How MathVids Works
1. Teachers create videos and send them to us
Teachers from around the country come to the MathVids website. By the way, by teachers, we mean any educator or person of sufficient knowledge to be able to speak knowledgably about a subject. For instance, a college student might feel competent and able enough to be able to teach a lesson on slope or solving linear equations. Therefore, the term "teacher" is simply a term that identifies the person submitting or teaching a lesson. When a teacher visits the MathVids website, he or she can view the Suggested Lesson Topics that students from around the country have submitted to the website. The teacher can choose to either teach one of the requested topics or a topic of his or her choice. These teachers use whatever means they can to create a lesson. Our preference is that they use the SMART Board Software, but this is by no means required. After creating a lesson, the teacher teaches the lesson and records it. There are many ways of recording a lesson, including using a camcorder. Our suggested method of recording, however, is by using the SMART video recorder that comes with the SMART Board software. This software allows a teacher to record the screen of their monitor / SMART Board no matter the method they use to teach (SMART Board Software, PowerPoint, etc). Finally, once a lesson has been recorded, the teacher uploads the video to the MathVids website using the easy upload area. If the video is recorded using another means (such as camcorder) and it is difficult for the teacher to get the video onto his or her computer, he or she may mail it directly to the MathVids company.
2. You sign up for a free MathVids.com subscription
Sign up for a free account to begin watching videos, rating them, and save your favorite videos and teachers so you can find them again easily. Also, schools can purchase site licenses for their entire student body for a drastically reduced amount per student. For information on school group rates, please contact us directly.
3. Students around the country watch videos and rate them
When you or any other students from around the country view a video, we ask that you rate it between 0 and 5 stars and write a review about what you thought was good and/or bad about the video. This tells us what you thought of the video, and it allows us to make the website as well as the quality of videos produced better. It also lets other students know what videos you thought were helpful or beneficial. Because there is a good chance that a topic will be taught by multiple teachers, this also gives you the opportunity to watch the video of a particular topic that received the best rating and reviews.
4. You pass your math class by finding a teacher you can understand.
Finally, the ultimate result of your affiliation with MathVids will hopefully result in you receiving a good grade in your math class. We know that every student does not learn in the same way. We also know that the short time allotted for each day's lesson is sometimes not sufficient, and tutoring can be expensive and hard to find. Therefore, we offer the MathVids service as a sort of alternative and/or supplement to one-on-one tutoring. You can think of MathVids as an extension of your school classroom, where you pick the teacher and you pick the speed at which the information is covered. Hear it and see it as many times as you want and at whatever pace you want. Our videos also sometimes have supplemental handouts or worksheets for extra practice.
Becoming a contributor
1. Sign up to use the MathVids site.
Signing up for the MathVids website is completely free and there are no obligations. By simply signing up, you will have access to all videos and you will be able to submit videos to our server. We ask you to provide your name so not only can you get credit for your work, students can identify you and link you to your videos (to be able to see all of the videos that you have taught). Also, we need to be able to locate you to compensate you for your lessons.
2. Create a lesson using the SMART Board software.
If you feel comfortable teaching a math topic and you would like to contribute to our site, we ask that you submit a video of yourself teaching a lesson. We suggest using a SMART Board and SMART Board software to create and teach your lesson, but this is not required. If you or your school have access to a SMART Board, creating and teaching lessons is virtually pain-free. The SMART Board toolbox includes a video recorder that captures the content of the screen. With the aid of a microphone, your voice and the screen can be captured while you teach the lesson, and you will never even be in the picture. For more information on how exactly to set up your SMART Board and start the SMART video recorder in your classroom, go to the video tutorial help section of the website. You will also find video tutorials on how to teach the lesson in alternative ways there. You may make a lesson on whatever topic you are most comfortable. Multiple lessons on the same topic are allowed and even encouraged - students learn in different ways, and the more ways we can represent, the better chance a student will understand one of them. However, we ask that you try to teach a lesson on the Most Wanted List if possible, as these are topics that are not currently available on the website, and a student has requested a video on that topic.
3. Teach your lesson, record it, and upload it to MathVids.com
Once you have created, taught, and recorded your lesson, you are almost done. If you have taught and recorded the lesson on your computer using screen capturing software and a microphone, then you can simply upload your video to our server using the easy upload page, which will convert your video into a flash video and send it directly to our server to be reviewed, analyzed, and either approved or rejected. As long as a video is helpful and appropriate, it will be accepted. When approved, it will be listed under the appropriate area on the website and linked with your name and school. Students can then watch it, rate it, and review it.
4. Students learn by watching your videos.
You are helping to give students an opportunity to learn that they may never have had otherwise. Students are able to watch your videos over and over again until they understand their lesson from school or their local library, where YouTube and TeacherTube and traditionally blocked.
