Despite this very interesting article on why computers may be just as effective as classrooms, technology still cannot (and should not) completely replace teachers.
Here are some reasons why:
Do you agree?
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- 5min: Instructional videos providing answers to common questions. It only takes 5 minutes at www.5min.com
- Educator: Innovative educational service website offering comprehensive high school, college, and professional subjects, designed to recreate the live learning experience on the web. Educate yourself at http://www.educator.com/
- Big Think: Video interviews with 600+ thought leaders in a range of fields. Think big with Big Think! http://www.bigthink.com
- Howcast: Professional and user-generated how-to videos. http://www.howcast.com
- iTunes U: Listen to more than just music! Free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, and more accessible via Apple iTunes. Apple iTunes – Apple iTunes Software
- ResearchChannel: 3,500 videos from distinguished researchers and scholars. youtube.com/user/ResearchChannel
- SnagFilms: Library of free, full-length documentary films. Snag a film at http://www.snagfilms.com
- Videojug: Collection of videos from professors, professionals, coaches, teachers, and consultants. Like having a whole jug of education all to yourself! http://www.videojug.com
- WonderHowTo: a great site for anyone who’s ever wondered how to do something.Search engine and directory of free how-to videos. http://www.wonderhowto.com
- Edublogs.tv: Aggregator and host of educational videos. Read blogs that will actually teach you something at http://www.edublogs.tv
Online courses are changing traditional education and the way we learn. This PBS article really caught my attention.
Watch the accompanying video below.
I’m not a huge fan of paying for “how to videos” especially when I can find just about any topic I’m questioning on Youtube, but MindBites.com might have more to offer than the typical homemade flick. MindBites is a publishing and sales platform where individual video authors can sell their content on demand online and through mobile applications.
Like most other educational sites, users can sign up for different subscriptions in order to watch certain instructional videos. The Education category has lessons, instructions, homework help, and video tutorials for many subjects, including Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, Basic Math, Algebra, and Grammar. MindBites also features less-academic video lessons that range from surviving a knife attack to learning baby sign language to making bath products. However, the website’s audience seems to be video authors, rather than students. Their pitch is that you can share your knowledge and talent with others while also looking for lessons that interest you.
Some of their clients include:
– Thinkwell, a popular digital textbook publisher.
– Brent Mayne, a former Major League Baseball catcher, who uses the MindBites platform to power his video on demand store about how to be a skillful catcher.
– Urban Fitness TV uses the site to power and sell fitness videos.
MindBites describes itself as a “place on the web to learn directly from other real people and share what you know with the world. A self-publishing platform and social marketplace for instructional content, MindBites enables people to share their unique knowledge, skills and passions through audio and video lessons, earning money for themselves or for charity. The result is a unique community of discovery with content that simply can’t be found anywhere else. By enabling people to learn, connect and share as never before, MindBites promises to revolutionize the way the world shares knowledge. MindBites – What do you know?”
Is MindBites revolutionizing education? Here’s what I think…
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– For those who want to sell their videos, they can quickly create custom branded video on demand stores that can be easily integrated into another site or offered on a standalone basis. You don’t even need any technical experience. Those custom VOD stores also fully function as iPhone VOD stores. In addition, content owner/publisher can set their own subscription and bundled pricing models.
– Sales reporting and statistics are delivered on demand so you can see exactly how well your product is doing.
– I found the videos to be high quality and played well on the embeddable media player. The site also offers one click purchase which is built in.
– MindBites.com has an attractive interface. The site is easy to navigate with all of its content categories listed at the bottom of the page. The site is also an ad free environment, which is always great.
– The community is interactive with lots of people posting feedback and comments. Users and authors interact through ratings, reviews, Q & A.
– For each person who purchases a lesson you receive $1. You can decide to keep your earnings or give them to a charity.
Dislikes
– You can browse through the site and see what lessons interest you, but in order to purchase a lesson or post your own video lessons you must be a member. The membership process was a little confusing at first.
– MindBites.com states that you must earn a minimum of $25 to get paid. If you make less than $25 dollars, even if its $24.99 you cannot claim your money through Paypal.
– Since MindBites.com suggests that authors can give their earnings to charity, it would be nice if people could feature their favorite charities on the site. How will users know where their money is going?
– Site is not available in other languages even though some of the subscribers ask questions in Spanish and are clearly Spanish speaking people.
– Sixty second, previews and trailers are not enough.
– Dr. Drew
There has been some buzz going around on my campus about an educational website called Educator.com. Supposedly, a lot of students are using it to help them prepare for exams, especially in the math and science departments. After overhearing two students talk to each other about how helpful the videos had been for them last semester, I decided to check it out for myself.
Educator.com claims to be #1 in providing trusted online educational courses to high school, college, and professional students. There are a lot of companies that make the same claim, but when the website’s homepage came up and I looked at all the classes offered, I immediately saw why they might be right. Educator.com works with top teachers to provide in-depth video lectures, detailed lecture notes, thorough explanations of problems, and answer students’ questions in class forums at the bottom of the page.
Last year, I paid for private tutoring for my daughter when she was having trouble in her chemistry class. You never really know what you’re going to get with tutoring services, you have to wait around for someone to come to your home, and the rates can be very expensive. I would have much rather had her sit down at her computer with a private one-on-one teacher, who is also one of the nation’s top professors. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
As I mentioned in a previous review, a few months ago I signed my daughter Abigail up for Brightstorm’s SAT prep videos. Things were going well for a while, she watched a few of them, but I don’t think either one of us were all that impressed. I especially thought I could get a better deal elsewhere. I have since canceled that subscription and am considering signing her up for Educator.com. Here’s why:
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– There are choices when it comes to subscriptions. Not every family is the same and we need options. I love that I can choose between a 12 month, 6 month, and 1 month plan. Since Abigail has half the school year left, I decided to go with the 6 month plan at only 25 dollars a month. You pay upfront and then you get unlimited use of the service. Great deal, especially since she’ll get complete complete access to all the other videos on the site in addition to the SAT prep. Educator.com even provides their service for free to school districts who want to use it in their curriculum.
– There are over 60 courses. Each professor provides a full curriculum of an entire course, which is very similar to what you would get at a college. These courses are comprised of video lectures along with interactive notes and slides. Abigail will probably get the most use out of are in the extensive AP section, SAT section, math section, and the QuickNotes at the end of each video.
– The environment for learning on the site is very professional. The video quality is great, there are no distractions, and I could tell after watching only one or two free videos that they are professionally produced. I’ve seen other sites where it is very clear that the teacher simply set up a tripod and a camera in her homemade studio. Presentation is everything and Educator.com definitely gets points in this area. My daughter and I both found the artistic black and white format and crystal clear sound pleasing to watch and listen to.
Here’s some video footage to give you an idea!
– The professors on the site are also very articulate and knowledgeable about their subject. Many are a bit older, but that probably means they have advanced degrees, publications, and many years of teaching in their field. There’s also younger instructors that are definitely more upbeat (SAT especially). And maybe other people don’t care about this, but they are all wearing suits and/or formal attire while delivering their introduction lectures. They then wear a uniform polo in other lessons. I always show up for a class I’m teaching dressed professionally or in a suit because I believe it sets the tone for the lecture and creates an environment suitable for effective learning.
– Another great feature is the fact that you can search for literally any aspect of course. The video will instantly skip to the section. Let’s say you’re a software programmer and you’re watching a video on Ruby coding and you only really need to study Class Instance Variables. You can click or type in what you need to study and the lecture will skip right to it. I found the navigational tools on the videos very easy to use and the site very user friendly.
– I also wrote an email to their customer service center because I wanted more information about the subscription packages and they responded within 24hours. Hi Tiffany!
– There are many things I like about the site, but more than anything I like the types of subjects offered. There is a Language Arts and Music section, as well as, all the sciences. Professionals and college students who are studying very specific topics such as Adobe Photoshop, ProTools, or HTML can look through the software training and computer science to find a wide variety of courses that are very difficult to find elsewhere.
Dislikes
– Although the colors are vibrant, I did feel like the homepage was very cluttered and overwhelming. There is a lot going on in such a small space. For someone older, like me, it may be challenging to read the small font.
– The ‘Start Learning” button could be larger because it look me a while to figure out how to sign up and where to go to find the prices. I had to call Abigail over and ask her to locate it for me!
– I would say the drop down menus on the homepage that show a list of the instructors and their courses is probably my least favorite part of the website. When you scroll over it, it instantly starts coming down in a weird accordion style that hurts my eyes and gives me a headache.
– Also, although many of the professors are highly educated, not all of them are watchable for long periods of time. And according to my daughter, some of the videos are boring (but I think she just hates learning no matter who’s teaching.)
– I just want to remind any future users that Educator.com is a reoccurring service. I had some questions at first, which I put in an email to their customer service center. The FAQ and Terms and Conditions page makes the billing parameters very clear. Since I wanted the 6-month, I quickly realized it was an up-front payment and not really $25/month.
– If you’re like my wife and prefer using an Ipad to watch things on the Internet, then you’ll have to go to the FAQ page and download the app in order to watch the lecture videos on Educator.com. Unfortunately, there is no IOS support on the site yet.
Overall, Educator.com is a great learning tool for any student or adult professional who is serious about learning and wants to get the most bang for their buck. There are certainly some very engaging professors on the site, but depending on your stimulation needs, you may not be highly entertained. If nothing else, you’ll definitely learn the facts (as well as some figures) from the nation’s brightest minds. I think Abigail will benefit from at least 6 months of use and I feel confident knowing that by subscribing to Educator.com, I’ll be subscribing her to success. Eductaor.com is essentially college level courses online. When you think about how much it costs to attend and succeed at a four year university, paying for a year’s subscription on Educator.com is well worth the money.
-Dr. Drew
The events of December 14th in Newtown left me stunned, disgusted, and heartbroken. I know many people feel my same sentiments. As a teacher, I know what it means to choose a career not for the benefits, not for the glory, not for any sort of public recognition, but because of a deep calling. Teachers, true teachers, go into education because they love helping students learn. The article below addresses America and speaks on the changing attitudes towards teachers. Hopefully those changes will not be short lived.
In addition, if this next article doesn’t get you to reconsider your ideas about gun control, nothing else will… http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/01/i_have_no_words_1.php
