Videos, Emails, and Webquests

United Streaming is a tool that I absolutely adore. I love showing the video segments to break up the lesson. While they are only two minutes long (in segments), the students cannot get enough. This week I showed segments of a plate tectonics video and I plan on showing a blizzard/winter weather video. The videos come with lessons, quizzes, and teacher's guides, which are all moderately to incredibly helpful. In addition, I can choose videos on a middle school level with language that my remedial students can understand. I am thrilled that my school has an account that allows me to download videos from this site.

ePals is a tool that I am considering using for next year. I hope to use ePals to have my students compare the climate of nyc to the climates of other regions. The email design seems safe, and also a good way to have students practice writing coherently and typing. It is surprising how many students type with one or two fingers.

Telecollaboration (Interpersonal exchange, data collection, and problem solving) is a hit-or-miss tool. While it is fascinating to coordinate and learn about other countries/cultures/people, some of these projects are legitimate while others are not. In addition, if I am working with people I don't really know, I am sometimes wary of the quality of their work.

WebQuests seem awesome. I hope to use them in my elective science class this spring, perhaps on the topic of drought or heat waves, something that is hard for students to relate to in the winter and spring. I love how the students are not searching the web for valid sites (and somewhat wasting their time) but instead the sites are already at their fingertips. While I have not explored many webquests, I will probably end up making one up instead of revamping on that already exists. I want to make sure that all the links work and that the task and process are exactly what I like.