NEWSDAY IN EDUCATION / MIDDLE COUNTRY TEACHER CENTER

Lesson #17

In-service Course

Ben Amato | Newfield High School The key to using Internet resources is having them handy, ready and directly related to the topics you are covering in your class. Your favorites list on your Internet browser has to become more than a collection of sites you might want to visit again. It has to be a file cabinet, filled with audio clips, video programs and text material ready for classroom use. It has to be overflowing with "confidence," promoting a feeling that every time you access it, you will find what you need.

During the previous sixteen lessons, I have taken you to many diverse locations on the Net. These should be on your favorites list. This lesson will introduce you to another oasis of information, the five network news websites. CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and CNN all maintain websites stocked with news articles, video clips, audio files, active links and in a few cases, incredible "teaching resources" that will bring the world into your classroom.

Multimedia Instruction provides students with material that appeal to ALL learning styles: Listening, Visual, Academic and Kinesthetic. These news media websites have everything you need to create multimedia lessons. The trick is to "harvest" the "raw material" and put the pieces together, quickly.

Begin with the video, because "good" video is the rarest of all commodities. Once you have the video clip, move next to the text component. Usually there is an article "attached" to the video clip. This, most times, offers more factual information and details than the video, which makes it a perfect text attachment. The next stage is to find some audio clip to supplement the multimedia lesson. If the news website does not have them, then go to the best site for radio news, NPR.ORG. Their archive will supply you with all the radio clips you will ever need.

But the key to using Multimedia Teaching techniques in the classroom is AVAILABILITTY. That's what makes these sites perfect resources. They all have SEARCH ENGINES which allows you to type in the topic you are looking for, and the website will deliver you all the video, audio and text material that suits that topic. You just have to become a good hunter / gatherer.

The ASSIGNMENT for this lesson focuses on the CBS news website and all they have to offer. Head over to the ASSIGNMENT PAGE and have a good time exploring these valuable resources.