TeacherTube
Somewhat understandably, YouTube is blocked in many schools – including mine. Whilst other solutions such as Google Video are still available in some institutions, one has to wonder for how long this will remain the case. What is needed, then, is a site like the two mentioned above but dedicated to educational videos.
Enter TeacherTube! With an interface almost baiting YouTube to sue them, TeacherTube is made by teachers for teachers:
TeacherTube was the idea of Jason Smith, a 14-year veteran educator. Jason has been a teacher, coach, campus administrator and district administrator in public schools. He asked the question, “Why can’t teachers, students, and schools utilize the power of the read/write web for learning?” To overcome barriers, he decided to just create a site and get started trying to help. He turned to his brother, Adam, who is a younger, digital native, with technical skills. Adam used his skills to develop the site and found a web host. Soon, Jason’s wife, Jodie, joined the team to start populating the site with videos and help improve the communication. She too has 14 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, campus technology integrator, and district curriculum coordinator.
Some of the videos on there are serious, whilst others are hilarious. Check out Mrs Burk, the rapping maths teacher! The only problem I can forsee is that it’s not exactly… cool. YouTube is red hot at the moment; TeacherTube could be seen by web-savvy teenagers as a bit sad. In any case, it’s a noble proposition well-executed and I wish the advertising-funded site the best of luck!
(via A History Teacher)
There are a lot of pathetic videos submitted by teens to YouTube. I hardly think that should be the gauge by which we measure quality work.
TeacherTube will probably run the full range of quality in videos too. But that’s why there is a rating system — to help sort out the gems!
And who’s to say that kids won’t be producers of some of the educational videos submitted here? Wouldn’t it be great if we could tap into some of those talents to meet educational objectives!
We are also advancing a sort of Puppetube (if you will). We are beginning to showcase the work of teachers using Play Language– or Puppetools–a concept we have developed. Our project is focused on the use of Play-based learning and communication. We are in the March issue of Edutopia.
Thank you.
Actually, the reason teacher tube is a great resource is not the content that is already there but the fact that it is UNBLOCKED by so many schools and thus gives them a platform to use and share digital storytelling artifacts. It is a great resource for that reason alone.
Interestingly, there are many more views of the video I posted on teacher tube vs. youtube for that very reason!