Common Craft Project

Common Craft is a website that I've written about before and used more times that I can remember to help students understand a difficult academic topic.  Yesterday, I received an e-mail from them with information about a new video they posted on their site as well as a bunch of new resources they have posted to the Common Craft site.  These new resources are aimed at assisting in the creation of your own explanation videos.

This got me thinking about our computer teachers in Seymour and teachers in general.  Wouldn't it be cool to create our own explanation videos like the ones created by Lee and his wife?  To get started, this short video explaining the tools and tips should point you in the right direction.  Also on the site are some "know how" resources (some paid/some free) which offer ideas on how you can create really great videos of your own.

Now What?

Explanation videos like the ones found on Common Craft are effective and to the point.  Students and teachers can create and use these videos to explain anything from math theories to ecosystems.  If you are interested in the videos but don't have the time to create them...check out their library of videos and find one to fit you classroom.

Teach Parents Tech

A couple of years ago I came across a website created by Google called "Teach Parents Tech".  The purpose of the site was to allow children to create a how-to tech package for their parents and send it to them via e-mail.  The package included a personalized message and pre-recorded video tutorial on topics such as how to copy and paste, video chat, share photos and more.  I liked the idea so much that I had my students create a video screencast using Screencast-o-matic for their parents (or other family member).  They really liked the assignment and came up with some very creative tutorial ideas (how to create a Pandora radio station).

Now What?

If you have someone in your life who is less than advanced using the computer Teach Parents Tech is a great website with some excellent tutorials for using the computer more efficiently.  Alternatively, if you are a little rusty on some of your computer skills this site can be very useful for catching up on some simple computer techniques that you have forgotten.