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Eight reasons to keep YouTube out of schools

noyoutube.jpgFrequently, I hear teachers yearn for access to YouTube in their classroom. Yet, I question if this really is a good idea. Below are eight things we need to worry about if YouTube is allowed in the classroom:

  1. copyright infringement: it’s so easy to get videos that were posted to YouTube illegally. You can’t expect students to do their own work when you showed them a pirated video yesterday. However, I am afraid that the temptation will be too great for many teachers. Read More

Eight reasons to use YouTube in school

youtube1.jpgNot a week goes by without one of my colleagues asking me how to show a YouTube video in class. Because of it’s history of inappropriate content, ranging from pointless to tasteless, YouTube has been blocked in schools across the nation. However, the same content filters that are supposed to be blocking the bad sites are preventing “…teachers from accessing cutting-edge widgets and digital materials that have enormous potential for expanding learning.” [1]

I think it’s time for schools to take another look at YouTube’s use in the classroom.  Here are a few reasons why we should let YouTube into our schools:

  1. viewing is easy: there are a lot of video sharing websites out there, but YouTube makes the experience simple and seamless Read More

Use a Wiki to create a collaborative study guide

Final exams are next week so that means many of my students are anxious about reviewing the semester. In the past, I’ve given students a packet that outlined the learning objectives for the past semester. From the students’ perspective, this is quite the passive experience.

This year I’m trying something different. I created a rough outline that students can add to, update and modify online. It is essentially a Wikipedia’ for my semester review.

Review via Wiki

I’m using the wiki that our school’s SharePoint service provides; it allows me to track what changes are being made and who’s making them. It also let’s me see which students are actually looking at the study guide.

However, you don’t need SharePoint to do this. Here are two other places you can get started with your own wiki.

10 most hated words on the web

Now this just makes me laugh.

“UK pollsters YouGov have just completed a survey on the web’s most-hated words” [link]

Here they are:

  • folksonomy
  • Blogosphere
  • Blog
  • Netiquette
  • Blook
  • Webinar
  • Vlog
  • Social Networking
  • Cookie
  • Wiki

Oh, who cares- let’s see who can string’em all into one sentence.