Ah, webcams. Believe it or not, they aren’t just for lip synching, insane rants and stripteases that will come back to haunt you when your kids are old enough to surf YouTube. There are webcams stationed all around the world that can prove to be valuable educational resources, showing vivid, live-action details that bring textbooks alive and transport viewers to the other side of the globe — because it’s more powerful to see things than to read about them.

(more…)

This video has been around for a while, but it’s still a powerful and engaging argument for the increased use of technology in classrooms. Although it’s aimed at teachers and school administrators, the potency of the message isn’t lost on the rest of us, and while not all of the suggestions might be feasible, it’s this sort of out-of-the-box thinking that will hopefully fuel education in the 21st century. Plus, it’s got purty music.

(more…)

Choosing a college is hard enough without the hassle of traveling halfway across the country for a campus tour — only to discover within the first five minutes that you hate the school and it smells like wet potato chips. Now, there’s a site to help you get a sense of what student life is like at hundreds of US college campuses without leaving home (sadly, descriptions of smells aren’t included).

(more…)

Where to Watch Documentary Movies Online for Free

Here are the best sites we’ve found to watch documentary movies online for free, without any of that torrent downloading mess. Who knows, maybe they can help you with research on a term paper — or at least help you procrastinate writing said term paper. (Note: there’s a lot of stuff available if you go directly to Google Video and YouTube, but good luck browsing through the randomness for documentaries unless you know what specific movie you’re looking for.)

(more…)

USA Today has a nice profile on the educational potential of YouTube, something we highlighted a few weeks ago. In particular, it mentions a great non-profit, one-man organization called the Khan Academy, which has published almost 700 videos on YouTube dealing primarily with math but also touching upon finance and banking — including compound interest, home equity loans and the mortgage crisis. The Khan videos have become popular with high school and college students looking to supplement their schoolwork — and no doubt adults hoping to make sense of why their house is now worth less than their car.

Of course, YouTube videos shouldn’t be used as a replacement for formal education; they’re more of a study aide. Think of them as video CliffsNotes, which we all know shouldn’t be read in place of the actual book (ahem). While these videos have the benefits of convenience and replayability, viewers should be wary of both the picture and content quality. If a video claims that Harriet Tubman was Harry Truman’s post-op stage name, for instance, think twice about its reliability.