Cable in the Classroom: Educational Programs for Teachers

Cable TV programs offer a wide variety of educational outlets for teachers in this day and age. From educational TV shows, websites and interactive multimedia, there is much to choose from. All these platforms help to inspire creativity, engage learners, and enhance the educational experience. And guess what? It's all free, thanks to the cable industry.

Every month, cable networks broadcast a large range of different educational programs. These programs aid in reaching children with different learning styles and help teachers by supplementing classroom instruction. If that wasn't enough, the network websites also provide more supportive educational materials from lesson plans, vocabulary lists, activities, and more!

Aside from educational programming and additional educational materials, many cable companies and networks have created an assortment of initiatives that feature mentoring, volunteerism, community building, awards, contests, and much more.

The use of cable in the classroom can be extremely beneficial for teachers and only continues to grow. For more information on ways in which to use cable for education, look to the following resources below.

• Cable in the Classroom
• Discovery Education-Free Teacher Resources
• National Geographic Education-Teacher Resources
• Bill Nye the Science Guy-For Kids & Teachers
• NASA
• CNN Student News
• Teaching Channel
• Iowa Public Television-K-12 Classroom Television Resource
• ReadWriteThink Classroom Resources
• Exploratorium for Educators
• Ask a Biologist
• Annenberg Learner Programs
• ETV South Carolina: Using Television in the Classroom
• Instructional Television's Changing Role in the Classroom
• Disney Channel and Cable in the Classroom
• A & E Classroom
• HGTV-Cable in the Classroom
• The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge
• Econedlink-Educators
• EDSITEment
• Science NetLinks
• ArchNet Virtual Site Tour Listings
• History Shows
• Bio Classroom
• Nick Jr Boost
• Animal Planet TV Shows
• Scholastic Teachers
• BBC America - Planet Earth
• C-SPAN Classroom
• Disney Educational Productions
• Weather Channel Kids - Teacher Guide
• Land on the Moon in Google Earth

These great resources offer wonderful opportunies for educational material in the classroom. The PC to TV converter or USB to HDMI lets teachers share the material on a projector, allowing the whole class to enjoy the learning experience. Or add a dual link DVI splitter to connect to multiple displays. But remember that you may need an IR repeater to control your devices from anywhere in the classroom.

By Trent Crawford