Youtube: It's More Than Cats

Hello again Parents,
Today i am presenting how I use Youtube in my classroom.

  I know what you are thinking:

       But actually, your kids love this stuff! So again, instead of denying access to it, I embrace it.  Now I am aware of the *ahem* "less than appropriate" material on Youtube.  But for every video or vine that is meant for outside the classroom, there is one that is useful inside the classroom. Sometimes these videos may not even seem academic at first. Let me explain.

Take for instance this old music video from 1932 by legendary jazz artist Louis Armstrong

       This video seems like just an old video, but when my students and I look at the context and the details of the video, and the stereotypes portrayed, what we see is a glimpse of how minorities, specifically African-Americans, were perceived in the 1930's.  It is this kind of critical thinking about history, media, and perception that only technology can elicit. 

I would then compare this video with more modern music videos, like so...

(Now this video has explicit language so I would mute the video and play the radio version of the song, but the focus is video images.)
     By comparing these two videos, students learn about culture, stereotypes in media, historical context, and the fact that things we thought only happened in the the past (racism) are still present today. They just look differently, ala the music videos.

Then I wrap up the day's discussion with one more music video:

      This video was created by a group of black male students who were tired of being labeled with stereotypes. Finally we would compare all three and discuss the merits of each, as well as the implications of agency on each of these videos and their performers. Your students are learning culture, history, media analysis, critical thinking, and how a 21st century world operates from Youtube anyway, shouldn't they have someone to help guide them?
      That's what I do with technology and Youtube in my classroom.  The students have already chosen the medium, I just decide to help steer them to good content and the right context with which to view this plethora of information.