5 Quick Ways To Start Using Video In The Classroom

Integrating video into our classrooms can be a great way not only to get students more engaged in the material you’re presenting to them, but to get them using technology, giving and getting feedback, and tapping all parts of their brain while they learn.

Some Video Factoids You Should Know

• YouTube is the #2 search engine. Seriously.
• Humans are hard-wired for visual learning.
• We pay attention to faces; increases believability.
• Voice conveys rich information – just look at how classrooms have been set up for generations. Emphasis on voice!
• Conveys emotions that we want to share with others
• Movement grabs attention. Keep videos short and fast-paced.
• The video watcher / learner is in control: fast/slow, rewind, skip, review, listen/watch

So how can you begin using video in your classroom? Here are a few of my favorite ideas:

Learn Anything… Together

YouTube is the world’s largest community of learners. Just ask for help and the world responds. There are tons of how- to videos, documentaries, and informational content out there.

Video Feedback Loops

You can use video to offer feedback to your students.

Student-Led Video Workshops

Use Google Hangouts (or other video chat interface) to bring the world to your classroom, and your classroom into the world.

Interactive Video = Active Learning

There are a number of tools out there to add engagement and track student learning with any online video.

Students as Producers

Use simple online video editors to create the videos, and then have your students enter video contests or use the videos for projects.
Work to ensure that video sites (like YouTube) are unblocked for classroom use. That’s always critical. In the meantime, tweet your successes with hashtag #videolearning

About the Author:
I am a national recognized leader in online learning and education media. In addition to my current work at an ed tech media startup, I produce a popular internet TV show for educators and frequently host interviews with a wide range of education experts. I have presented at CUE, ISTE, and regional ed tech conferences for over 15 years with tremendous success, and I have designed and led large scale ed tech training programs.

Why Students &Teachers Need To Be Physically Active In The Classroom

There’s a ton of buzz in the education world about how dwindling school budgets and pressure to improve test scores are taking time away from recess and physical education so that students can spend more time in the classroom. Despite more time in the classroom sounding like something that would drive academic performance, research shows a strong connection that reduced physical activity limits a student’s ability to learn. With growing rates of childhood obesity and its associated issues, there’s more reason than ever to make sure to include some physical movement into the classroom.

The handy infographic below takes a look at some of the statistics about classroom movement (or the lack thereof!) Do you incorporate movement into your classroom on a regular basis? How? Have you encountered resistance or other issues getting the time allocated? Weigh in by leaving a comment below or leaving your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Getting Moving in the Classroom

• Childhood obesity has tripled in the last three decades
• Nearly 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese
• Only 6 states require physical education in every grade
• Only 20% of school districts require daily recess
• 2 out of 3 kids are ‘inactive’
• Physical activity helps keep key parts of the brain in shape for learning
• Increased oxygen to the brain helps improve learning
• Research shows that children who engage in daily physical activity show superior motor fitness, academic performance, and attitude towards school than those who don’t
• Giving your brain a break with movement helps improve concentration
• The brain has natural highs and lows throughout the day that effect cognitive ability. Movement helps maintain focus
• Tablets and standing desks are ways to help encourage movement while working and between work
• Studies show that introducing low impact movement during classroom time has a positive impact on student health, classroom engagement, and academic performance
• The Mayo Clinic estimates that a child standing will burn about 15 more calories per hour than one that is sitting. Over the course of the school year that is approximately 18,000 calories or 5 lbs of fat
• Greater student focus has been achieved in studies using stand-biased desks
• A positive correlation is shown between physical activity and test scores

5 Free Online STEM Courses You Should Check Out

Do you wonder if your students’ brains are turning to mush by this point in the summer? Yes, many students have reading lists a mile long to get to before school starts up again in the fall, but as I’m sure many of you know, many of those books never get read, or they’re read nearly all at once right before school starts so that the brain can get minimal usage. Last year, the ‘rage’ of combatting summer learning loss involved mostly e-readers and apps to keep kids interested in reading during the summer.

This year, while I haven’t quite noticed one ‘rage’ or another, I have seen some pretty awesome MOOCS coming down the pipeline. Mostly suitable for older students, these STEM based MOOCS sound really interesting, fun, and not only would they combat summer learning loss, participants will likely learn something really fun and interesting!

Is there an upcoming MOOC you think is great that we haven’t included in this list? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below or leaving your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Baseball Analytics

Learn about the math of selecting baseball players. You know, like that movie Moneyball.

Genomic Medicine Gets Personal

The human genome is fascinating. Applying it on a personal level is even more fascinating.

Intro to Computer Programming

Introduction to Computer Science – a great place to start.

AI For Robotics

Maybe someday, you can design your own Rosie to clean your house, make your dinner, and serve you up some sass.

Creative 3D Graphics

3-D graphics aren’t just found in your local IMAX theater anymore. And the red and blue flimsy glasses? Well, at least they’re a little bit cooler now (and not so red and blue and cheap). Learn about 3-D graphics in this course.

Intro to Game Design

A must for gamers, you can learn to design your own game!

How Technology Is Being Used In Music Classrooms

Even though I’m not a music teacher (nor have I ever been, or will I be), I tend to find technology in music classrooms to be some of the most exciting ways that technology is being put to use in classrooms overall. While there’s lots of time-saving-efficient-cool-useful stuff happening in all types of classrooms, there’s something particularly awesome about making music and integrating some awesome digital technologies into the process. There are a million and one ways to use an iPad or other tablet in your music classroom, but it definitely doesn’t stop there! The handy infographic below takes a look at how technology is revitalizing how musicians compose, record, perform, and distribute music – both in and out of the classroom.

Technology in the Music Classroom

• 74% of teachers feel that technology supports and expands the curriculum
• 74% say it motivates students to learn
• 73% say it motivates students to respond to a variety of learning styles
• 11% use an interactive table
• 59% use an interactive whiteboard
• 35% use tablets or e-readers
• 48% make online lesson plans
• 45% use web based/interactive games
• 44% use as vehicle for information delivery to students and parents
• Offers easy access to connect with other teachers and musicians
• Leaves time for flexibility in class
• Encourages students to create and showcase their music
• Offers differentiated instruction
• Students have access to new resources and concepts
• Use your technology to create a music production studio – including composition, rehearsal, recording, editing, distributing, etc!

Great Music Apps

• Ear Trainer
• Garage Band
• forScore
• Real Piano Pro
• Guitar Lab
• ImproVox
• Tab Toolkit

How MOOCs Are Being Used In Europe

One of the wonderful things about MOOCs is that they don’t force students to be in a particular location in order to ‘attend’ class. Especially if you’re looking for a course that will help you gain a specific skill, MOOCs allow students access to teachers and other experts they might not have otherwise.

The handy infographic below takes a look at how MOOCS are starting to bridge what is usually a gap between higher education and more practical education. Realistically, whether you’re teaching language, science, or math, your students are still going to need at least some of these ‘practical’ technical skills during their working lifetime – along with some others that probably don’t even exist yet.

So while MOOCs have often been touted as the new direction for higher education, they can also be an excellent supplement to a more ‘traditional’ education – getting the students the skills they need without getting an additional degree or taking extraneous courses.

Take a look and see how MOOCs are offering some of this training for students and how large the job market’s demand for these skills actually is! Do you think your students need some or all of these skills? Weigh in by leaving a comment below, leaving your thoughts on our Facebook page.

MOOCs, Skills, and Jobs

• By 2020, there will be around 900,000 tech jobs in the EU
• Employers are looking for workers with web and app design skills, domain-specific skills, programming languages, and Android and iOS
• Student demand is highest for courses in web design, HTML5, Android, Java Script, and CSS
• Current professionals consider MOOCs to be the best places to learn these skills
• Students want certification for the skills they acquire – this is often a challenge for MOOCs (with assessment logistics, etc)
• Some of the specific skills that employers are looking for might not quite have a ‘massive’ audience (though I’d add in ‘yet’)
• Many institutions cite the high cost as a barrier to offering MOOCs

What Does Gamification Look Like In Classrooms?

Using games or game play elements in the classroom to drive learning outcomes is sill gaining popularity. Though most teachers aren’t ready to embrace bringing serious games like Minecraftinto their classrooms, many are willing to gamify learning or use other types of games. That said, getting an idea of how many teachers are (or aren’t) using gamification (or are interested in doing so) is a somewhat difficult task: Many people define gamification in different ways, when it may be a more accurate description to identify different levels of gamification. The handy infographic below takes a look at gamification and more ‘serious gaming’ in organizational learning. It offers some interesting statistics on just what types (or levels) of gamification are happening in classrooms. Keep reading to learn more!

What Kind of Gamification is Happening in the Classroom?

• Of 551 people surveyed, 25% use gamification in learning
• 20% use serious games in learning
• Gamification is the use of game based elements to drive learning
• Simulations are usually software based applications that serve as a representation of a process, event, location, or situation
• Games are systems in which players engage in various ways towards a common goal or a win state. They also have added elements such as storyline, rules, interactivity, and feedback
• Serious games are simulations which have the added elements of games
• 49% felt that gamification improved learning outcomes
• 53% felt that serious games improved learning outcomes

Source : edudemic.com

Online Colleges That Offer Laptops For Students

If you’re an incoming college freshman with a limited budget, one way to offset the cost of buying a laptop is to find a university program that offers one as part of its overall tuition package. You should pay careful attention to the language that advertisers use to describe these programs: except for in very rare cases, colleges don’t give away “free laptops” to their incoming students. Rather, these laptops are compensated for in the overall tuition bill that you pay your school.

However, since tuition costs can be offset by things like scholarships and need-based financial aid packages, if you receive a full-ride grant to a university that gives laptops to its students (for example), you are effectively getting a “free” computer. Below, we have created a list of schools that offer laptops as part of their tuition statements. As of June 2014, this is the most complete list available on the Internet, and we have hand-verified each school’s policy to ensure that all the information we provide about what kind of laptop you’ll receive is as up-to-date as possible.

Schools That Provide Laptops in their Tuition

School	Type of Computer	MSRP for Laptop	Any Additional Applications?	Received How	Additional Details
Wake Forest University	Lenovo X1 Carbon ThinkPad	$1,186.55	WFU Google Apps for Education offers a fully integrated suite of services including email, calendaring, documents, storage services and more. WebEx provides a full suite of collaborative web-based conferencing tools and a secure communications channel for video, file transfer, chat, and voice conferencing.	Given to student during orientation.	Option to upgrade with extra fees.
University of the Southwest	Chromebook	$319	All digital textbooks are included.	Shipped to student.	N/A
Southern Nazarene University	Fujitsu Lifebook S752	$899.99	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Option to upgrade with extra fees.
Ursinus College	Dell Latitude E6430	$1299.99	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Every new student receives a laptop computer upon arrival on campus, and receives an upgrade to the computer at least once again before graduation.
ICDC College	N/A	N/A	All digital textbooks are included.	Receipt of laptop is at the sole discretion of ICDC College.	Online students only, laptops are included with tuition.
Berklee College of Music	Apple MacBook Pro	$4,500	Laptop is prepackage with industry standard software.	Given to student during orientation.	Berklee purchases and configures the Berklee Laptop Package for entering students and includes a “Berklee Laptop Purchase” charge on students’ first semester tuition bill.
Bethel University	N/A	N/A	All digital textbooks are included.	N/A	N/A
Chatham University	Apple MacBook Pro	$999	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
CollegeAmerica	Depending on program. Apple MacBook for Graphic Arts	Varied	N/A	N/A	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
Full Sail University	Apple MacBook Pro	$999	N/A	N/A	N/A
Indiana State University	Lenovo ThinkPad T440	$999	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Laptop Schlorship Award Program available to all incoming students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Morrisville State College	Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga and Apple iPad Mini	$1,599	N/A	TBD by school	N/A
Northwest Missouri State University	HP EliteBook 840 G1 Notebook PC	$2,395	All digital textbooks are included.	N/A	N/A
Rochester College	Apple MacBook Pro	$999	N/A	N/A	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
Seton Hill University	Apple MacBook Pro and iPad	$999	N/A	N/A	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
Stevens-Henager College	Depending on program. Apple MacBook for Graphic Arts	Varied	N/A	N/A	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
St. John’s University	Lenovo ThinkPads	$999	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Student can upgrade to Apple MacBook for a fee of $300.
West Liberty	Window based laptop or Apple iPad	Varied	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Ownership of the equipment is transfered to the Student upon graduation.
Widener Univesity	Window based laptop or Apple iPad	Varied	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	Laptop Schlorship Award Program available to all incoming students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Centenary College	Toshiba Satellite C55 or Apple MacBook Pro	$859	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	N/A
George Fox University	Apple MacBook Pro and iPad	$999	N/A	Given to student during orientation.	N/A

Other Ways to Get a Laptop

Finding a school with a laptop program is only one way that a student can reduce his or her tuition bill. If your dream school doesn’t include laptops in its package, several manufacturers offer student discounts on specific products. There are also public organizations, grants, and scholarships across the United States that help students purchase laptops and other college material necessary for success. A few starting points include:

1. Apple Store for Education is Apple’s discount on specific products designed for the classroom (including Macbook laptops and iPads). The discount is available to students accepted to college, and includes up to $200 for a new Mac laptop or up to $30 off a new iPad. 
2. Dell University, which encompasses discounts and technology for students, offers a free Dell tablet when students purchase a PC that is $699 or more. 
3. Notebooks For Students is a nonprofit founded in 1998. It helps college students and faculty find affordable laptops and technical support. NFS offers refurbished and new laptops, from many different brands, at affordable prices.

Although a large percentage of colleges do not include laptops in their tuition, financial aid offices often know of places to acquire college preparedness scholarships that help students to purchase computers (sometimes offered by the school itself). The best way to find out if such a program exists at your school of choice is to contact the financial aid office directly and speak to an advisor. Additionally, your local library may have resources about organizations and resources for college preparedness in your community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are any of these laptops free?

The short answer is no. Typically, when a college offers a laptop as a part of the overall tuition, that laptop is lumped somewhere amongst the overall college costs. However, it is possible that two schools which offer laptops each have different tuition costs, meaning that the computer is effectively “cheaper” (but still not free) at the school which costs less. At some schools, like Wake Forest University, students are charged a monthly fee for protection on the device in case it breaks.

What kind of laptop will I get?

The exact specifications and brand of your laptop depend on the university and program. Sometimes a technical engineering or multimedia degree track requires robust software that works better on a specific brand of computer. Either way, you can expect the laptop to have high-speed, modern specs and the software you need to accomplish all coursework.

When will I receive my laptop?

The exact time that you receive your laptop through a college package varies by school. Usually, the university will make sure that you have the technology before you start taking classes. If you are taking online courses, you will receive your laptop via mail within a period designated by your school (typically after payment is received and you are officially enrolled).

Can I keep the laptop?

A very large majority of colleges that offer laptop programs transfer ownership of the computer to the student once he or she graduates. During the college career, however, the laptop is property of the university, which means that if you drop out you are expected to return it. Some colleges have stricter requirements: at Indiana State University, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and must be registered as full time students to keep their computers.

What if my laptop is lost or stolen?

Most of the time, it will be your responsibility as a student to make sure you backup your data regularly. Each school’s policy regarding lost or stolen laptops varies. Wake Forest University’s monthly laptop protection plan charge does not cover stolen laptops, so read the fine print carefully