This week Eric brought up using YouTube and other online videos in class. YouTube has revolutionized the flow of information and I use it often in my class. It can teach kids to think critically. However, as Eric also demonstrated through the video links, there is a risk.
For example before YouTube if you had a small plumbing job and you wanted to “sweat a pipe” you were left with three options:
1. Actually hire a plumber (true the job would be done correctly and safely, but what is the fun in that?)
2. Read a published article on plumbing (this article most likely would come from the 30 year old home improvement books you inherited from your grandfather. The yellow moth eaten paper would be tough to read, but you could manage)
3. You could have Bob your next door neighbor come over and give you a hand (Bob professes to be an expert in all things home improvement. Bob’s house is still standing; he does his own oil changes, so he must be handy.)
I was met with this predicament this week and I chose Option 4. “YouTube it”. I searched YouTube for videos on how to sweat a pipe and numerous videos came up. I must not be the only one who went with this option because the video I chose had 126,777 views, making it a pretty popular video. So I watched the video and with only two tries and 2 gallons of spilled water, I successfully put on a shut off valve on my kitchen water supply! After watching Eric’s videos it occurred to me that maybe “how to videos” posted by who know who may not be the safest source for important information. Bob is looking better and better.
Second, is anyone worried about being replaced or “outsourced” by YouTube?
Seriously. There is a video on YouTube for everything I teach, from how to use a compound microscope to protein synthesis. That one plumbing video could have put (based on my estimates) at least150 plumbers out of work. Could teachers be next?
I will only add to the cycle by linking to another video. This one is an interpretive dance on protein synthesis, produced in the early 70’s by some students and professors at Stanford. It is trippy. The good stuff begins at the 3:15 mark. My AP Bio students get a real kick out of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dhO0iCLww
WOW...great point. I actually watched about five plumbing videos on youtube to learn how to fix my outdoor spigot about a week ago!
ReplyDeleteI will say this, do you remember ever having a rep come to your house to get you to buy those resources? It was like a five volume set, like a shorter version of the encyclopedias? Well, I can't help but think that business is gone!
B Fritz
ReplyDeleteI don’t know. My wife’s crazy mom has a “book man” that comes to her work before Christmas and he sells her all kinds of stuff in print that you wouldn’t figure would be around. Maybe a set will show up under the tree in December.