The catchy tune is still stuck in my head some 15 years later! 'You can read, you can read, you can read, you can read, yes indeed, you can read...'
Who can remember these educational videos from way back when? As a young child I remember my brother and I sitting transfixed in front of the television for hours on end watching the 'You CAN read' videos! We used to love them! They had interesting stories in them with colorful pictures, catchy songs and short clips- all with a hidden educative message. Oh we used to shout the words along with the narrator, feeling as though we were part of the story. Back then it was as entertaining to us as cartoons! Why Istill remember some of the stories like that of Chickin Lickin!
I'm sure that if you have seen these videos, or perhaps you have shown them to your children you will agree with me when saying that they are e-learning at its best! Even though there is no face-to-face communication the children learn so much from these films! Not only do they learn how to count, read, and recite stories but they may also pick up the superb accent!
I believe that these videos are great proof that not only does e-learning work, but it can be introduced at all levels of education and may be quite benefical to the viewers!
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I agree with Leanne on this, and I must say that 'you can read' and other such programmes are a very good example of e-learning for young children - as these incorporate learning, watching TV and fun and therefore children watch these programmes willingly.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that such material is readily available - in various types of programmes - for young children ... but not for teenagers ... but then, would teenagers actually find e learning through watching education videos as interesting as children do?
Ah, how many memories you bring back! Of course we all remember these videos which were the first serious try and successful if I may add,of e-learning.
ReplyDeleteThis week I tried something similar with my students, where I had a four page case study, which I had already sent to them by email to read through before reading in class, but to my 'astonishment' no one had read it.
So my e-learning experiment failed! then I thought of something different, I projected the case study on the wall and asked each and every student to read a paragraph, and surprise, surprise the amount of excuses I got. Like, "sir I'm too tired to read, I'm shy to read in front of the class, I cannot read, the print is too small etc."
Yes, they did read it at the end (with a lot of mistakes) but some how me managed. Then came the actual assignment in class based on the case study, which was mostly 'copy and paste' and yet again I had many mistakes as some students found it too stressing and too difficult to go through four pages of text in 1.5hours!
Unfortunately, with some students, although we assume that they are at MCAST and at least should know the basics, cannot even read! What are we to do? I don't know, but we must stop spoon feeding them!
I do not remember ‘You can read’ but boy do I know Barney and friends!! - every single tune from ‘I love you’ to ‘Say please and thank you – the magic words’ ring in my ears daily. Most kids (and some adults as well) learn a lot from these kinds of programmes, which are often more effective than nagging your children to ‘clean up’, say ‘please and thank you’ and share their stuff.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Analisa that unluckily there is not much material which can be used for young adults. However I can not agree that teenagers would not benefit from and enjoy such educational videos. I believe that if we can find more ways of teaching through the use of videos or maybe internet games I am sure that the students will be more involved and engaged in their lessons.
Unfortunately, I also have to agree with Mario that some students lack the basic ability to read and more importantly understand what they are reading. As for using e-learning, most of my students use Facebook daily, but if you ask them to present an assignment on a word processor they balk and come up with loads of excuses. I feel that these problems need to be tackled at a much earlier level in their schooling. At MCAST level students should be improving their analytical skills and not learn how to read!
I have to agree with Suzanne, students should be improving on their skills and not learning the basics. I believe that the major problem of our students is the lack of motivation, I am pretty sure they don't read the assignments once finished and sometimes they don't even make an effort to understand the question. Instead they simply copy and paste from the net.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a simple solution with any student would be to have them use applications such as Facebook, Twitter and others in an educational way. There are so many good website they can read from, just to enhance their vocabulary.
I wish to answer Analisa’s question, “Would teenagers actually find e learning through watching education videos as interesting as children do?”
ReplyDeleteI would say YES. During my previous employment, I was given a lot of training, tackling various matters in auditing. There were times where short videos were used to present us with different scenarios, and then we students had to discuss it and come with a solution ourselves.
These sessions were very beneficial and it is difficult to forget the material presented. I teach auditing and there is a lot of educational videos. The only problem I find is that these videos are very expensive to buy. Unless these are provided to me by the institute, I cannot make use of them, which is a shame.
I really believe that our students can learn effectively through educational videos.
I have to agree with Nadia. Educational videos are a very important teaching tool and can be much more beneficial than traditional teaching methods.
ReplyDeleteThis year, I had a unit on Techniques and process where I taught students how different materials are produced and manufactured. Video clips and where it was possible on-site visits were much more effective than when I tried delivering lectures using power point presentations or other methods.
It is a great pity that MCAST does not offer its lecturers funds which can be used for teaching material or for research material as have lecturers at Sixth Form and University. This facility is even given to part time lecturers at university. Maybe it is about time that certain things change.
The problem Analisa might be thinking of here is the fact that teenagers, unlike adults, tend to have a disconcerted view of the world. As both Suzanne and Chris both point out they try to rebel against many systems of learning and mainly focus on having fun. Thus certain extra initiative from the teacher might not be as welcome as children. Where children enjoy watching videos such as 'You Can Read' and 'Barney and Friends', which I agree with Suzanne is a great way to learn manners and etiquette, older students might not find similar modes of learning as entertaining.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I believe that there are programs which are trying to educate teenagers without their realizing it. Let us take a look at MTV!
EXILED
One of the shows that I love to watch on this channel (apart from the music videos) is Exiled, which may seem superficial at first glance but does have a hidden meaning. This show is about a teenager who has been previously thrown a MASSIVE birthday party (documented by MTV) and one year later is being sent to a third world country to become ‘less spoilt’.
This might seem petty at first however; there is more to it that meets the eye. In reality apart from this spoilt kid getting a taste of the real world, by having to face the harsh conditions of third world countries (and MTV getting its program), the viewers are learning too. The child has to live with people whose culture is radically different from their own. Thus similar to an ethnography these children (and the viewers along with them) are learning about a whole new culture! Hence through a series of cause and events MTV is subtly educating our youth on the different cultures of the world and how alike we are through our differences!