YouTube Technology
Instructors have started to include YouTube technology among their teaching tools to enhance student learning. Is YouTube technology becoming very relevant in online education, why?
Juana,
Great use for YouTube videos. I like this because you get the real conversational element of the language, not just the structured grammar and vocab.
Herbert Brown III
YouTube is a very powerful tool when you are teaching a foreign language. Students have the opportunity to view videos that can help them develop their listening skills.
Jack,
The key is to ensure you have watched the materials and they are accurate and relevant to the topic. There are many good resources on YouTube and even more poor resources. The key is just as you stated, finding something that is accurate and useful and directing students to that element and having them expand on that content and tie it to their learning.
Herbert Brown III
When faced with very limited course materials slides that were provided as "standard" Course Materials for a course with the CMS, I was able to find three relevant YouTube clips to stimulate discussion questions on the topics.
For each of the YouTube clips, I developed at least two discussion questions that required an individual or a Team response.
The discussion question responses were viewed by the class. Students would engage in the topic discussions by adding further comments or points of view on the discussion question topic, which was used to evaluate their class participation.
Jack Kovalcik
I personally use YouTube videos (or Vimeo) to support a topic. I have found that by offering a chapter from a book, a tutorial found on the Internet, a video (I watch for accuracy to my lessons) from YouTube as additional resources for the students makes a difference. As the instructor mentioned though, be careful. I watch every second of a video before I use it to make sure that the person is easily understood and doesn't say anything not deemed school appropriate.
The inclusion of YouTube technology in pedagogy contributes significantly to students’ learning and serves as an additional mode for lesson delivery. Research and experience have taught me that students learn best when instructors incorporate a variety of teaching strategies, techniques and tools into the lesson delivery which caters to multiple learning styles and preferences. In addition, Youtube is a popular and frequently-used media by most students; therefore, if instructors tap into the media used by students, it is highly likely that students will respond favorably. However, it is crucial to note that instructors should view and evaluate the contents prior to introducing it to the students, and ensure the material is relevant to the learning objectives.
Ruth
Sarah,
Do you use it as a supplement or as a primary teaching tools with your courses?
Herbert Brown III
Yes, I use You Tube videos and I think it is very important that the sources where you are getting the information from is just as important as having the videos available. You Tube is evolving with better quality videos and more topics/subjects. The students really like the videos with music/media, etc. And it brings about great discussions and what the students think of the information.
Sarah
I agree from the perspective that the videos be relevant and capable of supporting the educational objectives. The availability of video technology to enhance the learning experience has become a great contributor in adding value to students engaged in an online learning environment. They can, if used properly, enable the student to see through live examples how a particular problem might be worked out or actively participate in a case study orchastrated by a video tour or the events leading up to the problem, discovery, analysis, and finally problem resolution. Many times, simply seeing, makes all the difference in the world.
Karen,
I agree the videos can be fun, but students still need to apply rules regarding the authenticity and accuracy of the materials in the videos. Since anyone can and does upload videos, just like webpages, wikis, etc., we need to teach students the appropriate use of these tools and how to evaluate their quality.
Herbert Brown III
I have found that youtube videos can make the student enjoy the learning experience more. Videos can be either full of learning material or even fun to watch, to encourage the student to continue with the course material. Sometimes, the videos give students a welcomed break from hard work.
Dr. Francis,
It depends on a number of factors. Some YouTube videos are just personal postings of random materials. Other material is excellent training quality materials, professionally made and very accurate. If you have reviewed the material for quality and accuracy it can be a good resource for students. They can access almost any topic they need to increase their knowledge or self-remediate. For example, my son took a high school math class last year where the teacher did not know their subject well enough to properly teach the students. My son got on Kahn academy and found quality instructional lessons on the topics he was struggling with and get the help he needed.
Herbert Brown III
