FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 5/7/10) Education is about to take a giant leap forward and it starts right here in Memphis.
Does a Child in Frayser or Whitehaven have the same opportunities in school as a child in Germantown? How about Seattle or Tokyo? Thanks to a revolutionary new tool, learning won't be defined by where you live.
"We will have equality in education and that's the most important thing," says Charles Boone, a philanthropist funding the project.
Boone bills the new program as the American Idol of teachers. It's a chance for the best and brightest teachers to showcase how they connect with kids. And now, students can learn on their own turf -- the internet. It's called WatchKnow.org and it's where your child's classroom could soon be reborn online. Call it YouTube with brains. WatchKnow is the latest clearinghouse for every lesson under the sun. Math, history, science all made easy. Come fall, your child could be remote learning from online videos of Mark Page's Advanced Placement Chemistry class at Lausanne Collegiate School.
"It gives them a heads-up on the front end," he says. "They have stuff they can do at home. They don't have to be in the lab."
LCS will be the first to collaborate with the fledgling website. Teachers there will upload videos of lessons; you can rate them and even ask for help with other tricky topics. Class time may be short, but with a click of a mouse your child could learn from the best teachers everywhere at any time. For students, it'll be easy because they're already plugged in. Only now are teachers getting on board.
"The kids really demand this type of interaction, this type of collaboration," says Arthur Rosario with LCS. "We're the ones that sometimes have to catch up to what they're doing."
The website's creators hope to not only change how children learn, but also how teachers teach. Through WatchKnow, every teacher can learn from the best in their field.
"The education business is all about stealing," says Page. "It's not about your own school and your own niche and your own teaching. It's about making sure everybody understands how you can make things better."
WatchKnow already has 17,000 educational videos uploaded and growing. It even links to videos from similar websites like TeacherTube and SchoolTube. Regardless where your child goes to school, he or she can learn from the best. So as Mr. Page's students experiment with science, a child half a world away can "watch" and "know" as well.
For more information, log on to www.watchknow.org .
- Website will collect educational videos for students
- Teachers in Memphis to test program
- www.watchknow.org
(Memphis 5/7/10) Education is about to take a giant leap forward and it starts right here in Memphis.
Does a Child in Frayser or Whitehaven have the same opportunities in school as a child in Germantown? How about Seattle or Tokyo? Thanks to a revolutionary new tool, learning won't be defined by where you live.
"We will have equality in education and that's the most important thing," says Charles Boone, a philanthropist funding the project.
Boone bills the new program as the American Idol of teachers. It's a chance for the best and brightest teachers to showcase how they connect with kids. And now, students can learn on their own turf -- the internet. It's called WatchKnow.org and it's where your child's classroom could soon be reborn online. Call it YouTube with brains. WatchKnow is the latest clearinghouse for every lesson under the sun. Math, history, science all made easy. Come fall, your child could be remote learning from online videos of Mark Page's Advanced Placement Chemistry class at Lausanne Collegiate School.
"It gives them a heads-up on the front end," he says. "They have stuff they can do at home. They don't have to be in the lab."
LCS will be the first to collaborate with the fledgling website. Teachers there will upload videos of lessons; you can rate them and even ask for help with other tricky topics. Class time may be short, but with a click of a mouse your child could learn from the best teachers everywhere at any time. For students, it'll be easy because they're already plugged in. Only now are teachers getting on board.
"The kids really demand this type of interaction, this type of collaboration," says Arthur Rosario with LCS. "We're the ones that sometimes have to catch up to what they're doing."
The website's creators hope to not only change how children learn, but also how teachers teach. Through WatchKnow, every teacher can learn from the best in their field.
"The education business is all about stealing," says Page. "It's not about your own school and your own niche and your own teaching. It's about making sure everybody understands how you can make things better."
WatchKnow already has 17,000 educational videos uploaded and growing. It even links to videos from similar websites like TeacherTube and SchoolTube. Regardless where your child goes to school, he or she can learn from the best. So as Mr. Page's students experiment with science, a child half a world away can "watch" and "know" as well.
For more information, log on to www.watchknow.org .
