Educational DVDs - Still Good For Science Lessons

I recently read an article about "Eureka" moments during science lessons. We strive as teachers to create lessons that lead to "Eureka", (I always call them "a-ha"), moments for our students. Technology has kind of overwhelmed the discussion on the Internet, in IT departments and at district budget meetings. But we can still use our tried and true educational resources in the form of VHS and DVD programs. VHS and DVD were cutting edge technology, once upon a time, and it was their implementation into the classroom that led to the development of teaching techniques that maximized the efficacy of video imagery in lessons. Until all classrooms are equipped with modern systems, let's not forget that we still have instructional materials to help teachers create more effective elementary lesson plans.

Technology has made "Eureka!" moments much more possible and I appreciated the overall intent of the article, I just couldn't stop thinking to myself that if most schools' technology committees decided to provide classes with twenty laptops, then we would have many more of these "Eureka" moments. But the stark reality is that in smaller, poorly funded school districts, the implementation of computer technology in every classroom is still a ways off.

So, how does a teacher faced with limitations in new classroom technology provide equally satisfying "Eureka" moments for students, especially in science?-By continuing to use educational videos and educational DVDs that provide visual and auditory support for science concepts and modeling for scientific processes being taught in science lessons. Most teachers are familiar with VHS and DVD because they have been in the classroom a lot longer. Not only are there still large video libraries at schools, school districts and regional media centers, VHS and DVD still remains an affordable resource. Computers and the networks required to support them are much more costly and more relegated to the world of the IT department.

Educational science programs can do two primary things:

1. They can present images to give students a "picture" of the term or concept being discussed in the lesson.

2. They can show a scientific process to help students understand the nature of scientific inquiry and the modeling of sequential processes for experiments and data collection.

Educational programs help teachers provide context in a classroom for the complex needs in meeting the objectives of a science lesson. Visual images and auditory examples of terms and explanations help students build their understanding of a science concept. There are many facets of a science lesson. Video should be used as a component to meet the lesson objective in addition to text, direct instruction and science experiment processes.

The most valuable and affordable resource for enhancing your classroom lessons is still educational DVDs and videos. So make sure you're using video the right way and see immediate benefits in your students' engagement, retention and test performance by checking out the Free Video and Expert Guide of "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make Using Video in the Classroom."

The small company, SchoolVideos.com, I work for is committed to creating quality educational videos for classroom instruction. From the earliest script stages, all subject area content, images, and music are intensely reviewed and selected for meeting appropriate grade level, curriculum objectives and standards for our proprietary productions. The videos we distribute are also screened to meet our high standards.

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Teachers in the 21st century classroom will be better educators if they understand how to use multi media in their lessons, if they understand the processes that research has shown to be the most effective for improved student performance, and if they know how to find quality video resources that will enhance their lessons.

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