This week's entry focuses on a site that has a little bit of everything. Hippocampus is a site dedicated to providing high-quality multimedia content on a variety of subjects to highschool and college students FREE OF CHARGE.
There are currently 10 subject areas with subtopics to choose from. Although it is an American curriculum, a lot of the subject material overlaps into B.C. curriculum areas. After you choose a subject area, you can browse by topic and select the areas that are most relevant.
Since teachers and students can control the content of the courses using the SMART Board, they are able to quickly pause the course material and take notes at any point during the course. The courses also contain assessments that students can solved on the SMART Board and then put their answers in the space provided to receive feedback.
Even if you don't use this resource in class, the course material is a great way to get ideas to enhance your existing lessons.
Another interesting tidbit that I came across was a school in England who has incorporated Ipod Touches into their classroom. Our district has been considering the idea of providing laptops to students within the next five years. However due to cost and equipment issues this may not be very practical. The Ipod Touch may be an alternative.
If you are not familiar with the Ipod Touch, it is the latest version of the Ipod with a touch sensitive screen. You can download programs called Apps from the Itunes, many for free. A lot of them are designed for educational purposes.
The video clip below shows you what the school in England has experienced since taking on the Ipod touches - this is filmed after about two weeks of using them - and how the students, who are elementary age, have taken to them. Perhaps this may be an alternative to laptops for students. Something to think about.
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