Last week I was privileged to spend a morning with the current cohort of history PGCE trainees at York University. The aim of the session was to show how YouTube could be used within the history 'classroom'. I aimed to provide some stimulus and then asked the trainees to film themselves, upload their films to YouTube, embed them within a Wiki and reflect on the experience.
I believe that this is interesting for a number of reasons:
1) It allows the reader to see the potential impact that creating YouTube videos can have.
2) It also shows a good way to start students/staff/trainees creating YouTube videos.
3) It shows the brilliant levels of creativity that are displayed by the trainees.
I believe that this is interesting for a number of reasons:
1) It allows the reader to see the potential impact that creating YouTube videos can have.
2) It also shows a good way to start students/staff/trainees creating YouTube videos.
3) It shows the brilliant levels of creativity that are displayed by the trainees.
We began with the question "Why could creating YouTube videos be useful within the history classroom?"This question was deliberately open ended and vague to allow the trainees to run with their own ideas. After feeding back we then produced this video to explain our thoughts:
For many in the group this was their 'debut' on YouTube. I wanted to showcase their ideas within a framework that reflected the element of fun that YouTube can bring. This was also an excellent icebreaker as the trainees had to say their name, three words to describe themselves, and then give their views on how YouTube could be used. Watching this back I am struck both by the engaging atmosphere within the room and also by the quality of the ideas being presented. The spinning went down a treat!
This video served several purposes.
1) It broke down the barriers within the 'classroom' and allowed everyone involved to see the kind of creativity that the session would focus on.
2) Within the 'safety of numbers' it allowed many within the group to take their first steps in a supportive environment.
3) It was a powerful vehicle for tapping into the knowledge that already existed around the topic.
After this starter I then showed some examples of how I have used YouTube with a particular focus on engagement and differentiation. Some examples of which are below:
I then asked the trainees to 'go away' into the university campus and produce a short 1 to 2 minute video that they could see themselves potentially using in their classrooms. I also asked the trainees to reflect on how their videos might aid engagement and differentiation. All of the videos that were produced can be viewed on the WIki by clicking on the trainee pages (right-hand side)
We then reconvened and watched the videos together as a group in a kind of show-and-tell style.
This process highlighted the following:
1) The atmosphere within the room was 'electric' some trainees were literally rubbing their hands together in anticipation of watching the videos.
2) All the videos were excellent.
3) They all showed a creativity that made the end product very memorable.
4) They were all engaging and would all have been excellent tools for differentiation.
Some of the reflections from the trainees are below:
Reflections
- The session showed the creative power of YouTube .
- All the videos produced were excellent tools to promote engagement and differentiation.
- I believe that teachers should empower their students to achieve. Whilst the PGCE trainees are not my students, using YouTube in this way allowed me to empower 13 brilliantly creative people to produce excellent work.
Massive thankyou to Paula Mountford (@pgcehYork) and the excellent trainees for throwing themselves so wholeheartedly into this session. The future of the history teaching profession looks very good.
If you are interested in having a session run similar to this or have any further questions please do not hesitate to tweet me @Westylish
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| The Excellent York University History PGCE Trainees |