With all that video, sometimes it’s hard to manage and navigate the YouTube environment. Here are some thing you may know that you could do with YouTube.

1. Create your own playlists – Just like with music services and software, you can create a playlist of YouTube videos that you want to save to watch later. To do that, you need to create an account with Google. (Watch this video for instructions.) If you’re logged into YouTube, under each video you’ll see an “+ Add to” button that will allow you to add it to a playlist.

   
   This playlist can then be accessed clicking on your username in the upper right hand corner and then selecting “Videos” in the dropdown. On that page you’ll see any videos that you’ve uploaded, tagged to watch later or added to a playlist.

2. Share a video- Sharing videos on YouTube may not be new to you, but there are a couple of options that you may not know about. When you click the “Share” button below a video, you’ll see a link to a video where you can email that link to someone or you can click “Embed” and get a code to post that on your website. Those are common features that are readily used but in that same window, you’ll see a “show options” link. One of the features that I like best here is that you can check the “Start at” box and select the point in the video where you want it to start. Then when you share that link with someone, the video starts exactly where you wanted it to without the recipient having to watch the irrelevant parts.

   
   

3. Subscribing to video channels- There have been many times where I have found a set of videos that were uploaded by someone that I really liked and wanted to know when they uploaded more. At one point, I would have to continually go back to that person or organization’s channel to see if they have something new. Now I just subscribe to their channel and receive an email every time they upload a new video. To subscribe to a video channel, click on the “Subscribe” button on the top of the video and you’ve just subscribed yourself. On the popup find the checkbox beside “Also email me for each new upload” and you’ll start getting emails whenever new content is available.

   

4. Show videos without the comments or recommendations – YouTube has lots of busyness on every page with a video. There are comments and suggested videos that may or may not be appropriate as well as ads on the site. Sometimes that can be very distracting. Using a site like Quietube can allow you to focus only on the video by removing all the extras. Go to the Quietube website for directions on how to use it. (See an example here and watch a tutorial here.)

Online video is a part of our lives and it’s not going away anytime soon. Students like my daughter are becoming very adept at using and working with online video but it’s not “just for kids” and it’s not “just for entertainment”. More and more it can be used as a tool for education and for learning. Hopefully these tips can help you navigate the world of YouTube a little more smoothly. If you’d like to talk more about the role online video can play in your classroom, contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

One of the things that he did masterfully was give me feedback on my writing. He didn’t make corrections for me, he pointed things out and allowed me to work through them. I wanted the grade, but that wasn’t my motivation. In his research Robert Marzano has identified feedback as “the most powerful single modification that enhances achievement”. In his book, Classroom Instruction that Works – Research based strategies for increasing student achievement, (Marzano, Pickering, Pollock, 2001), Marzano cites four generalizations to help us guide feedback.

Feedback should be:

1. “Corrective” in nature.
2. Timely
3. Specific to criterion
4. Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback

There are lots of ways to provide this feedback and technology and the web can greatly enhance the ease of providing and access to this feedback. The document below is a list of different tech tools that will allow for a variety of feedback types.

If you’re interested in trying any of these with your students, email me and we’ll set up a time to work on how to integrate this into your lesson.

Cross posted to Tech4Practice.

Today, I was perusing the March issue of eSchool News and found an article citing new research from Boston College suggesting that “1 to 1 laptop programs are only effective as the teachers who apply them”.  My response?  Obviously!!

I don’t know when it happened that we thought that laptops and IWB’s were going to magically educate all of our children, but it seems as though that’s the attitude by many.  I’m glad that there’s research out there to support this (I guess), but we have to realize that technology is still just a tool.  It’s kind of exciting and I, personally, love to play with the toys as much as the next person, but we must remember the most important piece of this puzzle, the teachers. Giving them a tool and walking away expecting them to use it will never be the answer. The first time I received a laptop from a school district was many years ago.  I remember going into a little room with boxes stacked everywhere and checking my laptop out. I was given a computer, a case and a cord and sent on my merry way.  There was no training, no instruction, nothing to show me how to use it effectively with my students.  I checked it out and was on my own. Luckily, I already knew my way around a computer and had been using them with students in my classroom for a number of years.  This was not the case for many of my colleagues who struggled, became frustrated and walked away from it only indulging in the frustration to take attendance.  While the district successfully checked out laptops, I considered the launch a failure because of a lack of support.

I have the privilege of spending every day supporting teachers in their endeavors.  We work through problems and find solutions. We collaborate and explore. Most importantly, they have someone who they know will support them.  I readily admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I also refuse to leave them alone to “figure it out”. There is a certain point at which professional responsibility kicks in, but for the most part, when new equipment comes in, I know that I need to make an appointment to walk through some things.

Marzano and Boston College say that teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement yet budget cuts, new initiatives and time constraints continue to impede on professional learning.  Maybe these studies will bring new light to teacher needs. But in the meantime, it’s important to remember that there is support out there by way of Nings, twitter and other online professional development groups.  Find a podcast in iTunes, read a blog, find an article that speaks to you and run with it. We don’t have time to wait for research studies to prove that teachers are important for student achievement, we know that. We don’t have time for federal, state and districts to see the need for professional learning, we need to act with a sense of urgency and take that learning upon ourselves and utilize these tools in spite of the obstacles, too much is at stake.

As seen at Vimeo.

1. I’ve missed having my own students.
2. Face to face classes are fun to teach
3. I really love what I do
4. Practicing all this 21st Century Skills is hard work

For the last three years, I’ve been talking a lot more about teaching practices than I have been actually practicing them mainly because I haven’t really had or taken the opportunity to do so.  Classes that I have taught up to this point have been a three to six hour stint in which teachers come, we talk, do a project and off they go.  There’s always follow up and future conversations, but it’s not the same as having your own class and being responsible for the learning that goes on in that class.

So now that I’m teaching again, I’m trying to practice what I preach and expand the knowledge base and experience of my students in the area of technology and learning.  So far, I feel as though it’s gone well.  My class is small, but because of that, I feel as though I’ll be more effective and be able to really talk about the practice and art of teaching rather than focus on the tools.  We’re blogging, using Delicious, and have created a website already after only one week.

Over the next 8 weeks I’ll be writing about this class and experience a lot.  One of the class assignments is to do a weekly reflection blog entry so I’ll be participating by writing my own reflection.