Now that we have heard about how Roseville and LA Unified use technology to increase student engagement and improve efficiencies throughout the district, we wanted to spend a little time gathering your thoughts on digital content. (Many of you mentioned that one of your challenges is finding quality content for your teachers to use within their online learning environment).
10 MINUTESWe’d like to know how you’re thinking about digital….What types of digital content/media are you interested in integrating into your online programs? What are your sources for digital content? What challenges do you face with providing access to digital content?Possible challenges:Districts expanding physically and geographicallyIncreased demand in distance learningDemand for access to resources electronicallyTeachers expected to be experts in their discipline and extend the boundaries of the classroom simultaneouslyLimited resources to train on new toolsFiltering chaos…from information to knowledgeEngaging student interest and appealing to different learning styles
One type of digital content that we have seen take off in the last few years is video. In fact, the percentage of teachers reporting that they stream or download video content increased from 55 percent in 2007 to 76 percent in 2010.
Some of the benefits that teachers have expressed are that video stimulates discussion, increases student motivation, helps teachers be more effective, is preferred by students and helps teachers be more creative.
10 MINUTES FOR NBCI’d like to show you a video resource that teachers have found really valuable for instruction. We have partnered with NBC Learn because we identified them as a strong provider of top-quality video content that could enhance many of the lessons that teachers are already teaching. We wanted to make it easy for teachers to use this resource so we built an integration that allows teachers to pull videos directly into their lessons. NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News dedicated to providing instructional resources for students, teachers, and lifelong learnersNBC Learn is uniquely positioned to offer both primary source resources from the richest news video archive in the U.S., and to leverage NBC News global newsgathering output to update these resources daily.NBC Learn content is fully integrated with Blackboard Learn.10,000 + broadcast-quality resources aligned to 28 subjects, State Standards, and the Common Core including:Subjects:U.S. HistoryU.S. Government & PoliticsPhysicsChemistryBiologyForensic SciencesAgriscienceEconomic and Personal FinanceLanguage ArtsHealth & WellnessSpecial Collections, “Science of NFL Football”, “Finishing the Dream: Learning from the Civil Rights Era”
So now that we’ve talked about the types of digital content that you are interested in or are using currently, we want to know how you’re putting this content into action. 10 MINUTES FOR DISCUSSIONWork into last question as a follow-up: A challenge that we hear from schools and districts is how to manage all of the different pieces of digital content they own or use. Kaltura, another partner that we work with, is a great resource for solving this challenge. (brief description without demoing)
As a partner, we value your input and continue to look for ways to help you address your challenges around digital content, whether helping you pull in content you’re already using or providing new content resources to enhance instruction. Let’s keep the conversation going, whether it be throughout our time here or after the symposium ends.
Bringing Learning to Life with Digital Content Mike Petersen Manager, K-12 Solutions Engineering
Teachers’ use of short video segments (from 3 minutes to less than 5 minutes in length) increased in 2010, to 29 percent, up from 22 percent in 2009. Use of longer segments of 10 minutes or more was down significantly this year.
A majority of teachers believe that video stimulates discussion, increases student motivation, helps teachers be more effective, is preferred by students and helps teachers be more creative.
Source: PBS and Grunwald Associates LLC, 2010
Using News Resources to Enliven Instruction and Engage Students