Thursday, September 3, 2015

Utilizing a Television as a Great Educational Tool

 
With 5 tutoring students this year I knew I wanted something that could play multiple forms of media. At first I purchased three used computers and thought that would be the fix, but soon found out that the systems on the computers were just too old to do what I needed. One of the computers did work out for Grace's room. Instead I purchased a wall mounted flat screen television and a HDMI cord. This has truly worked like a charm.

 
Each morning we watch CNN Student News together. Our writing program is on DVD so everyone can watch the lecture in comfort. Currently for literature we are reading Sign of the Beaver and when the book is completed we will watch the movie which is on Amazon Instant Prime to compare. Teaching Textbooks CDs can be shown when needed for their lectures. I am also discovering that when we do Nature Study any identification can be researched on Google Images and shown to the entire class as opposed to crowding around one laptop. Yesterday we finished our study of Whales and it just so happened that Fox News shared a short video of a news camera crew spotting a Blue Whale. The largest mammal on Earth that is spotted very rarely and not in decades at the spot of the camera crew. I was able to show this on the television so that everyone can see. The possibilities are endless. So worth the 200 dollars spent.

1 comment:

LJS said...

We use our tv this way too. In fact my writing group is coming today and we watch the videos and I am able to put the laptop close to the tv so the girls online have a nice clear view as well. I would be lost without my tv, hdmi, vcd, netflix and amazon prime subscriptions.