Videos in the classroom

Videos in class. When I was at school, they were still used as break or lesson fillers. But they have much more potential: content can be conveyed creatively and vividly.

Videos can be used in many ways in the classroom

Audiovisual media exist with many different contents that can be used in diverse contexts. Here is a selection:

• A classic example is showing documentaries, such as in history lessons. These can be feature films that re-enact real events, but also original recordings from the respective time. Here, video and audio material is a good medium.

• Experiments are ingenious. But they are not always feasible at school. A video simulation of a chemical experiment that is too dangerous for school can be a wonderful alternative.

• Another classic: the foreign language film in the foreign language classroom. Native speakers speak at their normal pace and you often learn something about the culture of the country.

• It is very exciting to observe how the weather changes or how birds hatch from eggs. However, it is not so easy to put this into practice in reality. Therefore, a video that shows the shots in fast motion is a nice alternative.

• Videos can also be used for learning outside the classroom. Video material can be used as a supplement to classical teaching.

Advantages of videos in the classroom

Videos have other advantages besides their broad range of topics: they can be played over and over again. It is also possible to rewind them and listen again to content that is difficult to understand. This allows students to learn at their own pace. If the students are offered a selection of videos, they are also well suited for free work or self-study, as well as for homeschooling. In addition, they promote the pupils' media competence.

Where can I find good videos?

You can find numerous free explanatory videos, learning videos and documentaries on the internet. Many television channels have a media library in which educational videos of all kinds are archived. If this research is too time-consuming, you can also find audiovisual media at numerous textbook publishers. However, these are often not free of charge. In addition, you can often find videos on demand services, as well as on video streaming platforms such as YouTube. Here, too, the search for good videos can often be time-consuming.

alugha offers numerous free educational videos of all kinds at alucation. What is special here:

• Education is a matter of the heart and should not be about profit. That is why the educational videos are not monetised and of course accessible free of charge.

• The videos are sorted thematically. This means that suitable content can be found with little effort.

• The videos are multilingual. In many school classes, children have a migration background and can express themselves more easily in their first language and understand complex learning content in it more easily. Multilingual educational videos make it less likely that children with a migrant background will be excluded. Moreover, their multilingualism is then no longer a disadvantage for them.

• The videos are transcribed. This is also integrated. The videos are therefore also suitable for pupils with hearing disabilities.

From consumption to action: Make your students create their own videos

Letting pupils produce their own learning videos in class can be a varied, fun activity that also offers lasting learning success. In addition, this kind of topic development promotes media competence and working in a group.

In this case too, alugha is a valuable toolkit. If the pupils produce the videos in several languages, it is possible to work across subjects and do a little biology teaching in French. The data is protected.

Would you like to watch multilingual videos on alugha today or produce them yourself? Then register here. If you have any questions, the alugha team will be happy to help.

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Sources: https://www.cornelsen.de/magazin/beitraege/besser-unterrichten-mit-videos (08.12.2021, 11:23)

Photo: Julia M. Cameron/Pexels