There are a couple of items about You Tube that have come through my blog reader. The first is an audio program from Commonwealth Club titled "Can PBS Survive in a YouTube World?" http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/08/08-01kerger-audio.html
It's a little bit long, and I will go ahead and say that the conclusion, is yes, PBS can survive. But I realized that so often I think of print media versus electronic media, rather than two electronic medias going head to head. I was also saddened to think of a world where PBS did not exist. It has always been one of my top channels.
The second is a blog entry about Big Think, the new You Tube video forum for big ideas and deep thinking. The blogger mentions that young adults often seem to delve into philosophical conversations and wonders if something like this will be a big draw for them. I'm not sure if teens would go for this without some direct marketing toward them, but I think that once they took the bait, they would like it. It's another way for their voices to be heard. I also think it would be a huge loss if they didn't take advantage of Big Think. Not only do young people have plenty of ideas, they also have a completely different perspective due to their very interesting developmental stage, their social structure, current education, etc. These perspectives evolve or become lost over time. Looking back, I can see a striking difference in my worldview from the time I graduated high school to my first semester at college. Hopefully, as I keep an eye on Big Think, some teens will come into the picture.
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Lindsy, I saw your post about Big Think a few minutes after I got the latest electronic edition of the National Education Association's newsletter. One of the articles in it invites teachers to share their personal stories as to why they've become teachers by uploading their videos to YouTube!
I think this is another method of a forum for "big ideas and deep thinking" that you mentioned. Teaching can be a very lonely profession, especially for people who are new to it. Too often, the new teachers are the ones who get the worst classrooms, the difficult students, or the most terrible schedule. The support system in many schools is non-existent. Where do the new teachers go to vent, ask questions, or share ideas? In some situations, they are supplied with mentors to help them navigate the perils of a first year teacher. But lack of time - and money - doesn't allow many schools the luxury of helping those who need it the most. These new people can become disillusioned with their initial reasons as to why they chose education as a career.
The NEA is working in a way to alleviate the isolation that teachers can feel, and doing it by appealing to them through a medium that they are very familiar with. YouTube has become a dominant voice in our society. Although the forum is not specifically geared to new teachers, it can help provide a way to let them express their ideas.
The NEA article mentions that selected videos will be added to the "I am an Educator channel." The article does not mention what criteria will be used to select the chosen videos, but it will be interesting to see which ones wind up on the channel.
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