Don't Take Away My/Our YouTube!!

Dear Diary......

  Just kidding, I wouldn't do that to you.  YouTube is huge.  There is no denying that.  If I could go back in time I would invent it and make the millions off of it's sale.  However, there is no such thing as time travel (yet), so I'm just going to have to either wait for that moment in history, or just enjoy it, and use it for it's many educational and personal uses.

  Youtube has been banned, and blocked off from the servers in some school divisions.  In ways I understand this choice.  First, there is some inappropriate stuff on YouTube that children should not see.  Second, some students may watch videos when they are supposed to be doing some other type of work.  These reasons make sense to me.  This is now the time where I sort of go against what i just said.  Yes, those reasons are valid.  However, I do not think they are valid enough reasons to completely block it from schools completely.  Why?  Ever watch a YouTube video that taught you something?  I still would be clueless as to how to tie a tie without YouTube.  Ever watch a video to help you get through something?  I would still be playing Batman: Arkham City if it wasn't for YouTube walkthroughs.  Ever watch a video that made you laugh after a day that just got you down?  I always watch YouTube after a tough day (good ol' Epic Rap Battles and Kid Snippets).  Ever watch a video and feel inspired to do something?  I have, and lots of other people have.  Many great things have begun on YouTube such as awareness for worldly events (Kony 2012), careers (too many to mention), and classroom projects.  There is too big of an educational advantage to YouTube to just not allow it.

  There are a few different ideas that I have gained from YouTube videos, that I would love to incorporate in a classroom.  "Oh hey now, those aren't touching on curricular outcomes?" says the guy at the back of the room."  Listen guy at the back... students working together to create a unique classroom experience, that promotes creativity, community, and inquiry, is in itself an outcome.  It should be the most important outcome.  I'm going to stop now, because this post isn't about outcomes (maybe I will touch on that some other day when I have a job).  Anyways, I have always loved stop motion.  Stop motion films such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is one of my favorite movies, and one of my favorite TV shows is "Robot Chicken' (for the record I would never ever show a Robot Chicken clip in the classroom).  I would, however, show many other ones.  I have always wanted to do a stop motion short, but have never done one, because I have never owned a good camera.  Now with technology, stop motion can easily be done using an iPhone.  I will want to do one in the future.  Below is a video made by a student, which was actually a classroom project (it is about copyright infringement):



I would maybe show this particular one, depending on the age of the class (mainly because of the dog pooping part).  There are many others available out there to use, and some people on YouTube dedicate their time recreating movie trailers... like this one:



That particular video is very high quality work.  Anyways, having students do a project that involves using stop motion would be amazing.  Pick a topic, any topic, and students could do a quick stop motion video on it ranging from habitats to anti-bullying.  I probably have lots of lego around my house still from when I was a kid, so I could easily just bring it all to school one day.

  Another idea I have come across on YouTube is Bill Nye the Science guy clips.  When I was younger, I thought Bill Nye was the smartest person in the world (he is probably pretty close).  His TV show was so good, and so educational!  The best part for teachers, is that he had the economic resources to do cool stuff to teach in an awesome way.  He had a whole production company to help him get his teaching across, so why not show it?  Plus, if we decide not to show an episode of his or even a quick clip, he can give us many different experiment ideas (one an episode at the least).  Another added bonus, is that on YouTube it is free.  A lot of schools have Bill Nye videos on VHS, but not DVD, because (last time I checked) the series cost roughly $1700!!!  Yikes!  Here is a great video of his (perfect for the habitats and communities unit in grade 4):



  Overall, the educational benefits of using online videos in classrooms is endless.  So much can be taught, and so much inspiration can be started.  Please, please don't block it from the school!  Until next time... CHEERS!!