Middle School Science for the Future!

Today I am thinking about how I feel in long meetings that don’t really relate to what I want to know.  I’m thinking about that “glazed-over” look that comes to my eyes and brain.  I see this reflected often in my students.  They get that same “glazed-over” look.  They are not interested in long presentations.  This is not to say that I am a “bad” teacher.  My students this year indicated that they actually learned a lot in my class.  Still they did not always learn all of the things I wanted to teach them.

I also spent time looking at You Tube.  Most You Tube videos are between 2 and 9 minutes long.  One of the most prolific and successfull You Tubers…”Fred” packs an incredible amount of story line into his 3 minute videos.  Could I or students create 3-5 minute videos that distill the essential information or skill for each lesson?  What about lessons in which multiple skills are taught and practiced?  If I could make the presentation that short, think of the incredible amount of time for practice, collaboration and creation my students would have!  What do you think?  Could it work?

Filed under: Middle School Science, Science, Technology Literacy, Web 2.0, pdmeme09 and tagged attention, constructivism, student-centered, video, web2.0, youtube