Communication Tool #8: Youtube

Youtube is a video-hosting service that just about everybody in the world has used. But the educational uses of Youtube cannot be overstated. Content on any subject can be accessed with a quick search. Original videos can also be uploaded, allowing students to apply the same skills used in a blog post or a podcast in video form. Students especially interested in a future of broadcast journalism, drama, or video production can benefit from creating videos and sharing them online. Youtube can also be used by teachers to upload lessons and allow for flipped classroom formats.  Videos can easily be embedded into blog posts or websites once they are uploaded to Youtube.

Youtube gets a 3 for User Friendliness. It can certainly be accessed using a variety of devices, but creating and uploading your own videos requires a high level of technological expertise.

Youtube gets a 3 for Safety. Access privileges for uploaded videos can be tightly controlled by the teacher, but if you get into having students upload their own videos with their own accounts, then the level of control disappears.

Youtube gets a 4 for Customization. Videos and content can be adapted for any purpose, whether it be teacher professional development or classroom instruction.

Youtube gets a 4 for Cross-Curricular. The access for free of videos from across the world on just about any subject known to man allows for easy cross-curricular connections at teachers’ fingertips.

Youtube gets a 4 for Cognitive Differentiation. The ability to have students create original video content and share that content with a world wide audience certainly gets up into the highest levels of knowledge utilization on the taxonomy.

	User Friendliness (Julie)	Safety (Lauren)	Customization for Educators (Brandon)	Cross-Curricular Application (Brandon)	Cognitive Differentiation (Julie)
EXCEEDS 4	Is more user friendly than traditional means/methods of teaching and/or completing standards, and/or can be used as an alternative method for students who struggle with the traditional methods of instruction/assessments.	Can be closely monitored by teachers/gatekeepers to ensure all participants (students, community members, etc,) abide digital citizenship standards with strict security measures and clearly stated privacy policies.	Can be customized to support collegial professional development AND classroom instruction, assessment, and/or reporting.	Can be used to develop units of study that tie in learning targets from multiple subject areas and connect to the world beyond school in order to increase relevance.	Can be used in all levels and a variety of processes of Marzano’s taxonomy.
MEETS 3	Can be used on a variety of devices and is easy to use for students and teachers.	Can be monitored by teachers/ gatekeepers and allows for opportunities to select/edit for instances of non-compliance of digital citizenship and with moderate security measures and a reasonable privacy policies.	Can be customized to meet the needs of individual educators according to grade level, subject area, class size, experience with technology, professional development needs, etc.	Can be applied to multiple learning targets across multiple subject areas and/or can be used to help design or support cross-curricular units of study.	Can be used for a variety of processes and levels of Marzano’s taxonomy.
PARTIALLY MEETS 2	Can be used on a variety of devices or is easy to use for students and teachers.	Can be monitored by teacher/ gatekeepers with limited opportunities to be select/edit for instances of non-compliance of digital citizenship standards and minimal security measures.	Can be partially customized, but not enough to fully meet the needs of individual educators.	Can be applied to only one or two learning targets in one or two subject areas and does not support the development of cross-curricular units of study.	Can be used for a variety of categories on one level of the taxonomy or a few processes on various levels of Marzano’s taxonomy.
DOES NOT MEET 1	Has several barriers which make it difficult for students and/or teachers to use.	Does not allow for monitoring by teacher/gatekeeper and permits disregard for digital citizenship standards.	Does not allow customization to meet the needs of individual educators,	Does not apply to learning targets in any more than one subject area.	Is limited to only a few categories of one process of Marzano’s taxonomy.