Using YouTube in the Classroom
YouTube.com, a free video-sharing website, has quickly become a popular way to upload, share, view, and comment on video clips. These clips range from self-produced short films and performance videos to portions of mainstream film and TV (the display of some of this material by YouTube has recently been challenged by Viacom as a violation of copyright.) Faculty members are increasingly using the site as a pedagogic resource for everything from newsworthy events from around the world to “slice-of-life” videos that teach students about culture in foreign language courses.
If you have missed out on the YouTube craze, ask your students about it. Better yet, go to YouTube.com and watch a video clip. Then, search the archive for videos that may be relevant to the courses you teach.
Whether you can successfully play a video clip depends on the playback software on your computer, the internet connection speed, and whether the clip is currently available. To play YouTube videos, you need Macromedia Flash, which is available on most Internet-connected computers and on all PCs in the University-managed classrooms. A broadband connection with at least 500 Kbps will provide for optimum viewing.
While YouTube tends to be very reliable and easy to use in the classroom, there are a number of guidelines you should follow if you plan to show a YouTube clip during class.
- Always check to see if the video is still available immediately before your class starts. (Videos can be removed by YouTube or the video provider.)
- Always have a back-up plan in case the video will not play.
- Be sure to turn on (and un-mute) the audio on your computer; adjust the volume on FlashPlayer as necessary.
- If the video will not play, or will not play continuously or completely, these problems may be caused by high traffic on the YouTube site. Problems may also be caused by the reasons listed below.
- A firewall or internet blocker is blocking the video.
- A video-streaming program other than Macromedia Flash (such as RealPlayer, Quicktime, or Windows Media Player) is selected as the default.
- An incomplete copy of the video was downloaded.
- The video is marked for viewing only by viewers on a “Friends” or “Family” list.
- For assistance, call Mike Floyd, Instructional Technology Specialist at The Teaching Center, at 935-6810.