You Tube and "Banned"width...Frustration from the converted!

Videosharing week would be so much better if we were allowed to share videos freely in our school district. Unfortunately this is not the case.

Reflections on the process of learning about videosharing

Akin to Flickr YouTube was fun to learn although I must admit more time consuming. Much like the rest of the "connected" world I was already familiar with YouTube and the idea of video sharing but I had never attempted to upload a video to the site nor had I been a member, although I had previously watched many videos on YouTube. Well now I am a member and I've posted my first ever video called Videosharing Guru (see below)...although I'm not a Guru at all as outlined in the video. I like the search feature which always brings up amazing results if only too many. One instance is the "How to" videos. My wife has been teaching our daughter to knit and our daughter asked me to help her tie the yarn on the needle to get her started...I have no idea how to knit so...YouTube! Sure enough I now know how to cast on and have found a great site for introductory knitting from the video. I also like the ability to link videos directly from YouTube to my blog (or is that vice-versa?) and the fact that you can at least in a limited way customize the appearance of the video on your personal blog. I chose to put two videos on this blog to demonstrate that I found and can use the customize feature and present the second video now...



...this second video I made at a site that I discovered from the first...such is the "hyperlink" - does anyone else even refer to them as that anymore? - world that takes one idea or concept and leads to the next and so on...

There are some other features that are available on YouTube which I explored and thought were worthy of mention...the "Share" feature which allows one to share in any number of ways including a link to put into email or instant messaging or you can put an email address and YouTube sends it for you... the "Related Videos" section also is norteworthy because it instantly gives you videos with similar tags and can help explore a concept or idea more fully. One example of this was the number of "Confederation" projects completed by students...my favourite features "Johnny Mac" for our first Prime Minister...of coure the quality of some are better than others and this leads me to the amount of time it takes to find good videos in the sea of average ones.

An important note on learning about the tool is that I had to limit my time and try to stay focused on learning about YouTube as opposed to watching videos which I ended up doing a number of times...this is important because my students are also likely to let one video lead to the next and "stray" off task. As a Social Networking site ( SNS) YouTube is similar to Flickr, but for me at least I don't see myself becoming an active member. I will address this further in the next section on my Personal Learning.

You Tube and My Own Personal Learning

I use YouTube all the time personally. From guitar lessons to home improvements I have watched videos to learn a vast array of different skills. The number of videos is expanding at a tremendous pace and I have always been able to find a video that is helpful...one example is learning how to make dovetail joints in woodworking...I bought a new jig and tried to follow the instructions that came with it, but found that frustrating...Solution? YouTube! The Porter Cable jig I have was featured in a video which helped me see what I couldn't get from the instructions...very helpful! From this same video there were the "Related Videos" section and I spent some time following the trail of videos and going to different websites exploring more ideas of joinery and cabinetry related to bbut quite far from my original search.

The video at the top of this blog was found on YouTube...I searched for YOUtube banned in schools and it came up and led me to the site where I made my own video...this type of personal learning is a great benefit of YouTube.

YouTube and Teaching and Learning

Really in my school district this is a moot point as we do not have access to YouTube as it is blocked at the district level... having said that I see the great potential for the use of YouTube in education...students who are away could watch parts of lessons that were recorded and uploaded by teachers (many already exist and it does not have to be me presenting to my class for instance but rather I could link a particular Math concept video on my homework page)...visual learners can watch videos and learn in their best way...videos are a great way for students to demonstrate their knowledge in creative ways...the main thing for teachers to do is to lobbytheir districts to get access to YouTube so it can be used as a resource and as a presentation tool...my first video demonstrated that some districts allow access to schools and only the principal need sto be lobbied...others like my own district need to be lobbied at the School Board level...we need to let these boards know that although YouTube does have the reputation of "anyone can publish anything" we also need to change their way of "protecting" the children by avoiding potentially harmful sites to educating our children as Will Richardson writes "wouldn't it be better to teach students how to deal with less-than-salient content that they see when they get home?"