YouTube: Thank You Note
TeacherTube: Web 2.0
When I started teaching a few years ago the latest and greatest visual aide was UnitedStreaming video. It was revolutionary and it changed the way that teachers were presenting lessons. No longer did you have to reserve a video cart, spend hours searching for an appropriate video, and clear a chunk of time in the schedule to show it to the class. Suddenly teachers had the videos at their fingertips. With increased technology in the classroom they were able to show a 3 minute clip here and a 2 minute clip there. The best part was all of the videos were cleared for their educational value!
Step aside UnitedStreaming...YouTube and TeacherTube are here! Now, I'm not suggesting that we do away with UnitedStreaming. I happen to be a huge fan of UnitedStreaming. I can see the value though in an open source website where everyone can post videos and access them. UnitedStreaming requires a subscription, which is something that not every district can afford. YouTube and TeacherTube are available to everyone free of cost, plus they allow students and teachers to create their own videos and post them for others to view. Of course this means that not all of the videos on YouTube are pre-screened for their educational value. In fact there's quite a bit of stuff floating around that website that you wouldn't want to bring into a classroom at all, but that does not mean that everything on their is inappropriate. The great thing about YouTube is that you as the teacher or librarian can preview the material and even embed the video into a class website, wiki, or blog. This provides the students access without the worry that they'll stumble upon something they shouldn't. TeacherTube, on the other hand, boasts many of the same features as YouTube, but offers the advantage of pre-screening posted videos to make sure that they meet educational criteria first. I find both of the sites to be full of relevant, meaningful educational material. Additionally I find them both inspiring as well.
I found a video on YouTube titled "Thank You Note". It would be a great short video to show to faculty or fellow librarians. The video is a tribute to the library presented by a woman who found confidence and inspiration in library books as a child. The TeacherTube video "Web 2.0" provides a quick, creative explanation of what Web 2.0 is. I think that this video would be a great video to show to the faculty as a fun way to introduce the literacy components of Web 2.0.
I liked the Thank You Note video. I certainly believe that books do make kids feel better about theirselves and they are not alone in the world. Good Choice!
ReplyDelete