Thing 14: Videos!!

Having instant access to a huge variety of videos is what digital devices are all about! I've enjoyed the huge assortment of educational video resources - like Vimeo, SchoolTube, TeacherTube, Ted, WatchKnowLearn, and so on - and even the wide range of great videos you can find in Youtube. However, I have not taken a close look at some of the social tools like Vine and SocialCam, so this will be a great lesson.

On first view, it's hard for me to see how these can be very educational. As an old lady I have to admit that they make me awfully nervous as I consider the safety of all this posting. And so many of these sites "require" age minimums, and yet are being downloaded by children of all ages. Having video recorders in places like locker rooms and bedrooms is a huge concern to me, so although it terrifies me to have all of these apps I think it is crucial that we not close our eyes to them but instead embrace them and use them. How else will children learn appropriate use.

And since I've stated that I guess I'd better get busy trying them out. Just this week Edutopia published an article on educational uses of Vine (and Instagram, which just announced a new feature in which you can publish 15 seconds videos). You can read it here: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-vine-instagram-video-education. There were some great suggestions here, so I'm ready to jump in further. TeachThought was saying the same thing here: http://www.teachthought.com/technology/what-is-vine-and-whats-it-doing-in-my-classroom/.

I'm stealing from the ASIDE (Innovation Design in Education) blog here, http://theasideblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/20-ways-to-use-twitters-vine-in.html, when I list their uses for Vine:

Applications:

1. Pair with information on a class website or blog
2. Announce homework to students and parents
3. Model how students should execute a task
4. Market a school's upcoming events to followers
5. "Tease" new units for kids and families
6. Record student reactions to texts
7. Think-pair-share in a virtual field
8. Grab "preview" or "exit interview" understandings
9. Offer parent testimonials for admissions
10. Build advisory or homeroom unity

Projects:

1. Design mini-book trailers
2. Film solutions to math problems
3. Identify symbols and silent metaphors
4. Recreate drawing or painting methods
5. Document science labs
6. Capture instructions for computer tools
7. Create "real-life" Vokis
8. Animate stop-motion characters
9. Recite famous quotations
10. Impersonate historical figures

Looks good, right? I have to admit that there are lots of reasons to use Vine and Instagram. Here are a few of my favorite examples:

Missing:

Just as an additional video note, iMovie now comes as a free app on every new iPad. The iPad version is wonderful and allows you to create fantastic videos!! Videos can easily be shared and uploaded to Youtube. If you create videos that are longer, note that you can request longer uploads with your account at Youtube. I was given that and have posted videos that are well over an hour long.