Technology Lesson

PowerMediaPlus.com is a “media-on-demand” system that has videos, concept clips, audio clips, including speeches, books, and music along with many other educational resources including print resources. View www.powermediaplus.com. for further descriptions. Schools are able to subscribe to this huge databank that allows their teachers access to the thousands of resources. The extensive online collection that is available makes finding video and audio resources much more convenient than checking out a videotape for classroom viewing.
While teaching science several years ago and then reading this past school year, I have used a book called Integrating Science with Reading Instruction. It includes nonfiction reading text and instruction about science concepts as well as science activities. This past school year, I was introduced to PowerMediaPlus.com, and I feel the interactive video resources I have found there to be engaging for students. While some of the activities could simply be carried out in the classroom without viewing the video clip, using the video provides an alternative mode of teaching that gives each day some variability. This lesson can support inquiry learning if the teacher gives students the chance to predict, discuss and do the demonstrations involving the simple machines.
In Integrating Science with Reading Instruction, there is a lesson on pulleys. Before the text is read and discussed, I think the 14 minute video clip gives students a chance to discuss what they already know about some simple machines, make some predictions, and perform and view a few demonstrations. During this lesson, students will learn about and carry out and/or view activities involving inclined planes, pulleys, levers, and wedges. After viewing the video clip, students could read more about pulleys and also do more work with levers, as well as the other simple machines. These two simple machines can be more complex for students to understand, but the video clip does a nice job of breaking down the concept of levers.

State Standards and Assessments

I am interested in views on our current state standards and how they are used in the classroom. (I am not referring to the science debate.) Do they guide teachers sufficiently? Are the standards, and specifically the tested indicators, too narrow or broad of a view on which to base our state assessments?

Using Technology

Do you think activities using technology help students to learn math and science concepts?