Youtube.com is a website which I
believe most of you ave heard of. On this site you can look at
different kinds of videos and upload your own videos. All you need is
a computer with an Internet access. It is, however, a good thing to
have a projector or an interactive whiteboard so that the students
can watch the videos together.
I believe this site is a huge resource
in the English language teaching since it has such a wide range of
different things you can use in education. Due to my experience I
believe that students often find it quite entertaining watching
videos which make them attentive during the lessons. By letting
students take part of things on Youtube you give them an
opportunityto hear the language in many different situations and you
let the students listen to the language in it´s real context.
For example you can watch short stories
or divide longer stories into smaller parts. The students can work
with the videos on their own or you can show it to the whole class at
the same time, depending on which resources you have got in class and
which strategies you prefer. You can watch video clips from real life
situations and take part of actual lessons. Depending on which age
you teach there are different kinds of videos appropriate for
different ages.
Another good thing to do is to let the
students choose songs they like which you can listen to. By doing
this you can either use it as a listening exercise or you could print
out the lyrics and let the students translate them to increase their
vocabulary. There are also plenty of songs that are made to be used
in education, for example grammar songs and songs about different
topics. You just have to type in what you are looking for on the top
of the website and then you hopefully get a huge amount of videos
which are useful.
Is is very important though that you
take a look at the videos in advance, before you show it to your
students. Since this is a site where anyone can upload their videos
you never know what might appear in the video. Remember that the
video it self does not turn into actual knowledge, you have to
discuss the video and do something with it to get the actual
learning! :)
//Malin Arkad
I agree with you about this web-site, but I´m a little trouble if I can use it with my eight years-old pupils. It´s just that you say - you can never know what the videos include. I check all the videos or films before I show them to my pupils.
ReplyDeleteHaven´t you thought about to do a film by yourself and upload? Or do it with your students? That should be one of the knowledge demand in the subject "bild".
I think that we must accept this kind of canal for information,whatever we want it or not. The world gets closer in our lives and we can handle it in many different ways. To let the students/pupils see movies on Youtube can be one of them.
//Anette Junebjörk
Youtube is fantastic in its bounlessness. In the same time it contains everything and nothing and not a bit of it turns in to knowledge if you don´t put in a lot of thinking and handeling before you present it for pupils. But in the same time it can give you or at least the versed teacher greate opportunitys to "talk" about popular films and music. It´might even be possible to make films or music with the pupils even thought I think it demands a great deal of knowledge and dedication from the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you have to watch the video before you show it to the pupils, and that the video it self doesn´t learn the pupils anything. I think it is a great opportunity to "visit" our pupils world. Many of our pupils visit Youtube everyday in other purposes than to learn English. I also think that it is a rather easy way to start using technology in the classroom, who knows what you do next?
ReplyDeleteVictoria
Nice to hear about your thoughts! Yes, I have thought about making a video with the students, but one problem that I can think of with this kind of task is that when you put something on youtube it is suddenly something anyone can watch (or is it possible to make your account private in some way? I don´t know)and that might be a problem, at least if the students themselves are in the clip. But of course you could try making a video in some other way, maybe with pictures or so! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas about using YouTube as a resource in education. I agree that YouTube is a great technology that can be used in many different ways in education. Like you, I have used videoclips from YouTube with my students, for example to listen to and learn songs in English. I find that the students are captivated by the input of authentic language.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is vital to watch the videos yourself before showing them to students. Not only do you need to ensure that the video is appropriate for the group, but you also need to consider how it fits into your lesson. We also know that a lot of students use YouTube at home, and therefore I think it is important to have a discussion with the students around good practices on the site. This includes everything from making the most of the site, to commenting etiquette, to privacy and explicit content. When it comes to uploading videos, it is very important that they understand the emotional and legal implications of that, especially when other people are involved.
All that said, I like your conclusion: “you have to discuss the video and do something with it to get the actual learning.” It encapsulates the fact that at the end of the day, YouTube is a tool, and when used the right way, can be very powerful.