Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Discovery Education: More than Just Video

Yesterday I facilitated a webinar on Discovery 101 with 22 of our district leaders. To say Discovery, which many still know as United Streaming, is all about showing videos means you are still living in the past. I joined Discovery about 6 or 7 years ago and was amazed at the videos I could use in my classroom. Now, not only can I download clips, but I can set up a classroom and assign content to my students. Teachers can grade assignments, know when they are turned in, and reassign if the project was not up to standards. Students can log in 24/7 and access video for their research, or assignments given by the teacher. Teachers can also embed video into SMART Notebook lessons. Many of the administrators were amazed at how much information was provided during the webinar presented by Karen Goldman. I am excited about the possibilities that teachers, and more importantly students have to use video in their learning. Now my job as an Educational Technologist is to support teachers in setting up accounts, creating folders, downloading video, and embedding video into their lessons. I am excited to be able to help teachers learn the benefits of digital resources in teaching and learning. I am happy that our district has a site liscense for Discovery Education. One last comment. Discovery Education provides a multitude of resources for teachers, including free webinars, to support teachers in learning more about how to use Discovery in their classroom.

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