Saturday, October 17, 2009

My Class Blog

At the start of the school year, I started a separate blog specifically for my physics classes. It will be a work in progress, of course, with one aspect being a variety of 'how to' videos for numerous physics problems and topics. The latest, for example, is 'how to do multi-body systems with tension,' which can be confusing to students who are first exposed to such problems. The videos are actually screencasts with voice, made with ScreenToaster, which I recommend to all teachers. This online tool, along with a tablet computer, is truly a powerful combination for producing useful presentations that can be embedded online. I have already used such screencasts for students who miss a couple days due to illness or college visits, where examples done in class and then put online have allowed them to catch up immediately. I plan on making an online library with all sorts of examples, notes, and demonstrations so students can review at their leisure, whether it is just to remind themselves of what went on during class, or reviewing for a quizzam, or catching up when absent. It is also a good tool for parents to check out if they are interested in what happens in their child's class.