Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

This wiki based site organizes videos that will help kids learn:  meet WatchKnow .  In fact, don't just meet watch know, edit it a bit while you're at it. How to Edit on WatchKnow Just one catch, dude -- the videos it indexes ARE HOSTED ON YOUTUBE!!!  So, can you allow youtube videos without allowing youtube in your school?  I don't know but I do know that again, we are faced with this seemingly age old discussion of adding some sort of layer on top of youtube videos that Bud the Teacher and I discussed some time back. (See his post: for Vicki: An Expanded Tweet ) and my original post on Youtube edu . Again, Bud keeps coming back to the point that somehow he thinks I'm advocating youtube censorship!  NO such thing.  This is about repurposing youtube and making it work in such a way to be usable for education.  I'm not sure yet, but suspect that something like WatchKnow will do just that: but those who filter are going to have to f...

Preteens love him, adults who happen to be within 100 yards of the squeals may have a strong opinion, but it is certainly not love.  If you've never met him (and can actually see youtube while viewing my blog, meet Fred) Casting calls go out for a movie based on Youtube's pop phenom, Fred. Don't dismiss the reach of someone like Fred - the above video posted on September 2, 2009 has over 2 million views, over 30,000 ratings, and 25,000+ comments. (This video is, by the way, rated TV-Y as some producers are now beginning to use US TV ratings for their videos .) As annoying as he is to me, it speaks volumes of the world that our students live in - a world that connects them in viral ways using video, text, comments that we are still only at the cusp of understanding and utilizing.  Surely there are positive ways that we can harness the power of social media in ways that generate such views, comments, and ratings -- or must school always be relegated to being viewed ...

I'm experimenting with posting directly from diigo -- I've annotated and highlighted from the original post from my friend Shmuly Tennenhaus. My friend Smuly is a youtube expert -- he's been on many nightly news programs and in newspapers (see the New York Times article on him.) I'm still turning over the thoughts from his blog post that he shared.. he has made a few good points that I had to go back to teacherTube to see. We have to use teachertube on horizon because it is the only video sharing service that is unblocked in all of our schools. We are cross posting to youtube for those schools that allow youtube access. SchoolFinder Blog » YouTube Versus TeacherTube Annotated My notes: He has been cited multiple times for his videos and has been on more news tv shows than i can count. He does know video! - post by coolcatteacher Many schools do block it for bandwidth reasons. - post by coolcatteacher Some highlights from the article: "Video-sharing ...

Protecting teachers and students from unauthorized filming is an issue as can be seen with what happened to this fifth grade teacher at an event that many people film -- the fifth grade graduation. The video's originator filmed the teacher at graduation with close ups of her face and zooming in on her lower anatomy and set the 3 minute clip to "hot For Teacher" before it was taken down off youtube when she found out about it last week. We should be discussing privacy concerns in amateur videos. We should learn about and be educated on what is it proper to share and what is not. The reason we don't talk about it more, I think, is a sinking feeling in our own stomachs that perhaps we don't know what to tell kids or adults! I always tell students that to post any digital artifact (podcast, photo, video) of a person that you must have that person's specific permission -- let them see it and ask them. (Of course, what if their parents argue that they are a minor...

Interestingly, people now gather around the water cooler and talk about things like "What they saw on youtube last night." Friday was the day of prom and I caught a couple of these "water cooler" discussions. This is what my students are talking about on youtube. (And here shows the power of social networking, that of rating and commenting that allows these videos to rise to the top!) The treadmill guys: This group dances on treadmills. If you stick it out into the first few minutes -- it looks like they are skating! They have 8 treadmills (and too much time!) The kitty cat water bill: A guy was trying to figure out why his water bill was so high. His cat continued to flush the toilet. It is so funny! Just thought you might want to see something to make you laugh! What are your favorites? tag: youtube , funny

I got this off teacher tube . I think it is a great example of folks having a sense of humor. Meanwhile -- some other videos are cropping up that make you think. And my laughter turned to tears! If you're teaching about the Holocaust, have the students watch the video below, then, after studying the Holocaust, have them create a video response! Give students a reason! They love to interact with their peers and this gives them a great method of virtual interaction. Sadly, this video says only a little over 50% of our school aged students know what the holocaust is! I would love for such videos to include citations at the end, particularly if we're going to use them in the classroom. It is important to be able to cite your source! Will Teacher Tube Take Off? I don't know. It is a very needed resource and will only do as well as those who rate and evaluate it. I like the idea. I also like the idea, however, of being connected to the world at large (a la youtube.) Can a...

I dedicate this to my mentor and the inspiration who got me started, David Warlick . He's been talking about the power of video in telling the story of technology in education! I am now preparing for my first conference, the Tech Forum in Chicago and with the help of some of my students, I have created a video that expresses how I feel about the state of technology education. I base many of my opinions upon what I read from the Computer Science Teachers of America (CSTA) so I consider it fact, not opinion. It applies to many other countries around the world. If you have a youtube account, I invite you post a video response on youtube to this question: Why do we need to use technology in schools? OH, and thanks to Danita Russell for tipping me about Teacher Tube, I've uploaded the video there as well. Perhaps it should be unblocked for many of you. tag: education , teaching , Vicki A Davis , coolcatteacher , youtube , , technology standards , wikis , learning

Welcome to Computer Country ! This is the new youtube channel created by my computer fundamentals class to teach the world about Office 2007. I'm working hard to review and upload the 20+ videos that take you through the basics of this software, we have two videos uploaded to start. Some things are a little blurry and I'm working so hard to make sure the copyrights are OK. It is difficult. No teacher can be expected to be a copyright researcher. I'm doing my best to double check my students but they get the music from sources that have creative commons share alike non commercial, however, I'm not going back past that level to see if those issuing that license has the right. Copyrights are so convoluted and difficult to handle and teach in a web2 classroom. So, join us at computer country. If you have a class learning Office 2007, perhaps you could post a video response to some of these videos and/or comments evaluating the videos. It will be a great introduction...

a simulpost with TechLearning As I read about the evolution of the Web , I just feel that many of the experts are missing it! (Perhaps the 3D web is part of the " intelligent agent " idea, but I'm not so sure.) Yes, I think the semantic web is important (see the W3c specs ) and inherently part of the future of the web, but I think there is one overarching evolution happening right now under our feet that is inexorably enmeshed with the semantic web. It is there amidst the video games and "fun things" that most educators refuse to recognize. With "Web 2.0" barely taking a "bit" part in most of today's classrooms, the next evolution of the web, I predict, is not Web 3.0. I think it will be Web 3D. The 3D web! Lest one think I have come up with this, visionaries have been discussing this for around 15 years. The 3D web has really been around since the Sims went online and allowed people to virtually live next to each other. Howev...

I have a channel on youtube. ( http://www.youtube.com/coolcatteacher ) If you have a username on youtube, you may navigate to my channel and hit subscribe. That way all of my videos will go straight to you. I also have a coolcatteacher group and am going to join the K12 group . Groups let multiple people add. The coolcat teacher group is for those of you who have videos that you want me to review or about the things I've worked with. Julie and I are compiling two final summative videos: one on the objectives accomplished (mine is shown below) and another as a how to. I have taken the ISTE standards and aligned them with what we accomplished on the flat classroom project. I also discussed how we will change the project in the future (we hope) and what types of classrooms this is best suited for. Unfortunately I had to upload this to Google Video because it is longer than 10 minutes (14 to be exact.) ( See Video ) In the future, I am going to start working to stay under the 10 ...