Youtube and Techertube

This is a Youtube video of the world's most deadly spider. Youtube is a web tool that can be used by anyone to watch videos uploaded by its users of just about anything. The beauty of this tool is that there are a very large variety of videos made available and you don't have to be a member to make use of the site. Youtube is easy to use and finding a suitable video is simple! Youtube videos can be used to introduce topics, provide information about topics, show demonstrations, provide engaging visual support to topics, provide ICT rich practices ect. The use of Youtube within educational contexts can be very beneficial to learning experiences because of the engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and visual support (Mueller, 1980) it provides for learners. Youtube also provides a gateway for the integration of ICTs and multimedia within classroom practices (Prensky 2001). Prensky (2001) emphasizes the importance of ICT's within 21st century classrooms as he believes these students are 'digital natives' thus speaking the language of technology. Through Prensky's view it is clear that children of the 21st century are greater familiar with technology and it's uses, it is for this reason it is important that Learning Managers provide learning experiences that make use of technology to create ease into learning with the use of familiar tools as well as engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and prepare students for the digital society of the future.

Teachertube similarly provides a place for Learning Managers to upload classroom videos, ICT assessment materials and moreover anything educational in video format. I have seen on the site, a range of students' videos for assessment tasks and class videos documenting their learning. Through this i can see how beneficial such a tool can be within classroom tasks in particular as a form of assessment. Requiring students' to video themselves presenting findings, information or ideas in creative ways as a tool for assessment allows for the inclusion of those learners who learn best through the incorporation of ICTs, creativity, visual cues (Mueller, 1980), hands-on and auditory practices along with authentic focuses (Felder & Solomon). Through providing this inclusion along with incorporating students interests and showing students how their work is relevant to real-life practices, learners will become greater engaged (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) within their task.

The video above can be used in a number of ways within classroom practices, including the introduction to a topic on spiders, providing students with facts on spiders during a topic and providing an example for students of how to document their findings on a particular spider. I have decided to use this video in an English lesson to incorporate the students' interests, provide engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) into the topic and provide connection to the text that will be read by the student. The video will be used as a part of an English lesson focusing on spelling; students will clap when they identify words that end in 'er' throughout the video. This will be used to assess their knowledge and understanding of words that end in 'er' along with the ability to identify this sound. After this students will be asked to write a story about spiders making sure they use 'er' correctly in their spelling of words. The concept of using a video to do this will enable students to engage (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) within the topic through the use of visual representation (Mueller, 1980), ICT's in the form of video, inclusion of students interests along with active involvement from students.

References

Kearsley, G., Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm