Video Sharing in a Changing World

Except for the names and a few other changes… the story’s the same one! Reflections on the Process of Learning about Video Sharing

Change is difficult. A fact all of us know, but it is inevitable. When it comes to technology, in schools, change can be staggeringly slow. Cost, shifting philosophies, time and tradition stand in its way. The use of over 50 user-generated video sharing sites (Wikipedia, 2009) has had some affect upon teaching, used as a distributed learning tool, but negligibly as a shared learning tool.

Neil Diamond hit the nail on the head with this song, at least with this line which always sticks in my head from “I am… I said”.





Every step in our journey with technology is about change and it is moving exponentially faster.

1953: I’m born, to be the middle child in a middle class neighbourhood.

1959: I watch my first television show… Ed Sullivan

1970: I learn to program a computer using punch cards. I learn to love Neil Diamond.

1984: I own my first computer, an Apple

1987: I am teacher librarian in a school with a computer lab!

1987: I own my first colour TV

1993: I’m an elected trustee in a major school district in Alberta. I have been using my own PC for ten years for writing articles and a novel (unpublished, I confess). I’m in the wealthiest school district in Alberta, and I am a constant advocate for email for all staff and trustees. I am using personal email to my limited contacts, but cannot communicate with my colleagues. My beautiful daughter, Emily is born. The chairperson of the board at the time introduces me at a function as “the only person who would go so far to promote email by naming her newborn the next closest word to email, Emily.”

1996: My advocacy finally works. The argument for years was the inappropriate sharing, the ‘fact’ that email would have no educational value, the item spent off-task… this sounds just like YouTube today. Children should not view videos unless they are filtered by the teacher.

2007: I use YouTube and other video sharing sites to find interesting videos.

2009: I learn to download videos for educational and personal uses.

2010: YouTube is blocked in my school district, as it is in many Alberta districts. There are considerations about inappropriate content. Students can not choose Google Videos. They may come upon something that would be inappropriate. We choose to block it rather than teach appropriate usage. I am still in a school with one computer lab. I learn that YouTube can be joined, that it has communities, that it is empowering as a teacher, that it is participatory. I learn to embed a video in a blog.


My personal computer use has been very business oriented (lessons, spreadsheets, income tax, some web work, and Facebook.) I have never made a movie before this week. I had taken a few clips on my camera that are saved but never shared.

I surprise myself that I have ‘believed’ that the ultimate use of YouTube is to view clips, most of which are personal videos. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent many an evening trolling and enjoying videos. I’ve found many that I’ve been able to download and share with my students as educational tools. (a skill most of the teachers on my site do not share) I’ve visited the site hundreds of times, but did I ever notice that I could ‘sign up’? Perhaps, but if it did, it meant nothing in terms of practical or educational utilization. I didn’t own a video camera and didn’t want to post baby films.

Throughout the 90’s I chaired the Central Alberta Media Services (CAMS) which distributed film and videos to member school districts. We talked about Video Streaming and the opportunities that lay if we could move in that direction. Still, my mindset was about receiving information, not in the sharing of information. I consider myself somewhat tech-savvy so this week of learning about video sharing was a huge wake up. I had bought into the district line, at least passively.

I’m a hands-on kind of gal. I remember and learn from what I do. I’m also a single mom – owner of a puppy – community involved busy twenty-first century teacher and teacher librarian. During the week, I did not have time to read the texts, but I looked at my skill set and realized that I had never made a video. Here was my jump-in moment. I was in charge of the assembly on Friday and needed to share the learning that was happening in the classroom. What better opportunity did I have to figure out, create and share a video? My plan cemented in stone when my principal suggested that, given the time frame, it was not possible. I set about a new learning curve.

As usual, I put the cart before the horse. In the process of learning how to create a video and to cut and edit (admittedly simple once you learn to use MovieMaker), I still did not understand the power of the medium. Embedding it with voice clips into Glogster added further challenges. Finding a way to be online in our gym was a major challenge. The result, though, was a six minute video that demonstrated the power of literature circles to a school that had never used them. The response from teachers and students alike was uplifting, because they saw Literature Circles i in action with the children they knew in a situation that was familiar and therefore possible for them.

To view the Glog and embedded video I created about literature circles, visit my Glogster site.

http://mrscavanaugh.edu.glogster.com/glog-707/
http://mrscavanaugh.edu.glogster.com/glog-568/

Stage two, of course, has been reading the literature including the texts and the trailfires. Should I have read them all before I created? YES!!! I knew that to start with, but found that I couldn’t manage the evening time during the work week. I knew the creation process of video making was crucial. Reflectively, I would have read Davies and Merchant first. I would have read about the disruptive affect of YouTube (Richardson, 2009) before. I would have had the students holding the camera and editing and producing the video as a richer learning opportunity. I would have read YouTube4You (Proquest, 2009) as a lengthy but clear 'how to' for YouTube' before I even began. I will have my students create a video of their own literature circles in the next two weeks, selecting and cutting and pasting the comments that they are most excited about. If I had been able to spread this project out over time, it would have been a different video. Nevertheless, I cannot teach students until I have figured out the process, so the learning and process was valuable if not where I would like to take it.

If I had read Richardson first, I would have bought an external microphone. I would have created the storyboard first rather than as an editing process. I would have put more planning into place.



Thank the Lord for the Night Time…
Discussion of Video Sharing in Terms of My Own Personal Learning

It is only after the kids are in bed, my personal daily obligations are fulfilled, that I can take the time to reflect on where this tool takes me personally and professionally. An insomniac, I can and will stay up as late as I need to in order to work through a problem, however I will pay for it the next few days.




As a multi faceted learner, I am thrilled with the opportunity to learn using videos. I find the medium more engaging than reading, as I can see, hear and write at the same time and it helps me retain the information presented. Due to a short term memory deficit, I look for any tools that will help me retain information. In a classroom setting, particularly if using Smart Boards with a Smart Video Player, this seeing / hearing /writing can also be joined with quick slide reviews of the videos combined with classroom discussion, adding a further depth of learning strategies to meet the diverse needs of the classroom. Further, if we take the learning one step further, and have students then create videos (thereby teaching a skill) we create powerful learning opportunities for our students. When information is presented to me in varied formats, I learn better. When I read text, I retain little. I imagine I am no different from most of the students we teach.

I am an involved person at a provincial political level. There is no doubt that future elections in Alberta will be highly influenced by the videos that are created in online video sharing spaces. No longer are the communications controlled solely by the traditional media, but by the use of social networks. The first negative as have appeared just last week against the Alberta Liberal Leader in Facebook. They appeared like a Progressive Conservative ad, but were disclaimed by that party. Now the video has been removed. Immediate clips of valuable information and political messaging can be immediately accessed by a broad range of constituents for little cost. As a secretary of a provincial party, it will be incumbent for me to advocate that our methods of communication need to make YouTube a central part of our future campaigns. I will be sharing Politiking online : The transformation of election campaign communications (Panagopoulus, 2009) with our communications staff.




There are huge risks in video sharing as every parent knows. Paul, my eldest, was 17 when he was hired to build the email database for the school district. He was computer literate from the time he could touch a computer, and now as a computer engineer and software designer, he knows more about how to use the computer than I can ever hope. Emily had her first and secret web site using NeoPets at nine and was already receiving inappropriate emails. Is the answer to keep our children off of the computer? Is the answer just to give up and not protect our children? I believe that the best solution is somewhere in between. As a parent, I monitor my monitor children’s use of the internet. We have had many discussions about appropriate use of sites like YouTube. Its community control emphasis (Davies and Merchant, 2009) can lead to some inapporpriate materials. It is my responsibility to teach them or else the utilization will just go underground. It has made for active and interesting discussions about trust and created some challenging moments in our relationships. It has paid off with an intelligent, well versed teenager who uses social websites for positive reasons and rejects inappropriate content accordingly. Way to go, Emily.





Heading for the Future : Discussion of Video Sharing in Terms of Teaching and Learning

As a professional, in my role as Teacher Librarian and as a Curriculum Coordinator, I have realized just how important it is that we respect and collect forms from students in September to give freedom to share videos and pictures. My school chose not to distribute FOIP forms (Freedom of Information Protection of Privacy) unless it was needed. I now have no ability to share resources, even without names school information, unless I poll every parent and get unanimous agreement. Even more important, for future years will be my role in assuring parents of the value of video and photo sharing as an educational tool. As with email in the past, video sharing is an invaluable tool for communication, self reflection, and communication, understanding the world, our own identity, people and the future of our society.

Challenges:

It is without doubt that some parents will not release permissions, but knowing our restrictions and parameters ahead of time will facilitate student created video sharing. The use and misuse of the media is something that could and should be addressed in a parent seminar. Care will always have to be exercised in how we share personal information and respect the privacy of our vulnerable students. That, however, is a challenge that is possible to overcome with teacher / parent literacy and respect.

Permission is just the start, and the challenges and rewards of using video sharing in the classroom are manifold. The two greatest obstables are ones that can be overcome with the right resources, both fiscal and human.

Without appropriate tools, it is extremely difficult for a teacher to imagine creating and sharing videos. When there is only one school camera, when the classroom has only one lab fully booked and no classroom technology that supports connectivity with the students, the teacher feels overwhelmed with technical obstacles. With old, slow computers without headphones, without microphones and with a 30 minute time block in the lab, there is limited opportunity to introduce a keyboard, much less how to use a camera and to work through developing a video and uploading it to a site. Once cloud computing becomes fuller and capable of a larger range of tasks, perhaps then schools will find using netbooks and wireless labs financially accessible. Perhaps when we as educators worry less about locking one school camera up because it is equal in value to 3 textbooks, we will buy Flip Videos and Cameras and makes them accessible.

The greatest obstacle is teacher literacy. We are caught in our ways of learning from the past and the styles of teaching from our teaching history. The first video we create will take time and effort after a long and draining day of being on top in the classroom. The first video we upload will take a ‘seismic shift’ in how we think about learning. The first videos that students upload will be the beginning of the future of a new generation of learning.

The solution is to bring education forward through professional development and opportunity to experience the possibilities in video sharing (as well as other new technologies that move the web from an information provider to an information sharing tool). My role, as a teacher librarian and curriculum coordinator (and classroom core teacher) is to model these technologies and support the growth of teachers in experimenting and developing their skills. At a school level, I am encouraged to do this, and all teachers are encouraged to participate, as we share a Technology Without Borders Project through out year. This professional development program combined on site small group self directed pd with multi school grade level sessions. At my school, this has been a gift and a stress, as there never seems to be enough time, personally or in the lab, or enough resources (cameras, computers, connectivity) to act on suggested ideas. My time is limited to assist to less than half time, but that has been the stronger impetus for the staff as they can learn along with me in a cooperative collaborative teaching project. As well, I am learning along with them, so we are all on an upward curve. Video creation and sharing is a totally new concept that will be very interesting to begin as a project with the teachers given our restraints.


Opportunities

The great opportunity that is easily surmounted by students and staff is the accessing of videos online that have been shared by others. TeacherTube is accessible to everyone, and teachers now have the ability to override the YouTube blocks and so, when the technology exists in the classroom, can share video learning with students. As well, there are thousands of streaming videos accessible to student and teacher alike on United Streaming (Discovery Education) and videos specifically geared to curriculum on the Online Reference Centre supported by Alberta Education. Teachers have little time to discover these tools, but they are easily shared and need to be referenced at staff meetings and in mini tutorials to both students and teachers and parents. (Note to self… set these up!) We need to go beyond the worksheet textbook lecture read/write way of teaching and move students to be able to critically view and understand the power of the visual.

A bit more problematic but a fabulous opportunity will be to use classroom videos. The opportunity to create mini lessons on video and post them on sites like YouTube or Teacher Tube of classroom blogs provide opportunity for students to reinforce their learning or to provide a preset prior to the lessons. It is there for review or for initial learning and is created to fit a teaching style and curriculum uniquely yours. Similarly, the many libraires that have used video sharing to post informative and engaging videos to promote the use of their libraries suggest to me that I should try this and pot in on my school library web site.

The greatest opportunity will be when students can create their own videos and share them, and as well reflect and discuss their learning and their classmates learning. With closed classroom blogs, this will certainly be attainable. The students can become engaged in higher level learning skills and be working in an environment that clearly engages them, including skills and strategies that will inevitable be part of their future. When they create for a public eye (even if it is as limited as their classmates, teachers and parents) and when they are using Video that requires them to analyze what they are communicating not just though word but through visual media, they will be more engaged and more inclined to critique their own production. In school, I remember the Shakespeare I acted in, not the Shakespeare I read. What is a more powerful experience if a child also gets to see and reflect and understand themselves more fully through self viewing from a shared video file, can think about how to change, can listen to others and make informed decsions? We are, in our classrooms, creating the broadcasters of tomorrow (Davies and Merchant, 2009) and we need to use the tools to empower them.

The global connections that YouTube has built transcend space and time (Wesch, ) and allow a greater of linking of people. He argues that the web moves us from connecting through roadways and televisions (place to place) to connection of people to people, increasing our connectivity, mediating human relationships. The anthropology of YouTube was a particularly engaging video link that has led me to new, insightful understandings of the importance of our developing students' and personal slills in using video sharing.