Week 10: YouTube

I came across an amazing quote by John Orlando on the use of videos in teaching, "The modern teacher is (or should be) more an aggregator than a producer." Basically if the information is out there and it is an effective communication, you should use it!  Whatever will successfully enhance a students learning experience.  He goes on to mention that some teachers are hesitant to use videos because they are not directly contributing to 100% of the lecture.  Well, if Sheldon Cooper uses YouTube to help his understanding, I'd say the rest of us can too (see "The Pants Alternative").

http://www.tehranlasik.com

Penny: OK. Well, then, there's a couple of things you should probably know.

Sheldon: I have a master's degree and two doctorates. The things I should know, I do know.

Its was mentioned that perhaps students could create vlogs, or video logs.  They could use their webcams, digital cameras, iPhones, smartphones, etc.  My only reservation with this, is that once again we are eliminating the need for students to write.  I really think that this could be detrimental.  While some presentations, projects and progress reports outside of academia could utilize vlogs, in science academia most information is transferred in a written format.  As such, I think I could best serve my students by making them write more often, say with a written blog instead of a vlog.  That being said, I would use vlogs in certain circumstances, such as creating lab safety videos, or having a group present their methods in a video format. The video below is pretty corny but you get the idea.

I really liked Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann's idea of flipping the classroom in that all of the lectures are given in a podcast (i.e. video) form and the classtime is instead used to work through problems, have discussions, and work on assignments while having access to one-on-one teaching time with the professor.  This may not work well in classes with 100 plus students, but I really like the idea of flipping the classroom to provide more one-on-one time and creating opportunities for students to ask questions and get them answered.

 

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While I'm trying to focus on using YouTube to teach effectively, there are many other uses.  Sheldon definitely uses it to its full potential, even if its for evil revenge on Kripke.