Team YouTube

From ETS

Assignment: We'd like you to discuss the 5 core technologies in terms of the of the affordances they provide and their relation to the three themes of the course. We'd like you to draw upon your individual responses from the first assignment as well as from other external sources.

YouTube

"What is it?

YouTube is a video-sharing service that lets users upload files to YouTube servers, where they are available online. With the exception of content that is offensive or illegal, videos can be animations, footage of public events, personal recordings of friends-virtually anything a user wants to post. Videos can be informational, entertaining, persuasive, or purely personal. One of an emerging class of social applications, YouTube allows users to post and tag videos, watch those posted by others, post comments in a threaded discussion format, search for content by keyword or category, and create and participate in topical groups. YouTube ties into several blogging applications, giving users a quick way to blog about a particular video and include a link to it. Users can view profiles of individuals who have posted or commented on videos, see their favorite videos, and contact them.

Who is doing it?

Since its debut in 2005, YouTube has become extremely popular, streaming move than 100 million videos per day, ranging from clips of just a few seconds to 10 minutes or more. Although many videos on YouTube are simply for fun, some people use the site to explore video production as aspring professionals or hobbyists. People who dream of being producers, directors, or journalists share their videos on YouTube and gauge responses from the community. A budding reporter posting video and narration from the site of a natural disaster, an aspring director of music videos, an amateur documentary film maker hoping to sell his work to a distributor - these and others find in YouTube an outlet for their creativity and a resource to get feedback from and interact with users who seek out content that interests them. Others use video to distribute content that is not necessarily tied to the medium, such as a video artifact demonstrating mastery of a physical skill (such as archery), or a video study of a sculpture.

How does it work?

YouTube is free, though people who want to post videos or comments must register with the site, creating a profile, Videos - which include tags, a category, and a brief description - can be public or restricted to members of specified contact lists. Several tools allow viewers to sort through videos to locate those of interest. Links allow a user to share a movie through e-mail, add it to a list of favorites, post a text-based or video comment about it, and read (or watch) the comments others have posted. A user can subscribe to all of another user's postings or to content that is tagged with particular terms. Each of these actions becomes a part of the user's profile. When others look at a user's profile, they see his favorites, comments, and videos he has posted. As a result, profiles are constantly updated to reflect each user's history and tastes. YouTube also allows videos hosted on its site to be embedded in other Web pages, such as blogs or personal Web sites.

Because of the size of movie files and the number of formats, sharing video has not always been simple. YouTube has made sharing video easy by addressing the storage and server questions, as well as the issue of file format. The Flash Player is the only Player required, and it works consistently on various platforms. In addition, videos on YouTube generally stream smoothly, without lags or slowdowns.

Why is it significant?

The ease of watching and sharing videos, combined with the fact that the site is free, opens the experience of online video to a wide range of users. YouTube offers opportunities for expression through video - a new spin on the notion self-publishing, making content available for anyone interested in consuming it. The social-networking tools further engage users, drawing them in to an environment that encourages them to meet new people, read and share opinions, and be part of a community. The interactive features allow members of communities to earn the respect of peers and increase their stature in the group.

What are the downsides?

As with other applications that disseminate electronic content, YouTube raises questions of copyright. Despite a statement warning users against improperly using copyrighted material, users are free to upload any content they have. A major record label has alleged that YouTube is responsible for copyright violations committed by its users. On the other hand, another record label announced a deal to make its content available through YouTube in exchange for a portion of the site's ad revenue. Legal questions also surround footage that depicts illegal behavior or that was taken of someone without the person's knowledge or consent.

Users who embed YouTube videos on other pages, such as in an e-portfolio or on a course Web site, rely on YouTube to continue to make that content available. If YouTube went out of business or changed how it functions, links from other Web resources could become nonfunctional. Like other social software, YouTube also raises questions of privacy, appropriate use, and trust. For several months, a YouTube user under the moniker "lonelygirl15" posted regular videos of herself, creating an online diary of sorts. After attracting many thousands of fans who followed lonelygirl15's posts, the scheme was exposed as a fabrication. In other cases, YouTube users have been harassed by individuals who stalked them using information found in their profiles.

Where is it going?

The way YouTube is used for music videos is one indicator of possible directions for the site. Fans have posted their own versions of music videos for some bands' songs, prompting others to modify those videos or create new ones, resulting in an active community of users with a common interest. Some record companies have seized on the concept, sponsoring contests for armatures to make official videos for selected artists. These kinds of activities give rise to very narrowly focused interest groups, which are often capable of developing compelling new material. These groups are also extremely valuable for marketers, who increasingly rely on 'narrowcasting' to reach a targeted, self-identified population. In addition, because it works well with other applications, YouTube has the potential to provide distribution for content that is displayed elsewhere, such as e-learning tools. While YouTube has similarities with other self-expression tools, such as blogs, the medium may grow in popularity because of how it differs from them.

What are the implication for teaching and learning?

YouTube draws users into the experience of viewing videos and engaging with the content as commentators and creators, activities that heighten students' visual literacy - an important skill in today's electronic culture. Even if most of the content on YouTube lacks an educational goal, the application encourages experimentation with new media. Many educators believe that the act of creating content - in virtually any form - is a valuable learning exercise, helping develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and the tools used to create that content. To the extent that YouTube facilitates such creation, it has the potential to expose students to new insights and skills, as well as link them to various online communities. As a social-software application, YouTube is part of a trend among Net Generation students to replace passive learning with active participation, where everyone has a voice, anyone can contribute, and the value lies less in the content itself than in the networks of learners that form around content and support one another in learning goals."

Taken from www.educause.edu/eli

Twitter The purpose of this social networking site is for its users to answer the question, "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less.

In Twitter, altering one's personal profile and background settings provides the user opportunities to communicate certain aspects of his/her identity to the public. In addition, the user creates a username coupled with a picture, which become his/her public identity.

Twitter allows its users to follow and be followed by other users. While intended to answer the prompting question, Twitter also permits users to send direct messages to one another, thus creating opportunities for the user to digress from Twitter's initial intentions. It can be argued that when individuals send direct messages to other users, those interactions foster community among users. Users feel connected to the community because they can learn about and share in others' triumphs and losses and interact with other members.

The design of Twitter enables the aforementioned intentional elements of identity and community. Its design permits users to choose their participation from peripheral lurkers to active participants. Number of postings alone does not necessarily equate itself with level of participation. However, argument could be made that the number of direct messages sent and received could enhance the user's status in the Twitter community. Unintentional uses include users sending messages that do not necessarily answer the prompting question. Instead, users are free to comment about anything of interest to themselves but does not necessarily require the interest of other users to be posted. Likewise, users can share information through hyperlinks, encouraging other users to engage in spaces outside of the Twittersphere. The limitation of the number of characters is intended to mirror the character limitations cell phones impose. In this way, Twitter's design encourages limitless access to the community. What is interesting about the design of Twitter with regard to community is the fact that the community is personalized to its user. While each user's individual community web may interweave with others' community webs, no two webs are identical due to the personal touches in Twitter's design. The web's of followers and following-ers size can vary and is completely dependent upon the individual user.

Facebook A social network where you can connect with other people in the internet. The page itself represents your community, identity in the FB format.

FB works as a community itself and has benefits of knowing who you are connected to. You can also see who knows whom and in what they've been engaging. It lays out the map of social network for you. Also participation can be seen in FB. As a member of the community you can design your community through groups and events and gather people with similar interest. This has benefits for people to connect to each other and share knowledge or just engage in a social life. Once you're on FB you can track your own social network and know where to reach out when you need help or assistance.

As for identity, FB itself represents as a formation of identity. It may be structured in FB style but you can see where people interests are in the identity. Some might want to focus on movies on FB or some might want to display lots of pictures. As for photo's this is one of the main source for identity. You can look and observe your friends photo's and understand his/her identity. The photo doesn't need to be a picture of yourself but an insight of pictures can be an identity itself. People understand you through different types of application on FB. Some might debate this is not the identity that one wants to show. But identity has different layers and different shapes. I'd rather say it's how other people look at you through their own lens of perspectives.

The FB can be used or designed as a social network tool, and a socializing tool. Somewhat getting to know your students, and even the student's background. Although some might feel uncomfortable with friending a teacher but inviting them to groups and to see what the these days students engage in, is pretty much a good value.

Wikis'

I think that like most, if not all, web 2.0 technology, how wikis are designed affects the affordances they provide. However, there are a few specific instances in which a wiki may be preferable over other tools. I think that these instances are when you wish to allow/encourage a group of people to interact in the creation of a shared artifact. Your reasoning for doing so would affect the design of the wiki and, therefore the affordances it offers.

For example, I am considering using a wiki at the beginning of each school year when designing for the community of practice that I hope will develop in my classroom. I will ask the students to participate in the design of their classroom community in an attempt to begin a shared history of learning as soon as possible. The controls on who may view, create, alter, and share the wiki may all affect the provided affordances in some manner. For instance, if the students are allowed to post anomalously they are free to post without fear of repercussions from their peers or their teachers. One may be willing to say that late homework should not be accepted and another would be able to say that whoever posted that is a *@#*$#@! This may help an extremely shy student develop her or his identity by allowing her or him a voice he or she may not usually have or it may weaken it depending upon how the student reacts to the responses of the peers. If the students were to post using their names then I would venture that there would be less bullying but shy students may be less likely to participate as well. Since the goal of using a wiki in this case is to start developing a community I would have the students work in small groups. Each group coming up with guidelines for a certain set of circumstances, such as issues involving homework. Then post as a group in the hopes that this would allow the shy student to participate with less likelihood of inappropriate content. Then allow groups to edit the posts throughout the first couple of days before settling upon a final set of community practices.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a series of media files (usually audio) that are delivered through subscription to a web syndication feed (RSS).

Podcasts function as a reification of a community's knowledge and its negotiation of meaning. They often act as boundary objects to new members and other communities. Community member's level of participation with respect to podcasting can range from the periphery (just observing/listening) to active submission of comments and new podcasts. Podcasts can be the center of the communities practice or just one iota.

Typical uses in education include recordings of lectures, class discussions and special topics. Podcasts can also be used as a source of information as many radio programs and news agencies provide them.