Monday, January 3, 2011

Using YouTube and Music Lyrics to Help Students Learn

From "SchoolHouse Rock" to YouTube: How video in schools has changed teaching
School-technology specialist Patrick Ledesma reflects in this blog post how the use of video in schools has changed in the past four decades. Ledesma looks back at the "SchoolHouse Rock" videos from the 1970s and 1980s, the evolution from the VCR to DVDs and the Internet in the early 2000s. Ledesma writes that today's students have many educational videos -- posted on YouTube and across the Internet -- at their disposal. The changes offer teachers the opportunity to act as facilitators for learning, rather than gatekeepers. Teacher Magazine/Leading from the Classroom blog  
A junior-high school teacher in Illinois is singing science lessons set to popular music and posting the recorded lessons on YouTube. Doug Edmonds rewrites the lyrics to popular songs such as ABBA's "Dancing Queen" with lessons on chemical bonds and other science concepts. He also holds diagrams and flash cards to accompany the songs. "If I'm ever struggling on a quiz, I'll just sort of sing them to myself," one student said. "People are going around singing them in the hallways. They're actually really catchy." TribLocal.com (Chicago)/Northbrook, Ill.

Two teachers in Hawaii are using technology to engage students in history lessons, says this blog post by education writer Valerie Strauss. The teachers set lessons to popular music and create videos they then post on YouTube. The French Revolution is taught with Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," and students learn other lessons through tunes from popular artists. One of the teachers writes that the videos offer a great introduction to or a recap of lessons, and have inspired students to create their own videos. The Washington Post/The Answer Sheet blog 

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