You Tube and Teacher Tube

Image courtesy of Wikipedia





Image courtesy of Wikipedia



You tube is a video sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Anyone can watch the videos, but only registered users can upload videos (unlimited number). (Wikipedia - YouTube, 2010). Wikipedia -TeacherTube (2010) also defines TeacherTube as a video sharing website similar to, and based on, YouTube. It is designed for teachers, and anyone else in the education industry, to share educational resources. These resources include as video, audio, documents, photos, groups and blogs.

Majority of children love to watch videos, that's a well known fact. So it makes perfect sense to use the things we know they like, to engage them in the classroom. Many learning managers use YouTube and TeacherTube to select videos relating to the idea/concept/subject they are teaching at the time. There are literally thousands of videos available containing educational content that is available for use by both teachers and students.

Due to the fact that you cannot control pop-ups or advertising on YouTube, it is a good idea to download a program called KeepVid which allows you to copy and store any videos on your computer, so that the videos will be available without going into YouTube/TeacherTube to watch them.


To show how a video from YouTube could be used in the classroom, I have provided the following example:

The outcome for the Learning experience is to appreciate dance is used for different purposes in different cultures. This particular video could be used in upper primary classes to achieve this outcome.The learning manager would have already held discussions with the group of students and highlighted the fact that dance has three main purposes:

• social - for enjoyment and recreation (discos, nightclubs etc)
• artistic - created for an audience (ballet etc)
• ritual - cultural meaning/signficance (haka, aboriginal dance etc)
  

The you tube video is used to provide a great example, and very engaging for the students(of all learning styles), of two of the three purposes of dance (ritual and social). The pedagogical reasons I chose this video is because it is engaging, entertaining, and it explains the concept (quickly and accurately), that is quite hard for children to visualise through the use of words. It can be re-watched and different dance styles can be identified and significance of them discussed.

It could potentially open up a very interesting discussion for the group. I think by using this video, for the above purpose, the learning outcome for the lesson would be achieved.



Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!