http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/
I must say, the videos on this particular website are beautifully put together and I loved the emotive indigenous music played in the background. Each video has an underlying theme; that of love, loyalty, duty to country and native customs and law. Stories are narrated by aboriginal people and this provides for an authentic learning experience. As with any resource, it would be important to check the content of the videos before using them. Some of the animations on the Dust Echoes website contain low level images of violence.
Using Inspiration 8, I created a visual map of the 'Brolga Song' video that I watched. Like the story-mapping activity I discussed in an earlier post, this serves as a great example of how ICT can compliment English lessons.
Retell methods are effective in building students comprehensive skills. Using Inspiration 8 allows the teacher to alter the activity in different ways, and adjust for the ability of the student. For example, images of the video may be put on screen for children to rearrange and configure as to retell the story. Students may also be encouraged to work through the whole exercise themselves, upload the images and reflect their own visual interpretation of the video. It's critical that students are familiar with and understand any of the computer functions required with this sort of exercise. It would be wrong for any teacher to presume students have a working knowledge of the print screen function for example. Thus, I would include in any lesson plan of this nature, a rundown on computer functions related to the activity at the start and provide students with a set of clear resources they can refer to if necessary. It may be an idea for students to have an ICT journal, or a personal blog spot in which they are required to include any new computer functions they come across.
I think it's important when constructing lesson plans to always analyse the value of the activity in terms of key learning models like Bloom's Taxonomy. The Blooms model is a powerful teaching tool as it classifies the objectives in developing a students higher order thinking. As such, an extension to the activity described above may be for students to create a mind map of the central theme or idea of the video; not an easy task considering the abstract nature and hidden meanings of dream time stories. In terms of Blooms, a straightforward retell activity invokes a students knowledge and comprehension level. However, a strength of visual mapping programs is that they encourage analysis, synthesis and evaluation of ideas. This key feature must be utilised.
There is such a wide range of online educational videos available suitable for every topic area. Below are links to two other websites that teachers may find useful.
1) Kids Know It: Educational movies website
http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/index.php
2) National Geographic: Educational videos
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids
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