#16: YouTube

I think YouTube is a fantastic resource that is often disparaged. Teachers and educators often don't think about what it can really be used for. It's not just pirated music and goofy antics. There is a real treasure trove of informational tutorials, public domain documentaries, and educational resources from highly respectable institutions.

For instance, USF Libraries has done a lot of work with their YouTube channel, with more than 137 videos uploaded. They have lectures, oral histories, interviews, and tutorials, and they are quite good at uploading regularly (as of today, the latest update was only five days ago). There are many educational institutions available also; check out YouTube Edu for the list. Who else is on YouTube? Here are a few heavy-hitters:

• The Associated Press
• CBS
• Florida State Emergency Response Team
• Google
• NASA
• The Nobel Prize
• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House of Representatives
• White House

For one of my library science classes, I had to pick a video on YouTube and design a lesson around it. I picked a short video about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and paired it with a picture book and a very short book of the disaster and its effects (Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes) and some copies of the newspaper stories on the bomb, from ProQuest Historical. Then I posed the question about whether this was an acceptable solution to end the war, and if the cost of human lives was worth it. The lesson has the potential to provoke discussion, especially by bringing the event to life, instead of drearily reading about it in a textbook. I can certainly see using these videos in many fields. For chemistry and science classes, find the video showing the reaction between Mento's and Diet Coke and discuss the scientific reason for that violent explosion. For a business class, find videos of classic television ads and discuss how advertising has changed in the past 50 years. History is very self-explanatory, but in a similar vein to the television ads, why not look at political advertisements, such as the famous "Daisy Girl" ad from Lyndon B. Johnson? The sky's the limit! For those that wish to limit to somewhat educational and safe videos, YouTube has a K12 Education area. You can also zip on over to TeacherTube.

I much prefer YouTube to other video sites, because it's the 'main' site, and the breadth and depth is much larger than others. But when it comes to watching TV shows, Hulu can't be beat. They have full-length TV shows from Fox, NBC, and Comedy Central (plus some others), and also a selection of full-length movies. The quality is fantastic (much better than YouTube), and the fact that you don't have to download a special video player to view (like other channels ABC) is a definite plus. And you can embed in a blog post! Here's just a small clip of a Simpson's episode explaining April Fools' Day (in honor of the day...):

Very fun! Now, this isn't from YouTube, but we use this video in our online LIS courses to illustrate how Wikipedia has its pitfalls. This is from The Colbert Report, way back in 2006, and it really gets the point across.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Wikiality
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Now, here's a fun Sesame Street video that I love to watch. Enjoy!