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We’ve created a number of interactive videos to help us all examine how content known in the NGSS as Disciplinary Core Ideas can be taught using the Science and Engineering Practices, as well as the Cross Cutting Concepts.
Watch — and contribute your own thoughts and ideas — as a group of fourth graders plan and conduct an investigation to determine how to build and then improve a magnet that can be turned on and off. In this video, a fifth-grade class works with a model of the sun and the Earth. Their teacher asks questions as they collectively develop an understanding of their model.
And check out Scientific Modeling With Young Students at Tch Video Lounge, a collection of many of our interactive videos.
How can you create great videos like these for your school?
There are a number of platforms that provide this kind of interactive video-learning experience:
- Zaption, which is the platform used to build the two videos featured above (though Zaption is shutting down at the end of September; any videos you create between now and then can be saved, but you would need to display them on your own website)
- Playposit
- Hapyak
As you experiment with these platforms, here are a few tips as you design your own interactive videos:
- Create questions that pop-up throughout a video. These questions direct the viewer’s attention to key moments in the instruction and help focus your observations.
- Design places to comment where all users can post and see educators’ responses (I found this to be a real gem). Other videos may have associated discussion questions, but in the videos above, in addition to providing your own response, you can also view and respond to comments from other teachers. As I watched and read the comments of others, I came across new ideas and expansions relevant to NGSS that helped maximize my own learning experience.
- Include questions and annotations that highlight practices that may not be immediately visible in a video. These moments help teachers think about some of the aspects of NGSS that are present, but may not be easily captured on film.
Let us know if you create your own NGSS interactive video and learning resource!
