Web 2.0 and Youtube

I had a disagreement with another professional recently about whether or not Youtube is part of Web 2.0. I present my case to you, and shall let you, gentle reader, decide the outcome. 

But first, you may ask, "What the dinglehopper is Web 2.0 anyway?"  Well, that's a good question. In short, Web 2.0 is a buzzword. And like most buzzwords, it has become overused to the point of being open to interpretation. 

The term was coined in 1999 by Darcy DiNucci and popularized by Tim O'Reilly in 2004 ("Web 2.0," n.d.). What it means is subject to much debate. There are two different definitions - the original definition, and one that has morphed from the bizarre game of telephone we as educators play with buzzwords, of paraphrasing, and reparaphrasing, until we have an entirely new definition. The original definition is best left to someone with better words than mine. "The Web that we've known for some years now has really been a one-way medium, where we read and received as passive participants, and that required a large financial investment to create content. The new Web, or Web 2.0, is a two-way medium, based on contribution, creation, and collaboration--often requiring only access to the Web and a browser." (Hargadon, 2008).

Now, by this definition, Youtube is the poster child for Web 2.0. Users create content by video taping their cats, and upload it to the website for the enjoyment of others. 

However, Web 2.0 has come to mean something different amongst educators. I'm paraphrasing here - but that's kind of the point. It has come to mean a web app that is free, fast, and easy that allows students to interact or collaborate or has some immediate learning value. 

By this definition, I still say Youtube passes the test. It's free, it's fast to learn, and it's easy to use.  With channels and comment sections, you could have entire discussions over content related videos. 

But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. Yeah, I said it. It doesn't matter what you label a tool that you use in the classroom. Web 2.0 is a silly phrase anyway. The web didn't undergo an update, or come out with a new version. The web is an organic, ever changing thing, and to put a version number on it makes no sense. Besides, that term was coined in 1999. In 1999 I was still rocking out one of these things.

And I was singing Ace of Base too. 

Do you realize that was 15 years ago? Do you know how long that is in internet years? Like, a century. We're so bent on categorizing things, and sounding smarter than everyone else with our acronyms and our buzzwords that we are classifying tools based on a term that was obsolete at least four years ago.  Mark Brumley put it best when he likened it to cars with catalytic converters. We used to make a big deal about cars running on unleaded fuel only(Brumley, n.d.). Now, every car runs on unleaded fuel only. Fifteen years ago, a website that let it's users create content was a big deal. Now? Not so much. That's basically the whole internet. 

So youtube is a tool that can help us in the classroom (if we can get our administration to unblock it).
Does it matter if it fits into the definition of Web 2.0? No. What matters is whether or not you can use it successfully in your classroom to facilitate learning. 

So here's the part you really came  here for. How to use it in your classroom. Apart from the myriad of cool educational videos available on youtube, such as the WSHS math rap videos, you can create your own videos. You can "flip" your classroom and post a short lecture on a private channel in history class, with a discussion question at the end that students must respond to via the comments section. You could have students make "trailers" for a book they read, and post them on youtube in English class. Pick the best ones to show to your class the next year before they read the book to get them pumped. Have kids make a how-to video for absent students over the latest math concepts. Heck, I even heard about one teacher who found a school appropriate funny youtube video for every day school was in session, that was about 5 minutes long. He would begin to play the video at the beginning of the passing period. Students would rush into his classroom from their previous class to watch as much of the video as possible. He never had a single tardy student.
So what about you? How do you use youtube in the classroom?

References

Brumley, M. (n.d.). Web 2.0 is dead! Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://teachamazing.com/ 

     web-2-0-is-dead/

Grumpy cat [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://memegenerator.net/instance/45702985

Sony discman [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://acuriouswanderer.files.wordpress.com/2011/ 
     07/sony-discman.jpg

WSHSmath. (2011, January 31). Getting' triggy wit it [Video file]. Retrieved from 

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2uPYYLH4Zo 

Web 2.0. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0