Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education

I recently got a longer cord in my classroom to connect my projector to my computer and let me tell you, it is blowing my students' minds. So many students are visual learners. By showing them clips of video to enhance lessons, they are so engaged! I love it. This is a TedTalk which discusses using Khan Academy and other resources to enhance education for students.

"Maybe this content will never go old... If Issak Newton would have done videos on calculus, I wouldn't have to."

"Teachers have used technology to humanize the classroom...a teacher, no matter how good, has to give lectures." These videos allow students to access lessons on their own time, in their own way."'

I love his metaphor of learning to ride a bicycle. If we provide no feedback and no practice, you may figure it out. You may be able to balance on two wheels, but you will be shaky and you may fall. When students have gaps in the beginning, then students will still have those gaps if they are not given practice. And if students still don't get it, we are forced to move on, to step up, to give them a metaphoric unicycle. The Khan academy and similar tools allow us to give students opportunities to experience mastery and supplement instruction--- to fill in those gaps!