Interactive Learning in a High School Science Classroom

abyelwood

In an upper-level Biology or Environmental Science classroom, the content can often be dense and overwhelming to comprehend. This can especially be the case when we are delivering content in a boring lecture heavy style. As a future educator in these subjects, I’ve been reflecting on how to move beyond passive consumption of information. This is where interactive lessons, and specifically videos, become a game-changer.

Enhancing Engagement through Interactivity

One of the biggest challenges when showing an educational documentary or something like a biological process video is avoiding student boredom. Students can easily zone out or get distracted. By using H5P to embed interactive elements directly into the video, we transform it from a lecture into more of a conversation.

  • Active Participation: Instead of watching a 10-minute clip on the Krebs cycle or climate change, students encounter pop-up questions that require them to think and click. Enticing them to pay attention so that they can answer the upcoming questions.
  • Built-in Formative Assessment: As a teacher, these embedded questions provide immediate feedback. Students can see right away if they’ve misunderstood a concept, allowing them to rewind and review before the video even ends.

Using H5P and interactive videos isn’t limited to my own lesson delivery. I can see the potential in putting these tools into the hands of the students. Allowing them to build their own interactive videos helps shift them from being consumers of technology to creators, which is where the deepest learning and overall engagement happens.

Reimagining Projects: Integrate Video Editing and Interactiveness

In traditional Science classrooms, projects on specific species or environmental processes/phenomena usually are done in the form of a poster or a series of slide presentations. While these are useful ways to make projects, they are overdone. For my future Biology and Environmental Science classes, I want to make video and audio editing an option to use when doing open-ended projects. Instead of a poster or slides, students would be able to produce a short documentary on a species or phenomenon of their choice.

How I will pull off this assignment:

  • Using H5P or basic video editing software, students can add a technical element to their projects. They aren’t just presenting facts on a slide or poster, but also planning, filming, editing their conduct. This can also benefit students that may struggle with public speaking, and feel better presenting their knowledge in video form.
  • To make the assignment truly engaging, the submission og the assignemnt isn’t the end. We would hold a digital film festival where students interact with each other’s videos and conduct peer assessments.
  • Because the videos are interactive, students can actually “take” the quizzes their classmates built into their documentaries, and this helps with the comprehension of the infromation.

By using video editing, students learn more than just science. They practice digital literacy, storytelling, and concise communication. These are skills that are essential for any future career in the 21st century.

My First Interactive Video:

Below is my first try at an interactive video. I chose to make mine about how to get a start on creating an IMovie video. Hope you enjoy!