Moving Research Forward with Moving Images

The use of videos in the classroom has certainly changed just over the last few years. And it should have. A few years ago, teachers plopped in a videotape, cut the classroom lights out and 20 minutes later everyone was asleep. Beside, being in copyright violation, this was not the best use of videos. We have to remember that we must blend clips with instruction. So now we have United Streaming, Safari Montage, Power Videos (in Dallas County) and other more sensible choices. These clips are shorter and often aligned with state standards. They take instructional use of videos to another level. Librarians have discovered TeacherTube, SchoolTube and provided that the school filters don't block it, YouTube. But I lucked up on these two US government-sponsored video databases. http://www.archive.org/details/FedFlix
http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=7
Students don't need passwords to access these two choices. They may view clips on their own at home. It's win-win. Before I forget, Britannica Online Videoclips have really delivered for our students.