know if we have anything for your RTC program? Call us at (425) 235-2331.
The library is located at: 3000 NE Fourth St, Renton, WA 98056
John Mundy is building a DVD for his Ford ASSET Program students. It will include almost everything that he passes out to the students over the course of the program, in one handy, portable package: program syllabi, first-day letters, lessons created using PowerPoint and ScreenCorder, reference guides, and lists of web-based courses.
It will also contain such extras as Excel spreadsheets set up to run the math that technicians need; formulas for everything from converting miles-per-hour to kilometers-per-hour to figuring the number of times a particular tire will rotate over a mile.
When he finishes each module, he tests them on students. “Do they like the color, the sound? Do they like the text reading? Is it helpful? Annoying? Are the text boxes too long? Not long enough?”
This is a long-term project. He estimates that from beginning to end, it will take up to a year to create the final project. But he adds, “Within two weeks you can have a ton of stuff built.” The DVD will have a shelf-life of two years, one cycle of the Ford ASSET Program. Updating it will not be difficult; the material is stored on a hard-drive, and new DVDs can easily be burned.
Why chose DVDs? “They are more portable and less fragile than videos. And more students carry laptops with them.” And, Mundy points out, DVDs store much more information. “A 30 minute lesson might take 7.5 megs of storage.” A blank DVD is also inexpensive, making it a cost-effective choice for
True: DVDs were first marketed commercially in 1997. In 2003, more DVDs than videocassettes were sold.
“When you’re videotaping, use props. They make people relax and laugh.” Marcia Arthur
“If you’re using ScreenCorder, practice everything at least three times before you record it, so you won’t hesitate or make extra mouse moves.” John Mundy
“Keep your (electronic) lessons under 30 minutes. More than that and you lose people”. John Mundy
“When you videotape a class, promise the students you’ll tape over the tape. No other class will see it.” Marcia Arthur
Probably apocryphal:
A college instructor had a habit of audiotaping his lectures and, when he couldn’t make it to the classroom, sending a TA to play the lecture for his students. One day he decided to verify how well this was working. He arrived at the class and found it empty – of people. His tape was playing up at the front of the room, and several tape recorders in the class seats were recording it.
Tips for encouraging active viewing:
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Stay in the room.
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Leave the lights on so that students can take notes.
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Rewind and replay complicated parts to reinforce the information.
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Assign an exercise that requires active listening, such as asking them to describe what they would do differently.