Videosharing: Part 2 - An Introduction

Video hosting sites allow its users to upload and share videos on the internet.

How many videosharing sites are out there on the internet? Run the term through a search engine, and the answer is: LOTS. Some include:
- Blip.tv
- ClipShack
- Crackle
- GoFish
- Google Video
- iFilm
- Yahoo! Video

However, the most popular site may in fact be YouTube with over 1 million videos viewed daily (School Library 2.0 Learning). An incredible variety of content videos can be found at such sites. A simple keyword search will turn up videos which have been tagged according to subject content and title. Videos range from amateur creations, to clips from movies or television programs, to creative combinations of both.

It is explained in “YouTube Comes to the Classroom” by Anna Adam and Helen Mowers (School Library Journal, January, 2007), that videosharing sites, such as YouTube, are looked upon as places for students to discover their voice. While inappropriate material does exist, the article points out that there are “gems” for educators to be found. The site’s K12 education group is a safe area for posting and searching, where one can find teacher- and student-submitted videos, including a piece on using blogs, wikis, and other social media in the classroom. The article also makes suggestions for discouraging the viewing of inappropriate video content.

Michael Wesch provides another supportive voice in Presentation: YouTube in/on/of/for the Classroom. He explains “yes, you can (& should) use YouTube videos in the classroom” because of its relevance, engagement, and it is the new media literacy.