11.5: Thing #4 Video Hosting

Since I'm working on my "things" while in the district, I elected to upload to Teacher Tube. I registered, created a profile, and uploaded the two Animoto videos I did for Great Book for Gifted Kids (younger readers, older readers). Now I'm waiting for Teacher Tube to approve and post them.

What would be some advantages of having teaching/learning videos available online at sites like these?
Using online videos makes them available to students 24/7. You can show them as a hook or part of the content of a lesson. If students want to review them again later, they can easily do so. Media adds a richness to lessons - it brings something outside the school in.

What about student created work -- would there be advantages to having it uploaded?
In gifted education we'ver been talking about authentic audiences for years (here's a great blog post on Authentic Audiences). GT students should be doing products/performances for real audiences, which are typically outside the school. That's been a bit challenging. The web makes more doable. Now students have a world-wide audience. They can get input from experts and peers. I've heard Alan November speak on a number of occasions (when I hear him I want to be back in the classroom trying out what he describes). Each time I hear him saying that kids put a lot more thought and energy into creating a good product when it's posted to the web - when it's broadcast to a larger, more meaningful audience than the class or teacher.