BBC Nature Video Collections
The BBC Nature Video Collection is a large library of video clips from the excellent BBC Natural History archive, many narrated by the legend that is Sir David Attenborough.
The video clips include some from the amazing Frozen Planet, the latest exploration into the remote and isolated polar environments. Some of the scenes are totally jaw-dropping. For example the Brinicle; icy finger of death 
Other other collections include Minibeasts, Baby Animals, Dinosaurs and more. Teachers looking for clips of animals/plants to use in science lessons may well find something useful here. Clips can be embedded into your VLE or website.
It’s an excellent collection of science clips and I definitely recommend bookmarking it.
I’m not sure if these clips will be available outside the UK. Can any of my US/Canadian visitors check and leave a comment?
Take a look at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/collections
For more Science media clips, I’ve bookmarked a few at : http://www.delicious.com/dannynic/essentialmedia+science
Read MoreScience Videos from Twig
Twig is a website that provides over 500 3-minute films for Science at KS3 and GCSE level. It’s a subscription service, so schools will have to pay annually for access to the resource.
You can access a selection of free movies here. Take a look and see what you think.
The Twig service is accessed via the web, rather than via a Cachebox like some of its competing services like Clipbank. Also it is only geared to science, rather than a whole-curriculum approach like Clipbank.
Let me know what you think of Twig in the comments below.
Read MoreHow Science Works : Clip Bank Resources from BP
How Science Works – Clip Bank is a new free interactive Science/Chemistry resource from the BP Educational Service. It provides students aged 11-16 with some very useful examples of real-life science in action.
The topics covered in this resource include:
- Hydrocarbons from crude oil;
- Properties of hydrocarbons;
- Polymerisation;
- Combustion of fuels;
- Energetic reactions.
Short multimedia clips show students the real-life application of science within the context of BP’s petrochemical business. Linked to the UK curricula for Science and Chemistry, How Science Works – Clip Bank features a range of multi-media, including video clips, animations, interactive activities and photo slideshows.
The site also contains teacher guidance and curriculum links for Key Stage 3 (KS3) and links to the major exam boards at Key Stage 4.
It’s a useful resource, that’s well worth a look if you are looking for resources to teach chemistry or How Science Works. You need to register with the BP site to access the resources, but registration is free. You can see a preview of one of the videos before you register.
Find out more at www.bp.com/bpes/howscienceworks
Read MoreYouTube Launches New Site for Teachers
Teachers who love YouTube will be interested to know that today YouTube have launched a channel specifically aimed at teachers : http://www.youtube.com/teachers.
It contains guides on how to use YouTube in the classroom, as well as curated video playlists that will be suitable for teachers to use. For teachers who have yet to really use YouTube it’s a great place to start. Experienced users may still learn something new.
You can also sign up to the YouTube Teachers Community and receive regular updates from the YouTube team, including tips and tricks for incorporating YouTube in your classroom, best practices from other teachers, and great new content uploaded on YouTube.
According to Mind Shift, the new teachers site is part one of two big YouTube projects for teachers. In the next couple of weeks, a bigger announcement will be made about huge changes that will address many of the concerns teachers have had about using YouTube videos in the classroom.
This still won’t help you if your local authority/school block access to YouTube for everyone. Try and get them to at least open it up for teacher logins – there are so many useful resources out there it’s a shame to block access.
Don’t forget that there is also YouTube Edu which has lots of educational videos on it as well.
Read MoreThe Kid Should See This
The Kid Should See This describes itself as “Off the grid-for-little-kids videos and other smart stuff collected by Rion Nakaya and her three year old co-curator.” It’s a great eclectic mic of videos and other weird stuff that might provide “awe and wonder” in a lesson, or that you might want to bookmark for those times you want to show something a little different. Mostly embedded from YouTube so you’d still need access to show in school.
Take a look at : http://thekidshouldseethis.com/
hat tip to Jonathan Wylie for the link.
Read More
Mimio Training Videos
If you own a Mimio interactive whiteboard then you’ll be interested in this YouTube channel that contains several useful videos on how to use the Mimio software.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DYMOMimio
You can also find training materials and support via the official Mimio website.
You can download the most recent version of the Mimio software (version 8) by going here. (Trial version, needs activation key)
Read More
Science and Maths Videos from Brightstorm
Brightstorm is a beta site which hosts a large number of Science and Maths videos. There are over 2500 videos on the site covering many different aspects of High School Science and maths.
From what I can see, the videos consist of teachers giving lecture-style presentations with occasional graphics. This makes them good for revision, although they may not be the most eye-catching or exciting videos. Each video comes with an accompanying transcript of the audio which is a useful feature. Firstly it makes the video more accessible plus a teacher could copy/paste the text into a worksheet and create a comprehension activity related to the video.
Videos are grouped by topic, plus US teachers/students can search for videos linked to the major textbooks.
Some of the content is free, and some needs to be paid for. The Maths and Science videos are free—these 2,500+ videos cover every topic in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Precalculus, Trigonometry, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The paid content includes additional tools such as a Maths Homework Checker and test preparation programs which include practice quizzes, downloadable materials and full-length practice exams.
Check it out : http://www.brightstorm.com
What do you think of Brightstorm? Leave a comment and let me know.
Read MoreVeho Movi Mini Camera
I’ve recently bought myself a Veho Muvi video camera. It’s a tiny pocket sized camera that comes with a handy clip so that you can attach it to your clothes or to anything else that comes to mind! My aim is to finally take a small enough camera skiing with me so that I can record some skiing footage. I was too worried about taking my FlipCam out of my pocket to use it on the move!
The camera comes with a 2GB Micro SD Card, which should be able to record about 90 minutes of footage. It has a built in rechargeable battery which should last for about 2-3 hours. You can recharge it via USB. You can buy it from stores such as Play.com for about £40, which is pretty good value ($60 on Amazon.com). I made the mistake of buying a 16GB card to use, but it can only cope with 8GB maximum. I have bought an 8GB card now and it works fine.
The video quality is not bad, considering the size of the camera, and pretty comparable with my iPhone. Here’s a quick video to show the movie and sound quality. It’s not HD quality, but looks OK at 480p when uploaded to YouTube. Straight from the camera the quality is fine when played full-screen.
Uses in the classroom
Small, ultra portable cameras could have lots of uses in the classroom. Here’s just a few ideas:
- Get a whole new point of view – attach it to a turtles/Bee Bots, model cars, bike handlebars
- Get a student’s eye view of field work, museum trips or a tour of the school / journey to school. Attach to a head strap or clip to a shirt/blazer pocket. Hands-free recording.
- Record practical work/demonstrations from a different viewpoint.
- Get a minibeasts view of the world by getting it down into the undergrowth.
- Keep it handy to make recordings of good examples of pupil work. Its tiny size means it could easily go on a lanyard around your neck.
Can you think of other uses for such a small camera in the classroom? Add them to the comments below!
Fusion SMARTboard Video Guides
Smartboard users should definitely take a look at this website from Fusion Universal which offers more than thirty SMART Board tutorial videos on their website.
The videos cover lots of useful stuff for those starting out with a SMART board : from turning on a your board, showing how to orientate the board and how to use the gallery. You can’t download the videos, they have to be viewed via the Fusion Universal website. Each clip is pretty short – about 1-2 minutes, so they are nice bitesize chunks of information.
The Fusion site has a lot of other videos covering different tools such as Skype and Twitter, but not all are free.
It’s also worth reminding you that you can find some of my own SMART notebook tutorial videos in the guides section of this blog
Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers for sharing the link on his blog (via Dianne Krause)
Read More
About Me
Buy the book!
