We used a lab from an Addison-Wesley Chemistry lab manual entitled “Factors Affecting Reaction Rates”. This lab was ideal, as the instructions are already neatly divided into 4 parts, whereby each part examines what can affect the rate of a chemical reaction (temperature, concentration, surface area and use of catalyst). Students were divided into 8 groups of 3 (2 groups for each concept).
These were the guidelines for the videos:
1-2 minutes in length
Describe setup & document experiment
Discuss results (with graph or data table)
Show balanced reaction
Discuss concept
This was a 5-day project (2 days in lab, 1 for taping, and 2 for editing in the computer lab). I gave the students just the basics in order to use Windows MovieMaker, and helped them on-the-fly with questions.
Besides the final project, perhaps the best part of the project was viewing them all in class. Not only were we able to discuss the concept in each video, but students also critiqued each video in content and in quality. This evolved into a really productive discussion on how important it is to be able to communicate science effectively.
This turned out to be a great project that the students really enjoyed. The only negative comment I heard was “the reactions were kinda boring” (all kids want fire and flames). Now that I know the students can handle this type of work, my mind is spinning on what movies they can make in the future using other science tools – graphical analysis, digital microscopy and RasMol (molecular visualization software) come to mind immediately.
My favorite part is the introduction (we’ve all been here/seen this):
Good morning. Just a second while I get this connection to work. Do I press this button here? Function-F7? No, that’s not right. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll have to reboot. Hold on a minute. Um, my name is Abe Lincoln and I’m your president. While we’re waiting, I want to thank Judge David Wills, chairman of the committee supervising the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery. It’s great to be here, Dave, and you and the committee are doing a great job. Gee, sometimes this new technology does have glitches, but we couldn’t live without it, could we? Oh – is it ready? OK, here we go.
To distill something as profound as the Gettysburg Address into a Powerpoint presentation is utterly ludicrous.Thus, Norvig makes a poignant example of how effective oral communication can get lost in the bells and whistles of technology.
Powerpoint (and other technologies) should be tools that support our teaching – not replace it.That’s something that we as educators need to teach to our kids, and to ourselves.I regularly make a point to preview my Powerpoint slides and remove as much of the text as I possibly can.I try to remember that I am the teacher – the presentation isn’t.
Jeffrey Branzburg recently wrote an article for Technology and Learning (techLEARNING.com) entitled “You Can Take it With You” (How to integrate video segments in curriculum – without worry).To summarize, Branzburg is teaching us how to download video clips from YouTube, Google Video, etc (as they might blocked through many school districts).
Here are his suggestions for showing ‘blocked’ videos in class:
Link to the video or embed the video code in a blog or website
But the question still remains – even if we can download these internet videos – should we?Some of the content on these sites is illegally posted, so by showing this content in class, you could be violating copyright laws.
Ok – so avoid downloading episodes or clips from major networks.What about content that’s NOT stolen from network and cable television?Here’s the legalese – the YouTube Terms of Use (section 6 part C) allows its users to “…use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Website and under these Terms of Service.”The catch here is “through the functionality of the Website”.So by downloading content outside of the website, you are technically violating the agreement.
Thus, legally – it is ok to link to and embed code from YouTube and Google Video.But be careful when you bypass their user agreements to download their content.
Through January 2008, you can access the NBC news archive FREE through HotChalk.
HotChalk is a learning management system that provides a community for teachers, students and parents that “…includes curriculum management, lesson plan development, automated assignment distribution, collection, and grading in a web-based environment.” [See About HotChalk]. This is a free system that relies on advertising that can be controlled by the school, but is not shown not during the school day (and never to students under the age of 13).
Beyond the regular features in HotChalk, you can sign up now and get access to over 70 years of NBC news (through January 2008). NBC News Archives on Demand provides video clips, text resources, primary documents, photographs, drawings, charts and graphs.
After signing up (for free), I went directly to the archives. I found that the search engine was a little limited (i.e. I found no coverage for the completion of the “human genome project” – a major scientific accomplishment, which was completed in 2004). I think this is in part due to the search engine using a limited set of keywords, and the fact that the archives seem mostly geared towards history, communication arts (English), and government/politics.
Still, I was able to find original news footage of the moon landing, Sputnik, and the Manhattan Project, making it well worth the hassle of signing-up.
Last month, I was out with a good friend planning some upcoming podcasts. But we were hungry and wanted to know if the local bowling alley (we had a coupon) was still serving food. My buddy rang up the location with GOOG-411 (800-466-4411), got our answer (yes), and we were on our way. GOOG-411 is a great product that has made my life easier. And you can’t beat the price.
But Microsoft (not feeling quite so whipped by other Google products) recently announced that it was launching Live Search 411 (800-225-5411). Microsoft claims that customers can access (800) CALL-411 “from any phone to find and connect to local businesses and other local information, such as weather updates, movie show times and airline information. People using a cell phone with Internet access can also receive links to traffic maps from Live Search 411.”
Another 411 service? How do I choose which is best for me? Fortunately, PC World compared the two products in a recent article. As advertised, Live Search offers more extras – weather, movies, airline info, etc. But if you want to stick with business listings, the author suggests sticking with GOOG-411.
Last month, I was out with a good friend planning some 
But Microsoft (not feeling quite so whipped by other Google products) recently announced that it was launching 
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