Intro to Learning from Youtube

[BigHashTouraj]

lol how can she say youtube college and class in one same sentence with a straight face? now that's a skill I would love to learn. 

[jiha003]

so, we (globally) join a course, we pay for the course, we pay for broadband, we study towards certificated exams/assignments from your lectures.  College student watch the lesson/lecture in class at their computers or big screen shared with all. There is no instant dialogue with the teacher. Think I would like it connected to Moodle. Class teachers will have your notes for further class discussions and links for research. I'm keeping an open mind. Hope I don't get bored.

[munkbutt]

MSG ME ON MSN MESSENGR !!! ID IS jane24belle 4

[trextor]

hrmm, have a look at what BigThink is doing.

Also, I think you'd have more success using an audio only medium (e.g. podcasts). Videos actually need to be engaging and classroom videos simply aren't.

Here's something to try: Find the most engaging professor at the institution, record a video of them, and put it up on YouTube.

I'm willing to bet it's still not the same as actually being there, which is why I'd recommend audio-only.

[scottfunkhouser]

This reminds me of elementary school where some of the classes were really just play times.

I do not understand why people pay to get a degree from Pitzer. The place is nothing but a Communist indoctrination camp. Do a google search on "Alan Jones Pitzer" to see what kind of people are running that place (Jones is Dean of Faculty).

[diegosemerene]

And is there no knowledge and skill-building in "play"?

[laciemn]

Try to omit ums and like and unnecessary words when you're trying to talk to an audience on youtube. Way too many ums, it makes it really hard to pay attention

[diegosemerene]

She's a professor, not a TV anchor. She's a real person.

[nateobuf2]

Interesting conceptual format...the notion of utilizing YouTube as a pedagogical tool is intriguing. The experiential approach that you are proposing is full of possibility and intriguing points of departure for discussion. Can you post your overall findings from this course? I also like your notion of knowledge production from "experts" and knowledge production from students/learners. There is a potential rupture of quotidian dialogue that is emerging from your curriculum.

[SCODgreenhood]

Interesting *****

[poptartguy]

Your voice hurts my head...

[zzzeroX]

One exciting thing about youtube, online videos, and the web in general is that it allows for FREE distribution of educational material to any classroom in the world with (broadband) internet access.

[zzzeroX]

cool class, alex! and some very funny comments. everyone is fearless on the web! i agree that much of the popular content on youtube is not very different from the usual drivel that people turn to for an escape from daily life, but at least the content is being generated by a more diverse collection of producers and should therefore reflect a wider range of views and opinions.

[fanOTHL]

STFU!!!!!!!!

[helpful43]

As a none "official" educator (a mom) I first ventured here looking for redeeming value. I was excited about the possibilities Youtube had to offer. My kids liked it, but like the professor stated, I, too, was underwhelmed. I believe there is merit in examining popular culture. It is the process of the examination where lies the learning experience. It could be anything from the Simpsons, to Myspace. (end part 1)

[helpful43]

part 2...

I suspect we would do very well to examine what is pop, why it is popular, what can we gain from it, how can we add to it, and when should we simply walk away from it.

This past week alone I watched Carl Sagan, as well as pieces incorporating his work with modern plights. I learned a new technique in guitar playing, learned some crafting ideas, and even a college professor launching a new course. Pretty cool I'd say.

[msdaehn]

As a marketing professor I think this can be a legitimate course if it examines the discipline of marketing or communications. I would probably expand it to a course on Social Media but why quibble.

If I were a marketing or communications student this would be a legitimately useful elective course.

Besides, anyone can take it for free by watching it on YouTube so why are people complaining?

[phuncknasty]

I'm surprised by the stupidity of the comments on this thread. Some of the people, like sfbordem, who think that social media are somehow unworthy of study are displaying a lot of ignorance.

In addition to YouTube being the #4 site on the internet, it's building new communities, hosting presidential debates, changing election commercials, changing the music industry, etc. None of that is worth looking at?

And one more thing: she's pretty hot for a professor.

[petergoesonair]

"None of that is worth looking at?" Good question, but why is it that people don't see the worth of youtube? It's not a rhetorical question. You raise good points and I can see others so why did these people not see the worth here?

[Todd7777777]

You won't be offering this class in the Spring.

[velvetsmog]

YouTube is a distraction from the intellectual rigors of college, not a substitute for it.

[MediaPraxisme]

I agree that most of us use YouTube as a distraction, but need it be, could we use it otherwise, and what does it tell us about a society organized more and more around distractions rather than intellectual rigor.

[mlb1963]

Interesting point -- but is lowering the academic requirements for college (teaching a class about distraction) a substitute for true learning? Maybe college shouldn't be about understanding the importance of meaninglessness, but concentrate on teaching great works, both old and new, that can inspire students to achieve something truly significant.

[msdaehn]

You are right that this goes against the mold of college being an academic exercise rather than a walk through modern practicality. As someone with too many degrees and experience as a university professor I find the latter more useful.

[oikkdi]

you should have reserved the domain name.

[sfbordem]

This is a joke right? I guess i don't get it. Maybe I need to go back to college. I'll start a class that dissects Myspace.

[squeeeegy]

I agree with you. This is probably some sort of marketing scam brought on by some big company. There's no way this is a legitimate college course. Next year they'll be offering a course on the Facebook....oh wait to late. Where is the US on a map? I don't know...let me check Youtube. Nope; no luck.

[petergoesonair]

The Wikipedia is not always right but I assume this is right:The U.S. News and World Report 2008 Edition ranks Pitzer College as the 49th best liberal arts college in the country. Among liberal arts colleges, Pitzer ranked as the 5th most diverse top-tier private coed national liberal arts college, 25th in students studying abroad, and 35th in academic reputation. For 2006-2007, Pitzer received the highest number of Fulbright Fellowships for any baccalaureate institution

[petergoesonair]

I don't think she said anything about receiving credit for participation for the general public.Also from the Wikipedia:On September, 2007, Pitzer College offered courses about YouTube. 35 students watch YouTube videos and post comments. Alexandra Juhasz, media studies professor introduced the class subject, "Learning from YouTube,"[1] in which student learning takes place on and about YouTube. The Official YouTube Channel for the class can be found at MediaPraxisMe.

[petergoesonair]

This is not to say that being skeptical is not good. I'm a foreigner and the US jungle of higher education is bizarre to me e.g. all those dodgy "universities" in the US i.e. send us money and we'll give you a doctorate If this is a con, I salute it because its pretty well organised. I doubt very seriously it is a con. If she had said this institution will award you credit towards such and such qualification then I would be wary.

[SosakanSama]

Subtitle: What Happens As A Result of Tenure

'Used to be that slough courses had to keep a low profile - now they advertise, as in "mediocrity boastfully professed."

And we have the audacity to express surprise at college grads who can't find the United States on a world map and don't know Thomas Paine from SpongeBob SquarePants...

In a perfect world, this "professor" would be fired without further comment for militant dereliction of duty.

Contemptible.

[katbird13]

Very interesting idea! Found you from news.yahoo. As a teacher, I'm thinking about potential applications of this for middle & high school students. A suggestion: sometimes a still shot is better than video -- I can't read your syllabus. I'll be monitoring. Best wishes!

[mlb1963]

This only proves why Pitzer, which has no required classes to graduate, is the joke of the Claremont Colleges -- the Shemp of the Stooges.

[robhaerr]

You can make YouTube as "radical" as you want as you create your own YouTube community. As you create video and search for content where your interests lie...your value for YouTube will be determined.

[MediaPraxisme]

I think that there are websites that are much more agile at building and maintaining community, as well as deep and connected dialogue than YouTube. The scale of the site, as well as its search tools, make sustaining community difficult.

[robhaerr]

That's a technical issue that all web-based sites seem to struggle with in one way or another. You have to learn how to work with it, and not worry too much about that aspect as they continue to improve or lose out to other "viral video" sites. The power of the free market is at work here, too. Many facets to study...with all due respect, keep an open mind.

[petergoesonair]

Ok, this is true. What I like about youtube is the diversity of the information and the people I come across. I would like to say more but that will have to wait for a another time. I really appreciate your openness coupled with your skepticism about researching youtube. Later I would like to make some parallels between youtube and the wikipedia but I haven't enough time now.

[SJKCC]

What an intriguing idea. I will be following this channel with interest!

[oonewageoo]

Good Job

[jhoward70]

excellent idea. I'll be folloowoing this with interest. I appreciate your emphasis on access/control/ modes of learning and so much more.

[MediaPraxisme]

After two classes (#2 to be posted shortly on the group page) it's REALLY clear to me how these ideas emerge naturally from the strange structure of the class; less clear if I can make strong or focused learning experiences from the many strands of complex ideas that arise at any moment or interaction in the class.

[petergoesonair]

I have learnt a lot from my time in youtube and have come across information from a broad range of academic disciplines. The problem with "new' forms of technology is that there is a time it takes for assimilation and understanding in societies to take root e.g. early trains and death of William Huskisson. (cont.)

[Fikenhild]

I'm interested because I'm planning some online teaching strategies myself. I think showing your torso works better than just a talking head because the gestures enhance communication and provide interest. However, for an introduction, I'd say your video is too dark because I can hardly see your face, and as a student I'd want to know what you look like.

[MediaPraxisme]

Your technical/formal remarks are useful and interesting, as it is unclear to me how much people care about this on YouTube (over the videos being simple content delivery systems). That said, we all know without some minimum standards for form, content becomes compromised. I hope the students take heed...

[MediaPraxisme]

I hope you'll participate. We'd love to see you. And thanks for watching! As I've made clear, I certainly believe there is much a library offers that YT can not; how they could compliment each other is a harder question.

[suemaberry]

I just read the article on Inside Higher Ed. This is a seriously brilliant idea. As a librarian interested in how to use YouTube for learning, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works. I'll be monitoring your  class this semester. BTW, I am a Pitzer grad.