There is a variety of learning materials that can be used in class.
Different people learn in different ways; this is a fact of the classroom and something that teachers often try to overcome. Some students learn by hearing, others by watching and others by doing. To teach as many students as effectively as possible, educators need access to a variety of learning materials.
Textbooks
Whether it's an elementary school math book or a college criminal justice tome, a textbook is a standard learning material. A textbook acts as a reference, explaining a subject in a certain order that goes with the teacher's curriculum (although many teachers skip around in the textbook as they teach). Textbooks don't engage some students, though, especially since the writing style is rarely engaging.
Video
Video covers a wide variety of materials, but generally it refers to non-interactive video materials. For instance, if students in geology are learning about volcanoes, a Discovery Channel special about volcanoes in Hawaii or the Ring of Fire might be an engaging program to supplement other learning materials. Videos allow students to be entertained and educated at the same time, and they engage those who are more visual learners than those who are more auditory learners that otherwise would be fine with a teacher's lecture.
Labs
Hands-on experience is a good way to learn. Laboratory experiments or field trips fulfill this goal. It's one thing to learn about how erosion affects the seashore by looking at pictures on a projector or in a textbook, but it's another to be there to see how the sand and soil are dropping into the ocean. Additionally, it's one thing to know that acid can dissolve copper completely into a solution, but nothing brings home the science more than watching a penny eaten away until it's gone.
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