YouTube Skills Equals Opportunity For Educators

To many in the 30-something and beyond generations, YouTube is a strange phenomenon and a somewhat confusing business concept. Older generations do not fully understand what YouTube is about and generally avoid it. 'Kids' spending hour after hour on the computer making & sending silly video clips to each other: "What is that all about? In my day..."
Well, YouTube (and other video sharing web sites) are here to stay and that is that. And if they are here to stay, can they be used in the field of education?
Or more accurately
1. Can the skills 'kids' are picking up in using video creation and sharing be used in education?
2. Can the making of educational videos by students be used in the classroom and how beneficial might this be in improving student understand a topic?
3. Would a 'hands-on' approach to make a video essay allow students to better retain what they are learning?
This article will argue that the short answer to each of these questions is 'yes'. The key is how is it to be done and what resources are out there to help.
Kids today love making videos and sharing them via YouTube (and other video sharing web-sites). Surely these interests and skills could (and should) be harnessed? After all, what is the traditional (boring?) approach to education?
You are given an essay to write/a project to complete. To write the essay, you need to do some research; read a little; take notes; produce a 1000 word essay. Hand it in. Your teacher reads it. You get your mark. You move on and apart from revision, you never see the essay again.
What about if the end product was not a written report but one you produced as a video documentary?
Everything is the same until you get to the 'writing' stage. Tell the story you would previously have written down using visuals. Make a commentary using your notes. Tell the story. Find some suitable video clips. Go and make your own video clips. Bring in your own photographs. Make a video essay/documentary. Hand in the finished masterpiece. The teacher can then watch it or share is with the class. Promote discussion. Compare approaches to the project. Finally upload the video to the school/college web site or YouTube. In other words, the video approach opens more opportunities to learn then the written word.
So in a sentence:
Don't Write An Essay See An Essay
But what is the current state of video use (and the use of YouTube) in education?
Even in 2009, simply using YouTube as a tool for education is seen as quite radical: in a popular web site and forum for history teachers in the UK , a recent talking point was a short segment on the BBC news channel where this 'radical' idea was aired (search 'Roy Huggins school history' on YouTube). What is most interesting about this interview and the general comments on the forum afterward is the thought that these videos have to be made by the teacher community. 'Lets make videos for students and share them', is the current thinking. No discussion of letting the students make the video.
The BBC introduced an annual 'School Report' project whereby school students spend a day making new reports for broadcast on television (although mainly aimed at school web sites). The main point here is that students are encouraged to think about what goes into a news broadcast as well as the technical aspects of making the news report.
Another development is the development of a new degree course based on YouTube: "YouTube for Educators" through the Boise State University Department of Educational Technology.
A short introduction to the course is shown here, 'This is an academic course for students in an advanced educational technology program. It is my belief that YouTube, and video-sharing in general, cannot be ignored within a field of emergent technologies for learning. YouTube is having an impact on society, politics, and the lives of individuals from all walks of life.' (Search YouTube for 'csnelsonbsu ').
But this course is still a step behind giving video clips to students to create mini video documentaries.
In summary, the use of video as an educating tool is slowing creeping along the corridors of the educational establishments. But it is still dominated by a teacher-centered approach.
It is the teacher who creates.
It is the teacher who uses his/her imagination.
It is the student that watches.
To turn this around and make better use of the medium of video, students need to be given control. Students should be allowed to use their imagination and create, not teachers.
Clearly there are hurdles to be overcome to give teachers the opportunity to move into video essays. In order for students to create mini video documentaries they need access to computers, the raw video material and teachers need skills to manage it.
Other questions to add to the mix:
1. How would they physically make these videos: in the classroom? At home? Both?
2. How would schools and colleges go about using this approach to education? Group projects? And which subjects? History? Sociology? Geography? Politics? All the above and more?
3. Do schools and colleges have the staff proficient and confident enough with this new communication medium to teach the youth of today? The Future?
This article asks more questions then it answers; It has merely scratched the surface of the video in education topic.
What is important to note and cannot be over stressed, is the importance of taking advantage of the inherent new skills that the young people of today have developed in using YouTube. Putting them to an educational use is a must.
And after all, when as a student of the late 1980's, this author used the now ancient skill called 'hand writing' in submitting essays and reports; A word processor (pre-Windows, Apple, PC's and the 'net'), was some sort of alien contraption only found in classrooms belonging to strange long-haired hippie types. Today, primary school students use computers as a matter of course.
Will video use in education become the norm in the next 10 years?

Continuing Traffic Education (CTE)

In absence of formal training & traffic Driving Knowledge, A license to drive is actually a license to kill or get killed on the deadly metro road .Do we have proper driving laws & Formal Training school to curb the menace and the mayhem on the metro road? India is fast emerging as the most favoured nation of all the Motor manufacturing company who is coming every now and then to set up their base because India is a big market and Indian customer's base is huge and have the Buying potential for these vehicles. But it is really a very sad issue that Neither the govt. of India nor any Vehicle manufacturing Company are coming forward to set up the base for the Driving school of international standard and giving emphasis on the quality education to the traffic laws and rules for each & every individual seeking license To drive on the roads .
One of the most bizarre facts of our Traffic system is that in Delhi - which has the maximum no. of motor vehicles plying on its road - we have only one or two Government Run Traffic education & Driving training school and that too is not easily accessible by majority of delhites because of its remote Locations. In this case almost 98% of delhites do get their formal and basic driving training either from Their Relatives , friends or the Local non-recognized and private institutions whose main focus is to earn money as soon as possible rather than giving the formal Quality Traffic and driving Education . One can better understand that if this is the situation In Our national capital Delhi, what is the situation in Other Small metro cities? God knows!
So , If we can make traffic laws and awareness programme a mandatory lesson from the High school syllabus so that From the Beginning when a Child starts to have urge to learn driving , he or she must understand and practice the smaller finer points of driving . This is the right way to make the awareness programme among the future drivers successful as its result will come at later stage but it is sure it will achieve its objective. Hence Traffic laws & awareness Lesson to be introduced in the Syllabus right from the beginning.
Again, we find the need for the continuing traffic education mandatory for all the old and budding drivers. As on every alternate day, some new technology in motor Dynamics or traffic control system is added to the traffic Rules and driving Canvas. So, it ought to be Must for all those driving on the road to aware themselves with the finer points of those technical advancements for better result on the road. Hence, continuing has to be mandatory in every metropolis even the educated drivers must come forward spontaneously to learn the new basics of driving which will in-fact horn their driving Skill.
So, let's come together for bigger cause, better case and for Taking care of your life and other's life on the road for our better tomorrow. We must ensure that what we think, what we speak and what we do must have the co-relation and must practice the same in reality. So, let's come together and take a vow to make the continuous education on learning of better Driving skill and new traffic rules for our own safety and help our Country to become Really Developing in all Sense and in true color.

Online Broadcasting Education Opportunities

The world of communication opens various avenues to pursue for an education. Online education opportunities are making it easier for individuals who need more flexibility to obtain a degree. A broadcasting degree can be obtained from many online accredited colleges, and can prepare students to enter the workforce by teaching them how to be a vital member of the communications industry. There are a number of things to learn prior to enrolling in an educational program.

1. Most online colleges offer degree distinctions for dedicated individuals from an associate's to a bachelor's degree. Some schools go a step further and give the option for students to attend a graduate program. Many of the graduate programs allow students to obtain a master's degree in broadcast journalism. Through each level of education students will learn the ins and outs of news dissemination using audio and video to relay information to an audience.

2. Many of the online distance learning programs provide students with a thorough curriculum. Online broadcasting programs specifically focus their courses to teach students the foundations of the industry, and allow them to experience the fast paced world of technology as it relates to communication through broadcasting. Many of the courses will help students by training them in media issues, production of audio, entertainment, production of video, videography, editing, and more. These skills will help a degree holding individual in the job market because the broadcasting side of communications centers on the knowledge of technology to present news. The ability to use technology to present media in an interesting way is an important factor that online colleges teach in their programs.

3. Students can gain a bachelor's degree in broadcasting from a wide range of online schools. Some colleges specifically focus on the broadcasting degree making each class incredibly focused on the subject. In programs where the main focus is on the broadcasting side of communication courses may be longer, but the program will consist of fewer courses. A student may enroll in a program like this that has 14 courses. These courses can include radio and TV operations, broadcast journalism and news, public relation strategies, and more. Many bachelor's degree programs take four years to complete. However, online courses are taken at an individual pace and some students could finish the program in less time.

4. A four-year program or bachelors' program will prepare students in a variety of ways. In the first year, students will learn about the history, organization, TV, radio, and Internet technologies that make up the industry. This basis is essential for students to understand how all media works together to create broadcasting. The second year of education will have students diving into writing, production, sound design, and more. These aspects will be crucial to show students what it is they will be doing in their chosen career. In the remaining two years students will work in a variety of ways to create examples of their work to be used in a professional portfolio. A portfolio is important because it provides samples of your work to potential employers.

Gaining an accredited online education in broadcasting leaves multiple career options open. Broadcasting includes a wide range of jobs like TV reporting, sports reporting, camera work, audio work, and much more. Accreditation is provided to schools and colleges that meet certain criteria. Full accreditation can provide proof that a quality education is available. Agencies like The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (www.accet.org) and other agencies are approved to accredit educational training programs. Don't let your passion of technology or news pass you by. Search online colleges for a program that fits your career goals.

Forex Education

There is lot's of Forex education online that you need to avoid but look hard enough and you will find some great sources which will get you on the road to Forex trading success. Let's look at where to find the best Forex trading advice.
First let's look at Forex advice you should ignore and let's start with Forex software. There are a vast amount of these cheap "get rich quick" systems, all promising you financial freedom for a hundred dollars or so and even better you do no work, you just plug it in and sit back as the cash rolls in! Anyone who thinks they will get rich using one is going to be dissapointed - none of them work.
Other education you should ignore includes, advice in forums, the only people who have time to hang around forums are losers, who make themselves feel better for not making any money, by dispensing their supposed wisdom or the other group in forums, are affiliates trying to get you to buy a get rich quick system and make a few dollars commission.
You get lots of news online, all well put together and convincing but it reflects the majority opinion and the majority lose. People who trade news stories forget, that the news is not by itself important, its how traders view the news that is and that's why markets always collapse when the news is most bullish and rally when it's most bearish. Don't waste your time trying to trade news stories.
Good Forex Education Sources
Now let's look at how to win and the advice you can get online which can lead you to success.
If you want to win the best way to trade is by using Forex charts, you need know nothing about the news, all you need to do is to learn to spot trends and lock into and hold them and this is a learned skill so anyone can do it.
There is plenty of information on the chart formations that occur and reoccur and plenty of information on all the Forex indicators you can use with charts. learn them, then use basic chart formations and a few confirming indicators, to filter your trading signals. Keep your method simple, simple systems always work best as they have fewer elements to break than complex ones and you can get all this information for Free.
Learn with No Risk
You can, if you want to cut your learning curve further and not have to devise your own strategy, buy a Forex course with a ready made strategy which you can learn to apply. These courses teach you the skills you need to win, provide daily trading support and classrooms and best of all, they all have 100% money back guarantees, so you can learn with no risk.
Winning at Forex Trading
Anyone can learn to win at Forex because everything about Forex trading can be specifically learned, so you can devise your own strategy or buy a course - the choice is yours but if you make a little effort with either method, you could soon be making a great second income in 30 minutes a day or less.

College Rankings and US News and World Report

The current college ranking systems provide an easy way for prospective students to see how one institution ranks against another. This can make for a simple way to see which colleges will provide the best education. At least that is what the ranking system is supposed to do, in recent years though there has been some criticism regarding the methodologies used to rank colleges.

What are Admissions Rankings

Before we talk about what is good about the current system and what is not, it is important to understand how colleges are currently ranked in the United States. It is also important to know that there is more than one ranking system available.

The methodology that most of us are familiar with is the ratings that are given by the US News. This system has been around since 1983, and each year the ratings for colleges change. The US News ranks scores each institution with a score between 1 and 100, with 100 being the best, and they separate the schools into 4 tiers. The best schools are listed as tier 1.

The ratings are based on gathered data that take into account the following factors:

• Peer Assessment - Reputation of the school based on a survey of presidents, provosts, and deans from other institutions

• Retention - The graduation rate over a 6-year period, and the retention rate of first year students

• Student Selectivity - A combination of data based on: test scores of students, the percentage of top percentile students admitted, and the student acceptance rate as a whole.

• Faculty Resources - Data that includes the student-faculty ratio, the average salary of faculty members, and the education level of the faculty

• Financial Resources - Average tuition rates per-student

• Graduation Rate Performance - The difference between what the expected rate of graduation was and what the actual graduation rate turned out to be

• Alumni Giving Rate - The amount of money received from donations by alumni

The first four elements on the list account for 80% of the total score. Peer assessment alone makes 25% of the rating, and that is where the criticism of the US News ranking system comes in.

The Good and the Bad

In recent years there has been some criticism of the current rating system. It has been said that with the weighting given to peer assessment, student selectivity, and faculty resources that it becomes easy to pick which schools will come out on top. The largest schools and the richest schools will win out over the smaller colleges every time, regardless of the actual education that a student can expect to receive from the institution.

Looking at the historical data, these statements are true to a certain degree. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton always end up on top of the list. Some suggest that, to get a true measure of school performance, the ratings should give a larger weighting to factors related to graduation rates, salaries after graduation, and student performance in the long run.

Even with the criticisms, the current college ranking system does provide a method for students to see how their chosen (or prospective) institution ranks against similar colleges in the country. It provides a simple method to see where they can expect a top-rated education, and where they will be getting a second tier education.

With other ranking systems popping up each year it is also possible to use the US News rankings in conjunction with a different rating system. It may be worth comparing the rankings in America to those of the Academic Rankings of World Universities, or data based on the G-Factor methodology (such as Webometrics). Using more than one ranking system will provide a better overall picture when looking at any college.

Debt Consolidation Breaking News

The United States Department of Education is making bold moves toward cleaning house and we will talk about some of those that affect you as a parent of a soon-to-be college bound child directly. We do not want to leave out the millions of Americans that are returning to school and are the students themselves-but the largest percentage of school bound individuals are still under the dependent financial care of the parents. We titled this posting debt consolidation breaking news for a very good reason. That reason is as we go forward towards Halloween in the month of October it is time to start laying the groundwork for the upcoming winter school session in most parts of the United States.
Reformation in America
As debt consolidation is being reformed in America today and with President Obama taken the reins on so many financial concerns it is important that you know something about the debt relief situation going on the country. While you may consider yourself well-versed in the basic modality of what debt relief actually is you need to understand how that relates to the student loan obtainment for your incoming freshman. There are literally millions of freshmen that enter colleges and universities and technical schools all across this great country of ours and it is important that the parents of these soon-to-be college educated children know where to turn to for advice and information about that all-important student loan issue.
Department of Education Enactments
The most breaking news that involves debt consolidation includes the actions of President Obama's administration as well as the Department of Education directly. The administration has mandated through acts of legislation and other such legalities that the middlemen are now cut-out of the equation for all concerns about student loans.
Saving Money
What this does right away is to save you, the American taxpayer, at the very least $500-$1000 a year in monies that was going toward the pavement of the third-party providers for student loans. Now that there is a direct-line of communication between you, the parent of the college-bound child, and the Federal government, which is the Department of Education, the streamlining of this form of financing of a college education is clearing up.
Great Intentions
We wanted to give you some earth-shattering as well as fundamentally groundbreaking news but in reality the debt consolidation world has so much going on it is important that we focus on the present and future and not so much worry about things of the past. If you are a parent of a student who is presently in high school you understand this and you understand that the future belongs to our children. With debt consolidation clearing the household and freeing up cash that would have been spent on credit card revolving debt and other unsecured debt loan accounts you will be that much closer to financing the dream of your child and of yourself of completing a college education in America in the 21st century.

How to Work With Different Types of News Feeds

Here are other options on the webfor RSS feeds that are integrated within social networking sites. Facebook, for example, has it's own version of that that with a news page that puts in all kinds of information on what people in your circle of friends are doing online. This can be exploited to post links to your site, talk about your latest venture, and generally hog the limelight. So, while the majority of people are referring to RSS feeds when they talk about news feeds, there are other ways that term is used in different social networking sites.
As we discussed earlier, the two ways of using RSS feeds is to get subscribers or to use them to provide fresh content to your site. The first way involves an action that has to be taken by the person visiting your site. It isn't something automatic, so that you have encourage people visiting your site to subscribe. Since the mechanics of RSS feeds are still not that well known by the average Internet user, you have to educate your visitors to how to get the latest content using your RSS feeds. The truth is that they may actually be using a news outlet like Yahoo! but not even realize that the content is coming through an RSS feed. So, to get subscribers you must first educate them to what's available.
Educate
You don't have to get too technical about it, but you do want to give them a brief overview of why they want to become a subscriber to your RSS feed. They can get updates more quickly and be notified of when new content is up on the site. They can even set up email to receive it in a format that is easy for them to access. However, you have to educate them on how to do that, otherwise, they will take the path of least resistance, which is to ignore your RSS feed.
Create Buttons
There are a number of ways to make it easy for them to sign up. You can provide buttons for numerous news reader outlets, like Yahoo! Or Bloglines. You will have to get the URL for your news feed and use that to create a button that allows people who are familiar with these larger online news feeds to subscribe to your content. For that you have to have the RSS feed module installed and have it available. It will typically look like this: [http://yoursitename/feed] . Some places like Wordpress automatically install RSS feeds and you can use the address provided to create those subscriber buttons.
Offer A Targetedbie With Your Feed
If you're still having problems getting subscribers, try offering a small targetedbie to get them to sign up. It can be a report of some fantastic tips to save or make money, or it can be a targeted video download. Try to make it something you can deliver instantaneously over the web with autoresponders. That makes this feature very easy. Of course, realize that they may sign up and get your product and leave easily too. So, you want to continue to provide content that will keep them interested and subscribed.
Package Your Own RSS feed
If you have various websites and content and you want to get the word out fast with minimal duplication, you want to package your own RSS feed and promote that with other website owners. You will want to split up your content by categories that others may want to subscribe to. You wouldn't put any recipes on a site you have along with how to get hired on another site, even if they are both blog posts. You have to be clear that whatever you package in the RSS feed package is one topic or focal point of interest for specific news outlets. A way to do that is to separate the categories into feeds for the mainstream media, a feed for your customers, some for potential customers, and even your competition. Or, you can split up the feeds into discrete industries that you can market to specific news outlets.
Promote It To Various Outlets
After you've packaged your own feed, you want to make sure it is available for others to use. Whether that is by agreement to purchase the feed or whether you merely post it on website newsreaders, it's up to you. You can submit your feeds to search engines and directories, just like they were their own pages. They are actually web pages, but they are in XML format which needs the newsreader to decipher and read. Once you're syndicated on a variety of other sites, traffic will pour in non-stop as long as you keep providing content.
Featured Aggregators
To view the RSS feeds, people use aggregators. Some are programs you add to your browser or install on your desktop. Others are websites that allow you to set up an account and use them to read news feeds. Some you can even integrate into you email to get RSS feeds through email format. It doesn't matter what you use, but here are a few that you can find online that you can check out.
My.Yahoo.com
This is a great way to see how easy it is to use an RSS reader through a website. Many people set up a page here and have no clue they are actually using an RSS reader because it's not that technical. You just search for categories of news that area available as RSS feeds and then choose to see them. They put in all the headlines in the various choices you made and you can easily check multiple sites and headlines in the category that you want.
Newsgator.com
This aggregator works with Microsoft Outlook. The Newsgator Online RSS feed is a software package that is targeted to download and use on your desktop. The Newsgator database claims over 1.5 million feeds available. There is even a mobile version available for cell phones.
Yahoo Pipes
This aggregator helps you compile RSS feeds from other RSS feeds. You have the option to search for feeds, combine them any way you like, even filter them, and this is called a pipe. This pipe can then be outputted as another RSS feed that you can use to deliver fresh content to your readers. They have a list of hot pipes that you can see and the ability to put widgets on your website pointing to the pipes you create. You can even geocode the pipe and see it displayed on a map.
Bloglines
This is a popular feed reader that is online. It has a social networking flavor in that you can share your favorite feeds with your friends. You can also set up your blog roll on an external blog using the bloglines news subscriptions you've selected. If you have multiple blogs, this is a great way to update the blog roll in one place and see it updated everywhere you inserted that code.