According to Wikipedia, YouTube was created in 2005 and is “a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips”. YouTube is free and very easy to use. You can search for every sort of videos just by tapping tags in the ‘search’ bar; most of the videos are available also for unregistered users. You can also see is the file you want to watch is worth attention by looking at its rating and reading though the several comments people wrote.
I think that YouTube is a fantastic tool since you can find videos dealing with every topic and for every purpose you want. I knew YouTube even before Sarah introduced it to us; I used it mainly to find funny videos, but I never thought about it as a learning tool! Thanks to Sarah, I discovered that in YouTube you can find interesting videos that can teach you how to do several things. I think that the next time I want to learn something more about how using computers I will look for a good YouTube video! LOL! Since many files are in English, you can also improve your English listening skill, your vocabulary, and your pronunciation. Great!
YouTube can be useful for teachers too; they can find interesting videos that can be used in order to teach in a different and more involving way some subjects that students often consider boring. In TeacherTube I found some good video files that deal with several topics, such as physics, mathematics, informatics, and that can be an effective support when teaching.
In YouTube you can find also funny videos; Sarah suggested us two files which I find brilliant! When I saw the one about the translator I couldn’t stop laughing! The second one was a satiric video that parodied Bush’s foreign policy and the sad situation in Iraq. I particularly appreciated the puns such as I-rack/Iraq and I-ran/Iran, or the double meaning of some words, such as ‘rack’.
YouTube, however, has also negative aspects. Since everyone can add his/her own video, you may find some files that aren’t good; information conveyed could be inexact, language can be used improperly, and both comment and videos can be full of grammatical mistakes or vulgar.
In conclusion, I think that YouTube is an excellent tool in order to find audio and video files dealing with several topics, but people should be aware that they can find both good and bad stuff. As a matter of fact, teachers should control the videos they want to employ as teaching material before using it.
I think that YouTube is a fantastic tool since you can find videos dealing with every topic and for every purpose you want. I knew YouTube even before Sarah introduced it to us; I used it mainly to find funny videos, but I never thought about it as a learning tool! Thanks to Sarah, I discovered that in YouTube you can find interesting videos that can teach you how to do several things. I think that the next time I want to learn something more about how using computers I will look for a good YouTube video! LOL! Since many files are in English, you can also improve your English listening skill, your vocabulary, and your pronunciation. Great!
YouTube can be useful for teachers too; they can find interesting videos that can be used in order to teach in a different and more involving way some subjects that students often consider boring. In TeacherTube I found some good video files that deal with several topics, such as physics, mathematics, informatics, and that can be an effective support when teaching.
In YouTube you can find also funny videos; Sarah suggested us two files which I find brilliant! When I saw the one about the translator I couldn’t stop laughing! The second one was a satiric video that parodied Bush’s foreign policy and the sad situation in Iraq. I particularly appreciated the puns such as I-rack/Iraq and I-ran/Iran, or the double meaning of some words, such as ‘rack’.
YouTube, however, has also negative aspects. Since everyone can add his/her own video, you may find some files that aren’t good; information conveyed could be inexact, language can be used improperly, and both comment and videos can be full of grammatical mistakes or vulgar.
In conclusion, I think that YouTube is an excellent tool in order to find audio and video files dealing with several topics, but people should be aware that they can find both good and bad stuff. As a matter of fact, teachers should control the videos they want to employ as teaching material before using it.
What do you think?
Veronica
