From Boobtube to Youtube

YouTube, the only place on the web to go if you want to get a video out to the world, or to discover what the world is watching. What did we do before YouTube? I guessed we had to sit in front of a clunky box and fiddle with rabbit ears just so we could tune in to catch the tail-end of SCTV and miss all the good Rick Moranis sketches. Those were the days... YouTube has really changed our world when you think about it - for the better! I can't tell you how many hours I've spent in front of my laptop and basked in the nostalgia of 1980's commercials (do you remember Mr. T cereal? because thanks to YouTube, I do).

For the classroom the possibilities are almost endless. Go to YouTube and type in the search bar "learn Abc", and page upon page comes up with all kinds of unique videos that help kids learn their Abc's. Maybe you're teaching high school and your class is a little advanced for Abc's, try typing in "Cuban Missile Crisis", and you can show your class President Kennedy's actual address to the nation, or an informative documentary on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Making a YouTube account is really easy too. I created my account a couple of years ago and now I have videos that I want quick access to 'favorited' so that they're easy to find. If I'm teaching my class how semi-permeable membranes work, I just dig it out of my favorites, if I want to enlighten my students with information on mysteries of the past, I go to my favorite videos and find that Crystal Pepsi commercial from 1992. I've even uploaded a couple of videos of myself playing some songs to share with my friends on the other side of the country. Youtube truly has endless possibilities. I can even find that Rick Moranis sketch I missed back in '83!