To Videoshare or Not to Videoshare, that is the Question

Youtube or just Metube?

For the first time, I posted a video of myself on Youtube. I struggled for a long time because I was very reluctant to post anything about myself on Youtube. I'm not sure where this insecurity comes from, but it could be the fact that I'm not sure who might view my video or for what purpose they might use this video. I guess I am very protective of footage about me. This could stem from when a colleague created a yodelling video on Youtube for fun. She had a blast making this video and told all her friends to check it out. However, at the yearend staff meeting, we had a slideshow of all that happened that school year and... her yodelling video appeared in front of the whole staff. She was so embarrassed. Her fiance was the one who suggested that the video be played in the slideshow, and he immediately leaped out of his seat in fear of her strangling him. This raises the question about audience. Sure, she was comfortable in posting her segment for individual audience and perhaps when she's not in the same room, but what if your video was used for an audience that you did not intend for? How can you control this?

Like I said, I was very hesitant to post my video on Youtube for all of the world to see. But has I searched for tips on how to add a video onto Blogger, I stumbled upon an option that you can select... you can make it PRIVATE and only share with whom you wish. This eased my apprehensiveness about posting a video clip about myself onto Youtube. I was able to get my embedded url and post it onto my blog. If I had so many issues about posting something about myself, what does this mean for my students?

Why am I a control freak?

I'll admit when it comes to our student's safety, I have every right to be a control freak. I've never posted on Youtube before until now, but I have been a user of Youtube. Teaching in China, there are limited resources for teachers and the internet is a very important tool. Many of my colleagues and I use Youtube for video clips in our classes for interviews, transitions, advertisements, etc. When using Youtube in this way, it is totally safe because I am controlling what my students see. (Tip: You can use sites that will save a Youtube clip onto your computer and you can play it on a larger scale with a FLV player.)

However, I am learning that videosharing is also a great learning tool for our students and most of our students are already using similar sites - maybe not to post but definitely for viewing. So, how can educators control sites like Youtube? Like in Dawn's blog, she suggests Schooltube to be a useful videosharing site and Will Richardson says Teachertube is another safe medium to use. In the article "Youtube comes to the classroom" (School Library Journal, Jan2007, Vol. 53 Issue 1, p22-22), it suggests that Youtube's K12 education group (www.youtube.com/group/K12) is a good place to start as well because it is a channel for teacher and student subitted work or to even embed the Youtube videos you want your students to access onto a blog or a webpage. However, there are issues with the latter because once students click on the video link, it will bring them "straight to YouTube's inviting and unsafe arms."

Perhaps there is no way around this. Perhaps we just have to educate our students about what is appropriate footage and what isn't? (I think our students already know what isn't appropriate.) Perhaps, the most we can do is to make sure they stay on task when doing their searches for materials relevant to the assignment. Sure, teachers can watch vigilantly in our classrooms, but we can't control what our students will see on Youtube at home or what they may even post. For example, in PBS Frontline Segment Growing Up Online, some underaged teenagers were drinking openly on public transit on their way to a concert. Footage was filmed with their cell phones and placed on Youtube. These teens then faced consequences when parents and schools saw this video clip. Whoever posted this incident online thought it would be fun and that only peers would have access to this. Little did they know that it would backfire. Just a prime example of how you never know who your audience might be when placed publicly on Youtube.

Bottomline?

I agree with Rebecca Mullen and Linda Wedwick's article "Avoiding the Digital Abyss" Getting Started in the Classroom with Youtube, Digital Stories, and Blogs" (Clearing House:a journal of educational strategies, issues, and ideas; Nov2008, Vol. 82 Issue 2, p66-69) that "an educational revolution is changing the face of learning and giving a voice to every student and teacher." I was and still am a shy type of participator. I'm not one to raise my hand in confidence and voice my questions, thoughts or ideas comfortably in front of a live audience. However, the web tools we are learning about have opened my eyes to how we can redefine participation in the classroom. We can hide behind the computer screens and be able to share our voice in a safe zone.

Isn't that ironic, don't you think?

Yes, it is. Many educators as well as I are concerned about the worldwide web and how there can be predators out there to harm our students, which makes it an unsafe place. However, when the worldwide web is used appropriately, it can offer a safe environment for our students to express themselves freely within their comfort zones.

So, what does this mean for my classroom and school library?

I think I would scaffold the idea of videosharing with a few group assignments first to warm up the camera shy type of students before assigning individual oriented assignments. I would also educate my students about using the privacy setting when uploading onto Youtube and I would probably collect all their videos by having students embed their videos into the Class Blog. I believe that videosharing would be a great peer and self-evaluation tool to be able to view their presentations, performances, speeches and reflect about it accurately. If students go by memory, their personal bias or emotions during the presentation, performance, speech, etc. may distort the actual experience. Students could also use movie maker to highlight what they did well and what they need to improve. I also see the use of "videopals". This school year, I am being relocated to a new campus, but my students can share their videos with students of other campuses or other parts of the world even. For example, if we are doing the same novel study and the students needed to create a video clip for an assignment, we could share what the students have produced easily. As for the library, I really enjoyed the movie trailer idea to promote books to peers like in Jennifer Wooten's "Flipped!: Want to get teens excited about summer reading? Just add video"(School Library Journal, 5/1/2009).

So? What's all the fuss about?

Here's the video I didn't really want to post. It's a clip that I found from my first day of my Teacher Education Program. I thought it would be fun to make it into a clip to but on my blog since it's an introduction as to who I am and why I wanted to be an elementary school teacher and because now I'm in a new stage in my role as a teacher transitioning from the classroom into the library.

Friend or Foe?

I'm still undecided... so let's say Friendoe? I still believe we need to be very careful of the sensitivites of individuals and their comforts with posting themselves online and to think about how we can guarantee the right audience.