Videodisc Information

Facts:

Sources of Videodiscs/Players:

Look for videodisc players in the following places:

Classroom Applications

Videodiscs should be generic enough to fit a wide range of applications. Possibilities are endless with the availability of a few hundred still photos, diagrams, and movies. Here are some suggestions of how teachers use the rich resources found in videodiscs.

  1. Lecture support: The class watches the video images on one to several monitors, or on a video projector for groups larger than 80-100. When using these monitors, there is no need to turn off the room lights to show an image. Make note of the frame numbers in your lesson plans or lecture notes, or paste bar-codes which correspond to the desired frames into your notes. After you have made your instructional point with the video image, you can turn off the video ("Pause" on the remote control) to get attention back. Many lecturers find that, unlike slides or movies which require time to set up and adjust, videodisc images can be sprinkled through the lecture at precisely the right moments. Many of the films are excellent "kickers" to get the discussion started, or just show the relevant action that is your point of instruction right now. The prudent use of multimedia helps keep the presentation moving and improves student attentiveness.

    Many of the computer graphics are presented in a progressive reveal manner. A complicated diagram is split into several frames with a little more information added with each step of the videodisc. This can be used effectively in a lecture format.


  2. Lecture Review: A student equipped with lecture notes and frame number notations can easily review and repeat topics as needed. Any effort placed in preparing lecture notes with frame numbers is rewarded by making review or make-ups easier.


  3. Observation and Analysis: Ask students to watch a movie or selected still carefully and describe what they see. The disc plays at 30 frames per second; this fact can be used to time events on the disc. Since the disc can be stopped to make a point, short sections can be easily repeated and/or run at various speeds, detailed analysis of the action can be made.

    For example, in studying the periodic behavior of the alkali metals you can study in detail the nature of the reaction. In the cesium explosion, step through the explosion with the remote control and notice that a pocket of hydrogen gas forms and then ignites in an explosion.


  4. Small Group - Collaborative Learning: Allow small groups to work together with the disc and plan presentations for the rest of the class. As students search for images for their project they find many other interesting topics to identify using the directory and there is serendipitous learning.


  5. Disc Based Quizzes: Visual quizzes can be given using the videodisc. The instructor should prepare quiz questions and then search to the particular frame or motion sequences of interest. The audio can be turned off to remove the narrative.


  6. The Computer Connection: By linking the logical capability of a computer with the videodisc player, a new level of interaction is possible. Linkages between concepts invite students to explore their interests in a non-linear, discovery style. For example, a textual database is available for the Chemistry at Work videodisc using HyperCardª for the Macintosh and Linkwayª for IBM/Compatible computers. With this commercially available database, four different indexes can be referenced at the same time. Selected images can be included in a customized slide show. Students could use this to create visual reports. Special pre-written access lessons allow experiment simulations, gas-law modeling and periodic table exploration.


  7. Individualized Instruction: Participation by students is a key feature of interactive video. Attention and interest increases the more each student has control of the disc, whether by means of computer interface, bar-code reader, or simply the remote control. Innovative classrooms today provide learning stations where small groups or individuals directly control their learning. When there is not enough equipment to go around students cycle through the stations while the rest of the class does other activities. This requires some adjustment of schedules and lesson plans. This technology holds the promise of providing better learning opportunities for each individual while giving teachers time to do what they do best.


  8. Levels of Interaction: There are two levels of interaction for the lessons described in this packet, Low Level and Multimedia.. (They are often referred to in the literature as Level I and Level III.) Both of these terms refer to the level of interaction with the videodisc player and the computer by the student or the teacher.

    Low Level: The student or teacher uses the videodisc player as a VCR or a slide projector. Access to slides or movies is by hand remote or by bar-code reader. The interaction may be in a group lecture or lab setting, or possibly in small groups, or by individuals reviewing missed information from a lecture or lab. No computer is available or necessary.

    Multimedia: The computer is required. It is linked to the videodisc player to control all functions, and to provide for true student to videodisc and computer interactivity. The computer is used to choose frame numbers and chapters for tutorials and presentations. It helps to arrange custom lists of still frames, movies, graphics, sounds, and text for a "multimedia" slide projector presentation. It accesses visual data bases. It combines and prints bar-codes. It also creates buttons for stacks in Hypercardª. Students in groups or individually are expected to control, access, manipulate, create and design at this level. Their learning usually takes place in a non-linear fashion.


Presenter(s) for this seminar:

Mark Case and John Hnatow

Emmaus HS, 851 North St., Emmaus, PA 18049