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TeachersFirst Edge Review: for any technology user comfortable with video. Just as it sounds, this site has video for teachers and teaching. Since this British video-sharing site is designed specifically for education, there is not as much concern about “public” contributions and appropriateness for school! The three main "features" of this site include a "How to Use" link, resources for staff development, and ready to go videos for the classroom. You are able to search for video clips by subject and key stage (grade levels). All subjects are included and the topics vary greatly: Teenage Dads, Probability, Natural Wonders, Youth Culture since the 1960s, Art, Think Business - Information Technology, Adventuras Vascas (a Spanish series), and many other highly intriguing topics. To leave comments or to upload your own video, you will need to register. It’s all free. Obviously, this isn’t a site designed for students to navigate independently; however, there are many educational videos suitable for all subject areas that you could share with your students. If your school blocks streaming video sites, consider accessing this site and choosing videos at home, using a tool such as Vixy (explained here) to bring them in for class use. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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In the Classroom:
Skills Needed: no special technological skills are necessary to view the videos. If you are looking for a specific topic, save time and search by subject and key stage. If you wish to add comments or upload your own video, you must register as a user at the site. Membership also has the benefits of "sneak previews" at new material, gaining access to exclusive content, and other "members" only features. Registration is free, but does require an email address. If you don't want to provide your personal email address, set up a gmail account or other “extra account” to use for site memberships. Another option is to use your teacher Gmail account and set up subaccounts for up to 20 students to register (by code name or number). Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
Safety/Security Concerns: If the teacher is the one uploading a new video, the only potential concerns include posting videos with identifiable information or images about your students, school, or class. Check your school policies about posting pictures of your school. If you post student videos, obtain written parent permission to post student work, again within school policies. Any student visible in a video should also have parent permission in accordance with school policies.
Possible uses: The most common classroom use would be viewing the many videos that match curriculum content. Take advantage of the search option to find exactly what you are looking for. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the videos with the class. Use the site's videos as an anticipatory set to a new unit or lesson on a specific topic. Have your students create their own video together as a class on any lesson/topic that you are teaching. Have a contest for the best videos and upload the winners to the site (within school policies, of course). Once the class has videos hosted at Teachers.TV, you can also embed them in your class bog or wiki for easy sharing with those in your extended online “community.” New teachers, teachers-to-be, and professional development educators will also find video treasures to spark discussions and introduce new teaching techniques. |
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