PBS-WGBH Teachers' Domain

WGBH, a PBS affiliate in Boston, provides a service through ITunes University called Teachers' Domain. WGBH provides video clips that have been taken from PBS shows such as NOVA and Frontline/NOVA. All of the videos are geared toward science and would be useful for elementary school teachers and middle/high school science teachers.

I watched two of the videos from the 9-12 grades Teachers' Domain resources. Both videos came from the same NOVA episode, "City of Coral", but they were on different aspects of the coral reef. The first video, A Night in the Coral Reef, featured the creatures that come out at night in the coral reef. Marine Animals such as the octopus, sea urchin, and porcupine fish. The second video I watched, Energy Flow in the Coral Reef, explained the process of photosynthesis in the reef. It also showcased a lot of marine life that is prominent in the coral reef during the daylight hours.

I believe this service could be very useful in the classroom. The videos are broken down in to particular subjects, allowing teachers to choose material that is specifically relevant to their lessons. I would use these videos as reinforcement of material taught in class. I would also have students take notes on the videos and then have discussion of those notes afterwards.

I Tunes University

ITunes University is a service of Apple's ITunes. It enables students to have access to educational content from universities across the country. It also provides students with a way to take the information with them, so to speak, by using an IPod or IPhone.

I believe that ITunes University could be of great use to me as a student. Since ITunes University allows content such as lectures and programs from other universities across the country, it could be a great tool for research. As a teacher, ITunes may not be suitable for elementary age children, although I do believe there are a few programs geared to that age group, however, it would be suitable for grades 9-12. I feel it could be beneficial to high school students because it would expose them to some upper level education that they may not have access to otherwise.

For more information regarding ITunes University visit http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/itunesu.html.