This page/course is presently under development. Please revisit on 1 June 2025 for the updated version.
A laptop, smartphone, or any internet-enabled device can help you find free teaching materials online to enhance your lessons, even in Pacific classrooms where internet might be unreliable. You can save these materials for offline use or share them with your students to help them learn trade skills in fresh ways. These platforms and resources are simple to explore and support tasks like discovering teaching videos, viewing talks, listening to broadcasts, or gathering new lesson ideas. Letâs look at a few easy-to-use platforms and resources to make your teaching more effective.
YouTube
YouTube is a free platform where you can find teaching videos about trade skills, like how to fix a car or cook a local dish. These videos help your students see and hear new ideas, which is great for those who learn best by watching. You can save videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your device, which helps in Pacific classrooms with limited access. YouTube also lets your students watch videos again to learn at their own speed.
Teaching Scenario: In a cooking class in Tonga, you want to show your students how to make a traditional dish called umu. You open YouTube on your laptop and say, “Letâs watch a video on how to prepare umu the right way.” You find a video by a local chef, play it for the class, and stop at key moments to talk: “See how the chef puts the food in the ground ovenâwhat steps did they take to keep it safe?” After, you save the video on your laptop to show again later without the internet. You ask your students, “What did you learn from the video about making umu? How did watching help you understand better? What other cooking ideas could we find on YouTube, like making desserts?” This shows how YouTube can bring real-world skills to your cooking lessons.
TedTalk
TedTalk is a free platform where you can watch talks by experts on many topics, like starting a small business or caring for the environment, by visiting www.ted.com. These talks can inspire your students and give them new ideas for their trade, which is great for helping them think bigger. You can save TedTalk videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it useful for Pacific classrooms with limited access. TedTalk also lets your students watch again to understand better. (Note: If internet access is limited, you can supplement with the official TED YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalks, and use the YouTube app to download talks in advance.)
Teaching Scenario: In a small business class in Vanuatu, you want to inspire your students to think about their future. You open TedTalk on your laptop at www.ted.com and say, “Letâs watch a talk about how to start a small business.” You find a talk called “How to Build a Business That Helps Your Community,” play it for the class, and stop to discuss: “What did the speaker say about helping others through businessâwhat ideas can we use in our village?” You save the talk on your laptop to show again later. You ask, “How did this talk make you think about your business ideas? What did you learn about helping your community? What other talks could we find on TedTalk, like ones about farming?” This shows how TedTalk can inspire your students in small business lessons.
National Geographic Education
National Geographic Education is a free platform where you can watch videos that are like TV shows, showing real-world ideas about nature, culture, and science, which can help with many trades. These videos can teach your students about things like fishing in a way that helps the environment or building houses that donât harm nature, which is great for learning new ideas. You can save videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, helping in Pacific classrooms with limited access. National Geographic Education also lets your students watch again to learn more.
Teaching Scenario: In a fisheries class in Kiribati, you want to teach your students about fishing in a way that helps the ocean. You open National Geographic Education on your laptop and say, “Letâs watch a video about sustainable fishing.” You find a video on how fishing can protect ocean animals, play it for the class, and stop to discuss: “What did the video show about keeping fish safeâhow can we use this in our fishing cooperative?” You save the video on your laptop to show again later without the internet. You ask, “What did you learn about fishing from the video? How did watching help you think about the ocean? What other ideas, like caring for coral reefs, could we find on National Geographic Education?” This shows how National Geographic Education can bring real-world ideas to your fisheries lessons.
SkillsCommons
SkillsCommons is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, videos, and activities, for trade skills like building, fixing machines, or cooking. These materials help your students learn hands-on skills, which is great for preparing them for work. You can save these resources to use later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it helpful in Pacific classrooms with limited access. SkillsCommons also lets you print or share materials to use in your lessons.
Teaching Scenario: In a construction class in Vanuatu, you want to teach your students how to measure wood for a project. You open SkillsCommons on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on measuring wood.” You find a video and a worksheet on using a tape measure, save them on your laptop, and print copies for your students. In class, you show the video and say, “Letâs practice measuring this piece of woodâfollow the steps we saw.” After, you ask, “What did you learn about measuring wood? How did the worksheet help you practice? What other skills, like cutting wood, could we find on SkillsCommons?” This shows how SkillsCommons can provide useful materials for your construction lessons.
TeachEngineering
TeachEngineering is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, worksheets, and activities, for trade subjects like building or fixing things. You can look for materials on topics like construction or engineering, and save them to use later without the internet. This is helpful in Pacific classrooms because you can find materials that match your local needs, like lessons on building with local materials. TeachEngineering helps you find new ideas to make your teaching more interesting.
Teaching Scenario: In a construction class in Tonga, you want to teach your students how to build a strong foundation for a small house. You open TeachEngineering on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on building foundations.” You search and find an activity about making a strong base with concrete. You save the activity on your laptop and print copies for your students. In class, you say, “Use this activity to plan a foundationâwhat materials will you need, and why?” After they finish, you ask, “How did this activity help you learn about building? Why is a strong foundation important? What other construction ideas, like making a roof, could we find on TeachEngineering?” This shows how TeachEngineering can give you useful materials for construction lessons.
OER Commons
OER Commons is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, worksheets, and videos, for many subjects, including trade skills. You can look for materials on topics like farming or hospitality, and save them to use later without the internet. This is helpful in Pacific classrooms because you can find materials that match your local needs, like lessons on growing local crops. This will be covered in greater detail in Module 3 (Learning Outcome 4: Utilise Open Educational Resources (OER) ethically and effectively in teaching materials), where weâll explore how to use these materials to create or adapt accessible digital content for your lessons.
Teaching Scenario: In a farming class in the Solomon Islands, you want to teach your students about growing root crops like taro. You open OER Commons on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on growing crops.” You search and find a worksheet on planting taro, save it on your laptop, and print copies for your students. In class, you say, “Use this worksheet to plan how you would grow taroâwhat steps will you follow?” After they finish, you ask, “How did this worksheet help you learn about growing taro? What steps did you find most helpful? What other farming ideas, like raising chickens, could we find on OER Commons?” This shows how OER Commons can give you useful materials for farming lessons.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a free resource where you can find lessons and practice activities on basic skills like math, which are important for many trades. You can use these to build lessons on topics like measuring for carpentry or budgeting for a small business, helping your students learn at their own pace. You can save these lessons to use later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it helpful in Pacific classrooms with limited access. This will be covered in greater detail in Module 2 (Learning Outcome 2: Integrate digital tools to enhance student engagement and collaboration), where weâll explore how to use it to design engaging and inclusive learning experiences for your students.
Teaching Scenario: In a carpentry class in PNG, you want to teach your students how to measure wood accurately. You open Khan Academy on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on measuring.” You find a video on using a ruler, save it on your laptop, and play it for the class. You stop to practice: “Letâs measure this piece of woodâfollow the video steps.” After, you ask, “What did you learn about measuring from the video? How did practicing help you? What other skills, like calculating angles, could we find on Khan Academy?” This shows how Khan Academy can provide useful lessons for your carpentry class.
This page/course is presently under development. Please revisit on 1 June 2025 for the updated version.
A laptop, smartphone, or any internet-enabled device can help you find free teaching materials online to enhance your lessons, even in Pacific classrooms where internet might be unreliable. You can save these materials for offline use or share them with your students to help them learn trade skills in fresh ways. These platforms and resources are simple to explore and support tasks like discovering teaching videos, viewing talks, listening to broadcasts, or gathering new lesson ideas. Letâs look at a few easy-to-use platforms and resources to make your teaching more effective.
YouTube
YouTube is a free platform where you can find teaching videos about trade skills, like how to fix a car or cook a local dish. These videos help your students see and hear new ideas, which is great for those who learn best by watching. You can save videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your device, which helps in Pacific classrooms with limited access. YouTube also lets your students watch videos again to learn at their own speed.
Teaching Scenario: In a cooking class in Tonga, you want to show your students how to make a traditional dish called umu. You open YouTube on your laptop and say, “Letâs watch a video on how to prepare umu the right way.” You find a video by a local chef, play it for the class, and stop at key moments to talk: “See how the chef puts the food in the ground ovenâwhat steps did they take to keep it safe?” After, you save the video on your laptop to show again later without the internet. You ask your students, “What did you learn from the video about making umu? How did watching help you understand better? What other cooking ideas could we find on YouTube, like making desserts?” This shows how YouTube can bring real-world skills to your cooking lessons.
TedTalk
TedTalk is a free platform where you can watch talks by experts on many topics, like starting a small business or caring for the environment, by visiting www.ted.com. These talks can inspire your students and give them new ideas for their trade, which is great for helping them think bigger. You can save TedTalk videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it useful for Pacific classrooms with limited access. TedTalk also lets your students watch again to understand better. (Note: If internet access is limited, you can supplement with the official TED YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalks, and use the YouTube app to download talks in advance.)
Teaching Scenario: In a small business class in Vanuatu, you want to inspire your students to think about their future. You open TedTalk on your laptop at www.ted.com and say, “Letâs watch a talk about how to start a small business.” You find a talk called “How to Build a Business That Helps Your Community,” play it for the class, and stop to discuss: “What did the speaker say about helping others through businessâwhat ideas can we use in our village?” You save the talk on your laptop to show again later. You ask, “How did this talk make you think about your business ideas? What did you learn about helping your community? What other talks could we find on TedTalk, like ones about farming?” This shows how TedTalk can inspire your students in small business lessons.
National Geographic Education
National Geographic Education is a free platform where you can watch videos that are like TV shows, showing real-world ideas about nature, culture, and science, which can help with many trades. These videos can teach your students about things like fishing in a way that helps the environment or building houses that donât harm nature, which is great for learning new ideas. You can save videos to show later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, helping in Pacific classrooms with limited access. National Geographic Education also lets your students watch again to learn more.
Teaching Scenario: In a fisheries class in Kiribati, you want to teach your students about fishing in a way that helps the ocean. You open National Geographic Education on your laptop and say, “Letâs watch a video about sustainable fishing.” You find a video on how fishing can protect ocean animals, play it for the class, and stop to discuss: “What did the video show about keeping fish safeâhow can we use this in our fishing cooperative?” You save the video on your laptop to show again later without the internet. You ask, “What did you learn about fishing from the video? How did watching help you think about the ocean? What other ideas, like caring for coral reefs, could we find on National Geographic Education?” This shows how National Geographic Education can bring real-world ideas to your fisheries lessons.
SkillsCommons
SkillsCommons is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, videos, and activities, for trade skills like building, fixing machines, or cooking. These materials help your students learn hands-on skills, which is great for preparing them for work. You can save these resources to use later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it helpful in Pacific classrooms with limited access. SkillsCommons also lets you print or share materials to use in your lessons.
Teaching Scenario: In a construction class in Vanuatu, you want to teach your students how to measure wood for a project. You open SkillsCommons on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on measuring wood.” You find a video and a worksheet on using a tape measure, save them on your laptop, and print copies for your students. In class, you show the video and say, “Letâs practice measuring this piece of woodâfollow the steps we saw.” After, you ask, “What did you learn about measuring wood? How did the worksheet help you practice? What other skills, like cutting wood, could we find on SkillsCommons?” This shows how SkillsCommons can provide useful materials for your construction lessons.
TeachEngineering
TeachEngineering is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, worksheets, and activities, for trade subjects like building or fixing things. You can look for materials on topics like construction or engineering, and save them to use later without the internet. This is helpful in Pacific classrooms because you can find materials that match your local needs, like lessons on building with local materials. TeachEngineering helps you find new ideas to make your teaching more interesting.
Teaching Scenario: In a construction class in Tonga, you want to teach your students how to build a strong foundation for a small house. You open TeachEngineering on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on building foundations.” You search and find an activity about making a strong base with concrete. You save the activity on your laptop and print copies for your students. In class, you say, “Use this activity to plan a foundationâwhat materials will you need, and why?” After they finish, you ask, “How did this activity help you learn about building? Why is a strong foundation important? What other construction ideas, like making a roof, could we find on TeachEngineering?” This shows how TeachEngineering can give you useful materials for construction lessons.
OER Commons
OER Commons is a free resource where you can find teaching materials, like lesson plans, worksheets, and videos, for many subjects, including trade skills. You can look for materials on topics like farming or hospitality, and save them to use later without the internet. This is helpful in Pacific classrooms because you can find materials that match your local needs, like lessons on growing local crops. This will be covered in greater detail in Module 3 (Learning Outcome 4: Utilise Open Educational Resources (OER) ethically and effectively in teaching materials), where weâll explore how to use these materials to create or adapt accessible digital content for your lessons.
Teaching Scenario: In a farming class in the Solomon Islands, you want to teach your students about growing root crops like taro. You open OER Commons on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on growing crops.” You search and find a worksheet on planting taro, save it on your laptop, and print copies for your students. In class, you say, “Use this worksheet to plan how you would grow taroâwhat steps will you follow?” After they finish, you ask, “How did this worksheet help you learn about growing taro? What steps did you find most helpful? What other farming ideas, like raising chickens, could we find on OER Commons?” This shows how OER Commons can give you useful materials for farming lessons.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a free resource where you can find lessons and practice activities on basic skills like math, which are important for many trades. You can use these to build lessons on topics like measuring for carpentry or budgeting for a small business, helping your students learn at their own pace. You can save these lessons to use later without the internet if you have a way to keep them on your laptop, making it helpful in Pacific classrooms with limited access. This will be covered in greater detail in Module 2 (Learning Outcome 2: Integrate digital tools to enhance student engagement and collaboration), where weâll explore how to use it to design engaging and inclusive learning experiences for your students.
Teaching Scenario: In a carpentry class in PNG, you want to teach your students how to measure wood accurately. You open Khan Academy on your laptop and say, “Letâs find a lesson on measuring.” You find a video on using a ruler, save it on your laptop, and play it for the class. You stop to practice: “Letâs measure this piece of woodâfollow the video steps.” After, you ask, “What did you learn about measuring from the video? How did practicing help you? What other skills, like calculating angles, could we find on Khan Academy?” This shows how Khan Academy can provide useful lessons for your carpentry class.
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