"All-About-Me" Tube

OK, it's official, I really don't get the whole YouTube phenomenon...


To date, my experience with it has been through the eyes of my young children (11 and 13). They're completely fascinated with the medium and spend countless hours with friends watching, and re-watching, videos such as "Harry Potter Puppet Pals" (no link here intended!). They've begged me to allow them to post videos (they're also completely fascinated with viewing themselves). As with any posting of their images on the net, I am very leery and I was looking forward to investigating this site further through this course work.

So I began to explore YouTube and reflect on the implications for teaching and learning. I watched Michael Wesch's "An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU) with complete fascination. Two hundred thousand videos uploaded everyday - the most commonly viewed are remixed versions of home videos and the 18-24 age group is the growing percentage of people using YouTube. Interesting stats. So that's what kids are doing instead of reading... (admittedly, I was learning something watching a YouTube video - there really is some great stuff out there!)

Apart from being a fun place to view some interesting or obscure videos and develop a "hyper self awareness" (Wesch) by posting to the YouTube community, I don't see huge educational merits to YouTube in an elementary classroom setting. Yes, there's lots of cool clips that could be added to spice up some dry curriculum, but concerns over the "authenticity crisis" (Wesch) that plagues this site would really make me think twice before using it (also, are my concerns with privacy over publishing to such a huge audience).

What I do see as a huge implication for teaching and learning is the sheer motivational factor of video sharing in this type of medium. What child doesn't love watching (and apparently re-watching 1000's of times) clips of themselves or their friends? What if they could publish their learning, safely, in a fun/cool video and share it with others?

I was relieved as I went on to discover Teacher Tube (http://www.teachertube.com/index.php) and read what they had to say in their "About Us" tab: (http://www.teachertube.com/about.php)
"Our goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill."

Ahh..."educationally focused, safe venue...", this is more like it...what a great site! I was immediately drawn to this video about blogging, since we had just recently looked into the merits of this Web 2.0 tool (why I didn't see it before...) In this video, "Why Let Our Students Blog?" Rachel Boyd, a teacher from New Zealand, highlights the benefits and reasons for blogging in a classroom setting.(http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=be6ec9b852b0a542e2f3&page=1&viewtype=&category=)

When browsing around Teacher Tube I ran across an article by Alison Lapp from PC Magazine, which I thought served as an interesting reminder when using downloaded videos from these sites in the classroom:
"..."It's an awfully easy thing to abuse, in the sense of using it as a babysitter," says Ed Miller of Alliance for Childhood. Because of the services' interactive nature, educators adopting the technology are hopeful that it won't be just an enabler for lazy teachers (remember film strips?)." (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2146880,00.asp

Not certain it's being abused yet in the classrooms I've been in (most hadn't used any video sharing sites), but, as with any media, I think the message here is to make sure they're used meaningfully and in conjunction with other learning tools.

Now, here's how my frustration begins with this tool...

As part of my learning, I'm trying out some of these video sharing sites and demonstrating my new found knowledge. Easier said than done for me! Part of it, I know, is my own lack of tech skills and time that's required to acquire them (as well as an increasingly slow computer...)

I thought I'd try making a video using my digital camera, edit it and then find a site to host it so I could share it on my blog. I choose Google Video (http://video.google.com/), because I'm familiar with it and I have an account there. Uploading took forever (almost 45 minutes on my computer) and I still can't seem to access it. Next I tried uploading it through blogger and just adding it to my blog post. Well, I started at 5:23 pm and it was still loading at 7:23pm...('Help' told me it should take all of 5 minutes...)

Anyway, it's been a frustrating, time consuming lesson...sprinkled with a few tears...

(If you see a video magically appear you'll know I've found success!)

We're on Teacher Tube!

We're a "Group" on Teacher Tube, check it out!
http://www.teachertube.com/groups_home.php?urlkey=edes501

Niagra Falls (US side)

Niagra Falls (US side),
originally uploaded by janpeach.

Just trying out the annotation feature of Flickr, very easy to do!

Exploring Photo Sharing Sites

Where to start exploring? Well, after reading Richardson's comment,"Personally, I think Flickr is one of the best sites on the web." (p.100), could there be any other place? I have to admit, I've had my frustrations with flickr. Initially, it was very easy to set up an account, view pictures and upload some of my own. I personally love the map feature and found a photo taken in Northern Ireland of the road that leads to my Grandmother's house (sounds like a story in the making...) I was so excited that I quickly hit "blog this", without even knowing what it did, and soon discovered that the photo magically appeared on my blog. This was my first discovery with flickr, so the next day I ventured to see what else I could do.


I really wanted to create a slideshow on my blog of my own photos and after hours (literally - my own shortcomings with my Kodak software) of transferring them to the flickr site, I couldn't seem to get Blogger to read the URL for my show (and couldn't find anywhere that might help explain why) Frustrations aside, I kept on trying...


Well I did it!! What I had to do was set up a flickr web address (which I hadn’t done yet because of my privacy paranoia thing..) and I was trying to use my sign in name which blogger didn’t recognize. Anyway, my slideshow pictures are from a trip I took this summer to Ontario and New York City.



Getting back to the privacy thing, I agree with Richardson that one of the best features of Fickr is that "...(it) does allow for the creation of private groups where you and your students (and other invited guests) can work in your own space." (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts...p.101) As well, the feature that enables you to turn off and on discussions on certain photos is excellent when working with students. In saying this, I would still be cautious about using student images and posting them unless I'd obtained written permission and checked out the AUP for the school.


The educational implictions of this tool for teaching and learning are huge. Recommended by Ricardson (p. 101), I had a look at David Jakes blog which led to his website
(http://www.jakesonline.org/flickrsites.htm). Posted here are some great ideas and links for using Flickr in the classroom. For example, using images for creative writing prompts, virtual fieldtrips, teaching geography and the list goes on!

I checked ou Alan Levine's presentation "What can we do with Flickr?" (Richardson p. 102) which also had some great ideas, and easy links to follow, for using tools in Flickr. I tried the annotation feature which was very user friendly. A very creative and fun tool to use for research, orientation to the library or classroom and testing or reviewing. My small sample is posted below this post, just click on the image and the annotations appear.
(http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/265279980/)

Next, I was excited to sign onto "The Great Flickr Tools Collection" (Richardson p. 107) to see some other applications but I couldn't log in (website down). I did try creating a Flickr magazine cover from Fickr Magazine Cover from http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/magazine.php(see results below - a good lesson in remembering to edit pictures first!) which was really easy to do, very motivating and could be used many ways in the classroom. What a great back to school project to highlight things students did on their summer vacations!

David Jakes summarizes the teaching implications of Flickr when discussing a classroom project (a "Fliction" - basically, using flickr images and creating an ongoing, collaborative dialogue about them) created on Flickr and I really liked what he had to say:

"Writing. More writing. Critical Thinking. Composition. Visual Literacy. Empowering Creativity. Understanding intellectual property rights. Learning new software, that can be downloaded and used for other projects and for personal use to encourage the development of individual voice, and in fact, a competitive voice.

An appropriate use of digital storytelling that addresses the time issue? Yes.

A safe use of Flickr that takes advantage of high quality imagery? Yes.

A project filled with essential skills-YES! (don't look now-how many of these skills transfer to standardized testing?)

Good teaching? Absolutely." (http://jakespeak.blogspot.com/2006/03/uh-oh-another-flickr-post.html)

My first experience with Flickr as an educational tool is coming up. My daughter has just begun a project on Africa. After a quick search of the Flickr map for photos, I'm excited for her to take a virtual fieldtrip and to discover a wealth of updated, site-specific visual information on this amazing continent.

haunted trees

haunted trees,
originally uploaded by bevrob.

Very cool...found this picture on flickr...this is the road to my Grandma's house in Northern Ireland.

"A Work in Progress" progressing...

Wow...8.5 days ago I didn't even know the "blogosphere" existed and now here I am!

It's been quite a cyber journey, I now have just a little more understanding of what it must have been like to charter new territories on the "Nina".

But seriously, how did I get here, to Blogger? Well, for me, it was between three blog creators - Wordpress, Blogger or Blogspot (examples given from the course outline) First, I looked into Wordpress (top of the list) and it looked ok, easy enough, but nothing seemed too familiar. Also, the graphics didn't grab me, too much fine print I think. Next, I tried Blogger and behold, there was that ever-present word "Google" and I was immediately drawn to it's familiarity (power of advertising!). Well, even I can Google... Lastly was Blogspot, which seems to be one and the same as Blogger. I kept getting re-directed to Blogger everytime I tried to find Blogspot...I've since found out that Blogspot is Bloggers hosting service (simple Google search). My confidence in Blogger was boosted, as well, by Richardson's recommendation - p.48 "Blogging Step-By-Step"- for it's "ease of use". Whew...a cyber compass! (note to self: pays to read ahead) So off to Blogger I went...

As promised, Blogger was very straight forward, easy to use and I was set up with my blog in a matter of minutes. What took some time, for me, were all the finer details...what to name my blog (another nts: allow kids plenty of 'creative time' when choosing user names), how to transport a picture from my files, how to create/edit/post. As I was going through this process, I was always conscious of considering my audience, clarifying my purpose for writing...things I had read over and over about as being "...the most important aspects of the Read/Write Web" (Richarson, p. 27).

This was a real "A-Ha" moment for me when reflecting on the implications of the blog for teaching and learning. As I began to make connections with my own experiences, I thought of my youngest daughter as an example. She completes her weekly, written journal assignment in 2.2 seconds flat and grudgingly does corrections after my editing. Her comments are that's it's only for Mme____ (name withheld to protect the innocent) and why should she put in more time/effort? I could instantly visualize what a powerful motivating tool a blog would be for her, having to publish for a larger audience beyond the classroom. I even went so far as having her suggest making a blog to her teacher ...and offering to help set it up once I'm a little more comfortable with the process. (I'll blog about how that's going at a later date!)

As David Warlick notes (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml)
"...Blogs, because of their ease of use, and because of the context of news and editorial column writing, have become a highly effective way to help students to become better writers. Research has long shown that students write more, write in greater detail, and take greater care with spelling, grammar, and punctuation, when they are writing to an authentic audience over the Internet. " Purposeful, thoughtful, reflective writing...what a great learning tool!

I like what Darren Kuropatwa, a Manitoban teacher, also has to say about this medium:
"Essentially, [the blog is] a place to build a community where people become engaged in the content they generate, which makes it more meaningful to them," Kuropatwa said. "Kids are no longer constrained by where they are, what time of day it is or how they want to present information. It's a quantum leap in the nature of the tools that can be used in education."
(www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/school-multimedia.html) Engaging learners and making learning meaningful are our goals for education and this tool will help us achieve them. Simply viewing You Tube's "A Vision of Students Today" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o) shows the necessity of incorporating new technologies in our education system.

Another moment for me, when thinking of the implications of the blog for teaching and learning, was considering the potential for bringing global communities of learners together, creating empathy and tolerance for other cultures. Being able to interact, visualize and collaborate can only help to connect and bond web 2.0 generations with their peers in other countries. Incredible implications!

Anyway, the journey continues...looking forward to many new discoveries!