Teachers have been integrating video into their classroom instruction since the first educational VCR tapes came to be available for popular in the 1980’s (Geist, 1985). Now, videos offer easier-to-use, on-demand access to educational films and documentaries to amplify learning and retention. Videos offer an immersive, flexible, engaging, and stimulating experience, with the ability to integrate information in ways that are fun, entertaining, and easy to understand. So, how well do videos work in the classroom, and how are teachers using them to drive learning? Just look at what the stats have to say.

Boclips’ library of content is always growing and we’re adding videos that cover subjects across the curriculum. In addition to 50 new YouTube channels including Video Spark Notes, GradeSaver, and Epic Reads, we’re excited to announce new partners with videos on topics for English, Sciences, Sociology, and Early Childhood. Check out this month's content roundup:

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year. This means that in the average classroom 5 students will have a mental health disorder, and many more will have friends or family who are affected. For this reason. educational institutions around the world have begun adding a focus on mental health to their student health and wellbeing curriculum, which has included physical education and healthy eating for some time.

What is differentiation? Think of it as a class road trip: If each student were handed a map of the United States and told to plan a trip from Point A to Point B - say, Washington D.C. to San Diego - what routes would they come up with?

Publishers and courseware creators face a great deal of complexity when seeking to incorporate more video content into their course materials. While they’ve developed efficient workflows to develop and source text as well as still images for their online offerings, video is another beast - one that many publishers and curriculum developers have yet to tame.

The importance of using video in the classroom can’t be overstated. Students are so accustomed to engaging with media-rich content outside of the classroom that it’s become a near necessity to include it inside the classroom for purposes of engagement. Using video can also help reinforce educational concepts that are challenging to convey verbally or with still imagery, and one study shows a litany of other benefits, including cultural awareness, digital literacy and workforce preparedness.

Videos aren't a new content type for academic publishers. They’ve produced and provided video content for years for educators and curriculum designers. First, they met the demand by pumping out CD-ROMs and DVDs and packaging them in the back of textbooks, full of "interactive" activities and videos. Back in those days, teachers would take their students down to the computer lab and walk them through an interactive or video during class time.

February is Black History Month and Boclips for Teachers has resources to incorporate Black history videos into any lesson. Bring living history into the classroom with engaging videos on everyone from Miles Davis to Missy Elliot, Toni Morrison to Angie Thomas, and Harriet Tubman to Maya Angelou.

Check out these classroom-ready videos in our growing Black History collections. Don't have an account? Sign up for a 10-day Trial Now.

This National Tech Day, a plethora of new apps, tools, and services are knocking on the classroom door. The 21st-century educator has a tech toolkit that is constantly expanding, but as teachers begin to rethink the learning experience they’re increasingly concerned about the process of integrating and maximizing the value of technology in the educational space.

Curious about where the Boclips name comes from? In celebration of Bodhi Day in the Chinese lunar calendar, we're taking the opportunity to tell you all about it.