Video & Video Editing in Education

Even though YouTube has been around for about 5 years now (?), even just two to three years ago, I was still using VCR tapes in the classroom. Yes, it was easy and reasonable, but now that video has become web-based it's even easier to use than before.

1. Instead of going to the International School Bangkok library to look for video, I now just search on YouTube, and show them live in class. Just in case my connection isn't working in class, I can use Zamzar or the Download Helper Plug-in in the FireFox browser to download the file ahead of time.

Here's one I used in class on Rice Cultivation that I embedded in the WetPaint Wiki I was using for class. (I am uploading a screen capture since the Wiki is private.)




2. Instead of finding the videos myself, I can ask students to search for videos themselves. In a Science class I taught about 2 years ago when I was at Rose Marie Academy, during the last few days of school, students made a Wiki page using insect videos. They wrote questions for each other from the videos, so students had to watch each other's videos and answer their questions.

Here's a screen capture example.




3. Another usage of video I've experimented with has been with videos of the students themselves. In an EAP Math/Science class (English for Academic Purposes = ESL), students previewed formal lab reports they would be learning about in their main classes through video lab reports. I was able to post these videos in our Wetpaint Wiki for students to watch and evaluate.




Ultimately, web-based video is bringing or has the potential to bring video into the classroom more than before. It is definitely becoming much more accessible to make and view videos from anywhere.