Finding stimulus for a topic introduction

Module 7

Finding media stimulus for a topic introduction

As a teacher, you want to introduce a topic with a stimulating use of media or thought provoking resource such as a sound bite, animation, video clip or music. What kinds of resources do you think the learners will find stimulating? Have you ever used such a resource before in your teaching? If so, where did you find it? How would you go about finding stimulus resources on the Internet?

Plan It Plan It

Think about the following questions, and if working with a partner, discuss your ideas. Writing your ideas on a sheet of paper might be helpful.

For what reason might you decide to use stimulus material?
What information or idea would you like to communicate via this media clip? What sort of media might you use?
In what classroom context will you use this stimulus ?

For help on how to do certain tasks, look at the following groups in the
Help Guide:

3.1 To open a web browser
3.4 To go to a page on the Web
3.5 To bookmark a favorite page on the Web
4.3 To save a page or pages from the Web
4.4 To save a picture or image from the Web
4.5 To save a sound or music file from the Web
4.6 To save a movie or video file from the Web

Do It

Start the web browser software, and go to www.google.com or www.bing.com.
Click on the "Advanced" hyperlink.
Type in the keywords of the media that you wish to find.
Click on the black down arrow next to the "File type" box
Select the .SWF file type for animations.
For other media, use the key word and include the file extension of media type in the search. For example a seacrh for Barcelona MP3 will give you access to the song by Freddie Mercury. Here are some common media file types

Music: MP3 MP4 AVI
Video: WMV AVI MOV SWF MPG MPEG
Animation: SWF GIF

If you are looking for videos you could go to Google, but www.youtube.com is one of the primary video sites. There are free software programmes that you can use to download a file from YouTube.
To search for videos you can also go to www.searchforvideo.com
To search for photos or images use the Images link in Google before typing in your keywords for the search.

Review It

Review the media files that you collected. Consider the following questions:

Will the use of these media files (or one specific file) enhance the lesson?
How will you introduce the use of the media file?
How will you know whether the use of the file has been a success?
How will you follow up after the use of the media file?

Share It

Be prepared to discuss your answers to the following questions during
sharing time:

How will your media stimulus help you or another teacher to make the lesson a success?
For what other reasons might you use the media with learners?
Which of the Internet skills that you learned today might you use again? For what types of tasks might you use those skills?

Module 7 Exploring the Internet

	Module 7 Finding media stimulus for a topic introduction As a teacher, you want to introduce a topic with a stimulating use of media or thought provoking resource such as a sound bite, animation, video clip or music. What kinds of resources do you think the learners will find stimulating? Have you ever used such a resource before in your teaching? If so, where did you find it? How would you go about finding stimulus resources on the Internet? Plan It Think about the following questions, and if working with a partner, discuss your ideas. Writing your ideas on a sheet of paper might be helpful. For what reason might you decide to use stimulus material? What information or idea would you like to communicate via this media clip? What sort of media might you use? In what classroom context will you use this stimulus ? For help on how to do certain tasks, look at the following groups in the Help Guide: 3.1 To open a web browser 3.4 To go to a page on the Web 3.5 To bookmark a favorite page on the Web 4.3 To save a page or pages from the Web 4.4 To save a picture or image from the Web 4.5 To save a sound or music file from the Web 4.6 To save a movie or video file from the Web Do It Start the web browser software, and go to www.google.com or www.bing.com. Click on the "Advanced" hyperlink. Type in the keywords of the media that you wish to find. Click on the black down arrow next to the "File type" box Select the .SWF file type for animations. For other media, use the key word and include the file extension of media type in the search. For example a seacrh for Barcelona MP3 will give you access to the song by Freddie Mercury. Here are some common media file types Music: MP3 MP4 AVI Video: WMV AVI MOV SWF MPG MPEG Animation: SWF GIF If you are looking for videos you could go to Google, but www.youtube.com is one of the primary video sites. There are free software programmes that you can use to download a file from YouTube. To search for videos you can also go to www.searchforvideo.com To search for photos or images use the Images link in Google before typing in your keywords for the search. Review It Review the media files that you collected. Consider the following questions: Will the use of these media files (or one specific file) enhance the lesson? How will you introduce the use of the media file? How will you know whether the use of the file has been a success? How will you follow up after the use of the media file? Share It Be prepared to discuss your answers to the following questions during sharing time: How will your media stimulus help you or another teacher to make the lesson a success? For what other reasons might you use the media with learners? Which of the Internet skills that you learned today might you use again? For what types of tasks might you use those skills?