by John Church
At SUNY Plattsburgh, students have an abundance of resources at their disposal. Recently, a video series was recorded by Advanced Placement Daily, to help high school and college student’s access classroom resources. AP Daily helps students learn the course material for a specific class.
AP Daily offers students a wide variety of videos covering multiple topics no matter the subject. Whether a college student is looking to learn topics for their general education courses, or a high school student is looking to pass their AP exams, the AP Daily video series is for anybody who is ready to learn.
Associate Professor of Physics at SUNY Plattsburgh, Dr. Ken Podolak was one of 10 college professors to contribute a video to the Physics 1 portion of the AP Daily series by making a few videos of his own.
“The series has different professors teaching different subjects,” Podolak said. “The math and world history are taught by different faculty members. In the physics portion of the series, I teach students about electrical circuits, and it’s as if I were teaching a college class, except it’s a pre-recorded lesson without students having to watch it live. Students can go back and watch the videos over when they like. Teachers can assign the video in class or out of class. But there’s more than just me. I was able to just contribute to the AP physics version of it.”
Similar to Moodle at SUNY Plattsburgh, AP Daily has a site, where students can learn to master a specific subject. Teachers can register students to sign up for the website in their classes. Aside from watching pre-recorded videos, students are tasked with questions, assignments, engage in lesson plans and other activities to help them with their classes.
“The videos are useful,” Podolak said. “Something could happen to a teacher or professor and they might need a substitute teacher. They can put on the videos to teach students certain topics. It provides the flexibility in this COVID era we need to help students.”
The AP Daily video series is available to both high school and college students looking to expand their knowledge in a specific discipline. Through the AP Physics portion of the video series, students will gain a tangible understanding of the natural world, problem solve, and predict how and why things behave the way they do. Students can also find the AP Daily videos on AP’s YouTube website. AP publishes videos once a week, showcasing different lesson plans from a variety of professors.
“Students who watch these videos will get a better handle and understanding on specific topics and lessons,” Podolak said. “The more students experience things, try things and learn from other people, the more they will benefit in school and eventually in their careers.”
The AP Physics series is helpful to any student. No matter a student’s major, the course material within the videos give students an advantage in their academic lives.
“Ken is a very good teacher,” third year student Jonathan Sinopoli said. “He’s very welcoming and approachable. He’s a very funny guy. I’ve had him as a teacher in the past. I haven’t watched any of the videos in the series, but knowing Ken, he’ll create a good foundation for students to understand material from. This video series will be good for students as well. Especially the students who need to finish their Gen Eds, the ones who need to complete prerequisites.”
The AP Physics Daily 1 series goes over algebra-based physics, electricity, magnetism and mechanics. By watching these videos, students will understand how electrical wiring works, why things fall down and what occurs with the stars in our solar system.
“Physics is a topic that students have to think a lot about,” Sinopoli said. “Physics in general, isn’t something that’s just a black and white. It’s complex, but it helps people think in a logical manner. Being able to watch the video series online before class, during class or in your free time I think would be a big help.”
Online learning has come to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic, while in-person learning has taken a backseat. The AP Daily video series is accessible to all students online. The videos are 30 to 45 minutes long. They’re informative and thorough.
“Students tend to find videos of people discussing these topics for free on YouTube,” Podolak said. “But the AP Daily series provides high quality videos with professors who are experts in their field discussing material. These videos have a leg up on those other materials because you know the credentials of who is delivering the lesson plan, it’s thorough nature and having the videos certified by AP. I definitely consider this an advantage compared to your typical Google search.”
The AP Daily series provides a unique opportunity to students that will help them learn and grow their understanding on specific topics. Even with remote learning, students can easily access videos on any subject. Whether it’s physics, math or geography, AP has a wide variety of topics to choose from to help any student succeed.
