Journal #3

Video and the Age of Participation
Glen Bull

In this article, Bull addresses the issue of how to educators can best implement digital video clips into explicit curricular activities. He discusses several such as Discovery Education unitedstreaming web site which provides digital video resources specifically designed to comply with content area, grade level and state standards. Bull points out that this website consist of about 4000 video programs that have been divided into 40,000 shorter video clips that can then be applied to the class curriculum. Bull goes on to describe other resources that educators can access such as Annenberg Media (http://www.learner.org) and PBS (http://www.pbs.org/teachersource). Another site that Bull discusses in detail is the Discovery Educator's Network (DEN). He points out that this resource makes it possible for educators as well as students to edit and rearrange licenced copyrighted materials. These materials can then be added to the DEN site. Bull also states that about 70% of school in the U.S. are currently members of this service. He hopes that eventually the use video on the web and school's curriculum can be combined more effectively to help students and educators.

1. How useful would using these resources be for instance on a Science lesson on the life cycle of the caterpillar?
I think it would be extremely useful to use these resources because I would save me time
in isolating the particular segment of a video that I was looking for. I could just go on a website such as DEN and it would provide the specific video segment that applied for my lesson while at the same time addressing the grade level and standards I am teaching. In
addition, my students would be able to see and understand the process better than by just utilizing the text.

2. What would students be exposed to if they were to access the NGS Wildcam Africa site?
Students would see wildlife interaction in real time. They would be able to observe the different animals that come to the watering hole that its being filmed. They would also be able to observe how time and weather changes the landscape of the watering hole and surrounding area. But most importantly it would allow them to appreciate the beauty and diversity of Africa's wildlife and make real life connections to their own lives.