Emerging Technology 3: Youtube

It seems like I am committing heresy suggesting that youtube can be used in classroom for educational purposes. But how canone not look at this technology and not realize the huge potential for learning. Many students, if not most, can use youtube much better than their teachers, but we as educators seem afraid of it. There are undoubtedly dangers that exist with it. The comments section comes to mind immediately. Even given the dangers, It is too valuable a resource to block and ignore. Our students use it everyday, we must utilize it towards their education.

Having students make youtube videos on a specific topic makes traditional research papers seem very boring and outdated. I have students do research papers on a founding father, next year this will change to a youtube video.The research will still be done, sources will still be cited, even e-notecards can be taken. All the elements of the research will be there, but with a product they can present, share, and post. This will gain much interest and will produce a product that the students will be proud of. I can also envision students taking two sides of an issue and debating it on a video. This could take many forms. The students could each have five minutes to present their arguments, or they could go back and forth-responding to each others points. The possibilities are endless.

An even simpler use of youtube is simply watching the videos. The education side of youtube has an ever expanding list of videos on virtually any subject. I use this some today, but have always been afraid of the obvious danger and stigma of youtube.

In the social studies classroom, our subject is a big as the universe and everything in it. If we are to teach our students even a little bit of what is out there we must not be afraid to use every tool at our disposal.