Links: www.vimeo.com, www.schooltube.com, www.dotsub.com
Quick overview: Three different video websites that are similar to YouTube but are less likely to be blocked by your school board or district filters. Also, more places to look for existing material when flipping your classroom!
What are these sites? Like it or not, YouTube is often blocked by our school board or district filters. On the ICT Blog, we’ve shared ways to circumvent the blocks but these workarounds often require some advance preparation. In this post we’d like to provide you with some quick alternatives for screening videos in the classroom.
How are these sites different from YouTube? While Vimeo and SchoolTube‘s video collections are nowhere as comprehensive as YouTube, many of the videos on these two sites have been created by students or amateur videographers. This opens up the door to all sorts of potentially interesting videos that can’t be found elsewhere. In addition, as SchoolTube has been specifically created for education, your students can upload their own videos if they choose to do so.
What about videos for second language learners? Second language students may be interested in Dotsub which contains English language videos of news broadcasts, current events, documentaries, and so on. However, the main appeal of Dotsub is that students can watch the videos on the site with written subtitles in the language of their choice. (Source: Joanne Salvagio, Saint-Laurent Adult Centre, EMSB)
Word of caution: Even during a spontaneous teaching moment, it’s still a good idea to check out a video in advance before showing it to your class, especially when showcasing videos you are not familiar with. Is the video relevant and appropriate for your students?
Want even more video sites to explore? Still not enough? Here’s a great link to 100 other video sites to explore using in your classroom. (Source: Missnoor28 via Twitter)
