Interactive Digital Textbooks and Videos Prove Crucial!

Now at the end of the first semester of Zack's junior year of high school, I am reflecting once again on the advantages of our technological age.  Zack's subjects this semester were: English 3, U.S. History, Health, Drama, Cartooning, PE 3, and Driver's Education.  We are continuing with the Pearson Literature program.  I bought the textbook for Zack and the All-in-One workbook as well as the Reader's Notebook- Adapted Version.  Pearson has a wonderful on-line platform where you can access the digital text which includes an audio read of all the selections.  Most of the lessons pertaining to Literary Analysis and Reading Strategies were also available with an audio playback.  The audio is in a "real" person's voice, as opposed to a computerized voice.  This feature helps speed up his lessons.  The on-line program also has vocabulary definitions and games for each unit and grammar tutorials.  It also contains worksheets, graphic organizers, tests, and answer keys.  I could've opted to print all Zack's materials instead of buying the All-in-One workbook, but decided it would cost more for ink than the cost of the physical workbook.  The Adapted Version of the Reader's Notebook is not part of the on-line materials. 

The U.S. History program I went with is Prentice Hall United States History: Reconstruction to the Present.  I went with this program for the same reasons as above.  There is wonderful on-line support with an audio read of the textbook, videos, and tests.  If you purchase the textbook with on-line support, you don't need to purchase the  Teacher's Edition or test booklets and answer keys.  Everything you need is on the website!  While Zack listens to the audio playback, he follows along in his physical textbook and I have the Teacher's Edition pulled up on a seperate computer.  I can answer the questions that are embedded in his textbook.  This is true of the Language Arts program as well.  (Pearson and Prentice Hall are both divisions of Pearson Education) The glossary can be accessed on-line, which is quicker for Zack than leafing through the pages of the glossary in the back of the book.  He doesn't have to go through the alphabet in his mind when trying to look up a term.  He just clicks on the letter of the word he is looking up, and then scrolls through the words to find the one he is looking for. 

I was also able to find a digital version of his health book on-line.  It too had an audio playback feature.  All I bought for this course was the workbook and the answer key.  This was a one semester class, but Zack had a great deal of information to cover.  It got to be rather overwhelming, so I interspersed videos from www.brainpop.com to break up the monotony.  Brainpop is a fantastic website with hundreds of animated videos covering Science, History, Social Science, Math, Technology, English, Arts and Music.  After Zack watched the video, he would then take the corresponding quiz provided by the site.  It was a fun, wonderful way for Zack to learn.  He loved Brainpop and often preferred to watch three videos with quizzes rather than complete a lesson from the textbook.

Speaking of videos, another great website is www.learn360.com.  Our school has a subscription to this website and I am able to access it for free.  It contains an enormous amount of videos covering all subjects related to academic learning.  Although Zack didn't like these videos as much as Brainpop because they aren't animated, it had proven to be a helpful supplement to his history studies. As a matter of fact, to get a temporary break from the textbook, we are currently using history videos on www.learn360 from the publisher Media Rich Learning.  Zack is studying The Roaring Twenties right now.  Media Rich Learning has a 30 minute video on this subject.  Their website, www.mediarichlearning.com, has corresponding lessons that include vocabulary, website activities, quizzes, and answer keys.  You need to register on the site, but it is free.

One more place where audio playback was crucial, was on the Driver's Education website.  Our school uses www.driveredtogo.com.  The lengthy reading was really getting Zack down in the dumps.  He almost dropped the course, but I found an option to add  audio playback for $5.00.  Again, a person's "real" voice read the material for him as he followed along in the text.  What a life saver!  Zack finished the course and passed the final exam.  He is now eligible to go to DMV to take the test for his permit.