Youtube+in+the+Classroom

__**Introduction to Youtube in the classroom:**__
=== The Internet has allowed for various avenues of learning to take place. Youtube has been an avenue that many teachers have utilized to expand the learning possibilities that take place in the classroom. Youtube is a website in which anyone can create and share videos of all sorts. On Youtube, teachers can find or create videos to introduce or enhance the subject that they are teaching. Youtube has also been a jumping off point for the educational version of the website, Teachertube. Though Youtube opens up teaching to a whole new world of possibilities with its many benefits, it has a few drawbacks. But once one is aware and knows how to tackle those drawbacks, Youtube can be a vital resource for teachers trying to capture their students’ interest and creativity. ===

Link to Youtube tutorial (a youtube video on how to use Youtube!): [|Youtube Tutorial 2011]

** __Countering the Drawbacks__ **
=== ◊ Almost any potential problem can be negated or eliminated with the proper teacher involvement. This involvement should be in both the research and viewing of the available videos and also the production of these videos. ===

__** YouTube as a Preserver of the Cultural Memory: **__
=== --Among its many functions (some of which are nobler than others), YouTube serves as an active preserver of the Cultural Memory. In an article written by educational researcher Linda Wedwick and middle school teacher Rebecca Mullen, the latter cites a singular instance in which she used YouTube to effectively convey to her students the meaning of the word //nostalgia//. Comparatively quite young and inexperienced, her students found it difficult to feel nostaligic--as they understood the term--about anything. She then asked them what television shows they used to watch when they were younger. Many of them had grown up watching the same programs, the titles of which she typed in YouTube's search engine, brining up various authentic clips. Her students began to reminisce about their early childhoods, thus cementing their understanding of the word //nostalgia.// As an excercise this proved beneficial but, moreover, it evokes a larger statement about YouTube as a whole. Amidst the maelstrom of mass culture and technology that defines our present epoch, in which novelty is nothing more than an ephemeral wisp of smoke fleeing an endless blaze, YouTube and other such file streaming sites are the keepers of the past. They offer access points to a rich spectrum of important footage of history-shaping events and of otherwise unavailable or obscure bits of popular culture. The ease with which these clips can be obtained and distributed may prove to be very beneficial for classroom excercizes and stimulating interest. ===

__** YouTube as a Promoter of Intellectual and Artistic Creativity: **__
=== --YouTube's most intriguing qualities are its instantanaeity and world-wide connectivity. People may view a video within seconds of its being posted, and from anywhere there is an internet connection. Consequently, certain videos, due to the overwhelming amount of views they receive, become "viral." That is, they become extremely popular through internet sharing and email. The original text then undergoes an immense process of analysis and transformation. People post personalized video critiques, make parodies of the origninal text, imitate it, and often make tributes to it. The result is the emergence of dynamic bodies of work, where the "artist" is the collective, and the "art" is the process as a whole. Here is my favorite example of this : ===

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** __How can we use YouTube?__ **
=== ● One of the most basic ways that a YouTube video can be used is for interpretation of literature. There are many videos dedicated to Shakespeare and a myriad of poets and poetry that are given various treatments. === === ● Giving the students the opportunity to create their own videos of literature they are reading will give them a unique understanding of the work and will no doubt engage them more fully in the work(s). ===

=== **__Class Activity:__** Take 15 minutes to find a youtube or teachertube video that relates to your content area. We will then share the videos we have found with the class and discuss the advantages and possible disadvantages of using youtube in the classroom. As well as if you know of any other video websites that could lend to the learning process. === media type="youtube" key="NugRZGDbPFU" width="312" height="265"media type="youtube" key="cW7BvabYnn8" width="316" height="266"media type="youtube" key="D9mkLq5xxUs" width="311" height="267" media type="youtube" key="_PN8_8MGulc" width="288" height="280"media type="youtube" key="6AIVAqLVtgM" width="295" height="279" media type="youtube" key="mkO87mkgcNo" width="289" height="277"

**Links to youtube and teachertube:** [|Youtube] [|Teachertube]

Links to other video websites that can be helpful in the classroom:
[|Flickr] [|Helpfulvideo] [|Edutube] [|ClassroomClips] [|Educational Videos and Games for learning] [|Finding An Educational Video] [|K-College Level Learning with Video]