Youtube Edu Launches: But K12, don't get excited....yet

Very excited that youtube edu is launched from a small mention on their blog today.  Tech Crunch cites the purpose is:

"a better way to collect and highlight all the great educational content being uploaded to YouTube by colleges and universities” according to a short blurb on the YouTube blog.

While I'm delighted that we need a place to display the college information.  K12 is the place that desperately needs youtube.edu.

For example, my ninth graders have a youtube channel to support their work.  Several months a go, Edutopia had a contest which had students upload their videos to youtube, so Virginia and several of my students did so. (Virginia was one of the winners.)  For about two weeks, a flagged video showed an inappropriate thumbnail on the related videos.

Using youtube in the classroom for ALL OF US, has been something that is important.  (See  favorite inspirational videos and how youtube can be used in the classroom from February 2008.)

So, yes, I'm delighted that youtube edu has launched.  But again, youtube is something that we need for k12 and it can be done, although I'm not sure about doing it this way.  It looks as if youtube has just added content from universities and colleges that have channels on youtube.  Probably a pretty simple thing to do.

I know that teachertube is something that many teachers use, although it tends to be pretty slow.  There are several ways youtube could do this:

  1. A self or community ratings system that would allow filters to only let videos of certain ratings through.
  2. Vetted educators could be a mass group of volunteers and content approvers.  They would see a check that would send videos off of the "real" youtube onto a mirror site with only educationally appropriate videos.  Let educators patrol and police it - it would certainly work as I think there are a lot of us who would commit to this.
What are your ideas.

So, bravo youtube for the FIRST ACT.  May this just be the first act in others to come that will truly provide video for education at all levels.


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