Educational & Instructional Films | Film & Music

There are a lot of educational and instructional DVDs available today that cover a wide range of subjects. There are educational DVDs to buy for schools, home and adult learning, and also DVDs designed for vocational rather than traditional subject learning. There are many instructional DVDs which have increased in the last few years, reflecting current interests such as DIY, genealogy and web design. Some DVDs have replaced former paper instructions as the visual aids are able to ensure clearer instructions.

Educational DVDs
There are a growing number of educational resources available to buy and many of these can be bought on DVD. The DVDs cover almost all subjects that are taught in schools, colleges and universities and are not simply films but can be used as an interactive resource. There are DVDs that are sold exclusively to schools but also educational resources that are available for anyone to buy and may interest both parents and adult learners.

For example, there are educational resources relating to a variety of subjects which would interest parents as well as education specialists such as DVDs on social, moral and health education. There is a huge range of DVDs on the subject of bullying, self esteem and relationship education. Topics such as healthy eating and exercise are also useful to schools and parents. Other DVDs relate to more specific subjects such as science, maths and English education, and there are a lot of resources on the environment and scientific evolution and experiments.

There are even more resources for English and Media Studies, as many of the books and plays studied in this subject have been made into films. Almost all of Shakespeare's plays for example, have been made into film versions and many of the classic novels such as those by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens or Oscar Wilde have been made into mini-series and films that are available on DVD, with some shown on television prior to their release. DVDs on other aspects of the curriculum are also available to buy, such as DVDs on poetry. There are also a wide number of media resources that are used for the purpose of study, but also some that act as a 'how to' guide for creating media and editing, for example.

There are also some good DVDs that relate to the three main disciplines of science. The Eyewitness series produces some good DVDs on the workings of the human body and other living organisms. There are also some great, well researched DVDs focusing on animal subjects, particularly wildlife. Some DVDs look at famous experiments performed by scientists, famous scientists themselves such as Einstein and Newton, and ground breaking discoveries. There are also DVDs that take a serious look at the environment and topical issues such as the damage to the Ozone layer and future predictions for the plight of the planet.

Children's Education
There are a great many educational videos for very young children, including an introduction to learning the names of colours, the alphabet or the first few numbers. There are lots of colourful characters to introduce the learning to children and make it fun and entertaining. Children's characters such as the Mr Men and the Teletubbies are all featured in DVDs of this type, and these often help with initial pre-school learning. There is a wide range of these types of DVDs under more than one subject, but most focus on core English and Maths skills and use visual and kinaesthetic aids designed to enhance learning. Some of the DVDs are interactive but most can be simply watched by children. These DVDs do act as a stepping stone to school and can consolidate some early learning at school. While these DVDs are a useful learning tool prior to school, parents should be aware that their use is soon outgrown therefore it is useful to purchase this type of resource second hand as this rarely impacts on quality, and perhaps to sell on an educational DVD once its purpose is served and the learning is completed.

Adult learning and Instruction
While educational DVDs are largely complimentary to what is learned at school, instructional DVDs cover a far wider range of learning and can be useful to school learners. However instructional DVDs are aimed more at adults and cover a far wider range of topics and specific interests. For example an instructional acting DVD might deal with the practice and understanding of a particular topic such as delivering monologues or understanding improvisation.

Many instructional DVDs are more skills-related. DVDs that relate to improving English include not only the early learning education, but particular skill based learning such as skimming and scanning skills which advance reading comprehension. Other DVDs teach skills not learned at school, such as in the Arts category, where there are a variety of DVDs teaching anything from Hip Hop to Beat-Boxing to learning how to play the kazoo. Other skills based DVDs include DIY, Property Development, Real Estate Investment and Childbirth. These are all very much aimed at adults and certain topics such as parenting are becoming increasingly popular to purchase.

Some instructional DVDs offer guidelines to certain aspects of life such as managing money or setting up an independent business. There are also guidelines to travel, health and spiritual wellbeing. There are some DVDs that cover subjects that are relevant to almost everyone, such as driving instruction and safety, whereas others cover topics that are of current interest such as garden design. Some are more specific, such as salsa dancing or fashion or DVDs teaching a specific language, that some but not all want to learn. It is likely that whatever you are interested in or would like to learn, there is likely to be a DVD which will aid learning a new skill.

Whether you buy an educational DVD such as the horrible histories series to support learning at school, a pre-school DVD or an adult skills based learning DVD, it is likely that the price you pay will be similar to that of ordinary DVDs. However prices often compare to those that have been recently released and unless buying second hand the prices are less likely to drop as this type of DVD is not usually broadcast on television. Indeed more rare releases may even increase in price over a few years, which is why it is well worth checking sites and shops for second-hand DVDs.