Teaching Students With Videos

A lot of students spend more time watching videos than anything, else except possibly sleeping. Teachers might as well take advantage of this and allow them to watch the videos. Teaching students with videos are perfect for students in today’s technological world.

Teaching Students with Videos at One-To-One Schools

At my school, this is easily done. We are a one-to-one school because our district has provided each student with a personal Chromebook. This year, I have really taken advantage of this by creating root word videos for my students to watch. By themselves, these videos wouldn’t be especially helpful. When combined with Kahoot! or Edpuzzle however, these videos become much more useful for me.

With Edpuzzle, I can add questions to the videos. If the questions are multiple choice or true or false, Edpuzzle will actually grade the student answers for you. Since you can import your students from Google Classroom with just a single click, my students and I have enjoyed using the videos with Edpuzzle. If you are worried about making videos, don’t. You can use any Youtube video and even videos from a variety of other sources.

With Kahoot!, I can show the videos first and then have the students answer questions about the video they just watched. In fact, I think my students enjoy Kahoot! just as much or more than Edpuzzle. There is even an option to save the student results.

I prefer using a combination of both. For example, students can watch a short video at the beginning of the class to introduce the root words and then take a Kahoot! quiz. This gives me time to take care of attendance.  If students finish an assignment early or I need a moment at some point during the classroom, such as a behavior problem or visitor, I can tell the students to go to my Google Classroom and follow a link to the Edpuzzle videos.

Since I take grades on the results of these videos, the students have to take them seriously, at least if they care about their grade. Many students will actually ask me to reset their Edpuzzle quizzes so they can take them again to get a higher grade. I only wish I had found these sites before this year.

Using the Teacher’s Computer

If you are worried because the students do not have their own computers at your school, you can always show the video on the television and then answer the questions as a class or have the student write out their answers on a piece of paper. Either way, I would take a few minutes and check out both of these websites. I think you will find they are worth your time. Just so you know, neither Edpuzzle nor Kahoot! knows I am suggesting you check out their websites. I am doing so because they have worked out well for me in my classroom.