Ah, educational videos. When they're done well, they're great. When they're done poorly, students know it. The best educational videos that I've seen are also entertaining (edutainment?). For example, Bill Nye the Science Guy videos are fantastic. Bill Nye presents with a lot of enthusiasm and science content, and simplifies science topics without dumbing them down. These videos have their place in the classroom and in the home, as both education and entertainment.
At my school, we subscribe to a service called United Streaming, which is owned by Discovery. It offers thousands of educational videos on a range of subjects for all grades. Many of the videos are dull and difficult for young students to sit through. However, the nice thing about United Streaming is that the movies are available to download as clips, so instead of watching a full 20-minute video on the history of Thanksgiving, teachers can pick a specific 5-minute clip that pertains to their lesson. United Streaming also offers Weston Woods books on video, which are fantastic video productions of books. The illustrations are animated and the books are nicely narrated. These clips and video books are educational in the content, but entertaining in the way they're presented.
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