Oh, YouTube, how I love thee!! It is true, ever since I began using Youtube about a year ago, I sing it's praises! I really think YouTube is a great invention and can be applied to the library setting in most inventive and interesting ways. Last Christmas, I used the site to upload a video my husband and I took of our furkids (a.k.a. labrador retrievers) "opening" up their presents from my in-laws. I think the fact that we live 3,000 miles away from anyone we really know (and love for that matter) has prompted us to use technology in a variety of ways (we are big fans of Skype and use it on a daily basis as well).
I think what I like most about YouTube is the variety of material you find on the site. I've been successful with finding the most interesting presentations and videos that certainly work to enhance my classroom and work-based projects. Just last week, I discovered a great "mockumentary" on the issue of paper in office settings that worked perfectly for a presentation I gave to my entire department. Likewise, the ability to embed presentations and videos into various formats (like blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter) really speaks to the adaptability of the videos made available on the site. I could definitely see myself using YouTube by posting informational videos on my library's website (Google makes some really good instructional, step-by-step, easy-to-understand videos using a variety of Google tools); livening up staff presentations (like I do now); or possibly helping with specific instructional units (such as how to use Dewey Decimal or the Library catalog). The possibilities are endless!
Here's the video that I wanted to use for my presentation on Document Imaging (it suits my sarcastic sense of humor):
My one beef with YouTube is the ability to "borrow" videos for presentation type of situations. What I mean is that I wanted to download this particular video and embed the video into my presentation so that when I clicked through my presentation, the video would automatically begin/play/end on it's own. I believe due to issues with copyright, I couldn't figure out a way to make this work. After a little online research, I located a couple of software programs that claimed to be able to download YouTube videos, but I was a little suspicious (and wanted to avoid infringing on any copyright issues).
good point about the non-downloading of YouTube (although my gamer son has little problem...).
ReplyDeleteThat's one thing about tech: no matter your age there's something to learn and share