iTunes University (WGBH Teacher's Domain)

There were videos after videos available for teachers to use. These videos would be great tools for teachers to consider using in the classroom. Teachers could use them as a backup resource when teaching a particular subject or as a video for the class to view to help them better understand what the teacher is talking about. The videos give teachers other options in teaching a lesson instead of just using the regular text book. The videos are short and informational which means it would not take up too much time to view and discuss.

I watched "What Is A Planet" under the Grades K-5 category of the Teacher's Domain videos. In the video, astronomers believe that there may be more planets out there. We may have between 12 or 13 planets out there. A possible planet was discovered in 2005. There were at least 13 planets back in the 1800s. The count of planets was higher then than it is today. An official definition of a planet was not created until August of 2006. Things with tails are called comets. A planet is a body that orbits a star, has enough mass to create its own gravity, has a round shape, and has cleared it's neighborhood. Pluto is not considered a planet because it has not cleared it's neighborhood. Pluto has not cleared the area around its orbit, because it crosses paths with Neptune.

This video would be great to use in a science class when talking about the solar system. It tells about asteroids, comets, and our planets. Not only is it an educational video but it provides different pictures or scenes for students to follow along to. This is good for students who are verbal and/or visual learners. The only problem I had was when the video would pause or skip around. It may be because of the buffering system. I would worry that it would shorten students' attention span.