In high school my teachers loved popping in a NUMBERS
episode when they were sick. Sometimes it actually worked well with the
unit we were in, other times you can tell that they didn't want to teach that
day. My statistics class was always watching episodes from NUMBERS.
In this class it was appropriate. Many of the episodes shown had
statistics built into the problem they needed solving. Other times when we
were shown a video it was some sort of cartoon, that was very childish. Sometimes these were needed but most of the
time it made us feel as if we weren’t smart enough to get the concept the
teacher was trying to make.
My question is more so about the significance of a video in
a math classroom. Most of the times when
math videos or tv programs were shown they had no real significance to the unit
we were learning, or to the class in general.
I believe videos can be used and should be used. When I took History of Mathematics here at
MSU, we had to present a topic and teach the class about it. Most of the groups brought a video to
show. The videos they showed made the
class more engaging and I learned about different topics I had never learned
before. When videos are used in an
effective way they can actually help students learn the material being
taught. When students see videos that
have no relevance to the class, some of the progress you have made will be
lost.