Benefits of viewing, creating, and sharing Videos (Youtube & TeacherTube) with ELLs

What are YouTube and TeacherTube?

Online video hosts allow users to upload personal videos and store them on a “channel” for others to view, comment on, rate, and share with friends. Perhaps the most famous online video host is YouTube where viewers can comment on videos, add them to playlists, subscribe to others’ channels, rate videos, and become ‘friends’ with other registered users. However, when using YouTube with students, it is important to address critical viewing and media literacy issues so they are prepared when they stumble across video segments that are not meant for the eyes of young viewers.

When used as a means of creating, posting, and sharing student-created videos, YouTube becomes a means of fostering creativity in students as well as a powerful tool for active speaking practice. They take on the role of the digital storytellers and they use English to tell their stories.

Why view, create, and share videos with ELL’s?

ELL students are often hesitant to perform, do skits, or otherwise speak in front of their fellow students. If given the option to create a video of their work, students often feel more in control and more at ease because they can record, rerecord, and edit their presentation prior to sharing it. Videos allow students to make decisions about their work and be creative, which, in turn, is fun as well as motivational for students.

Examples of how to use online videos with ELLs:

·         Documenting and filming student classroom presentations

·         Movie or TV-show parodies

·         PhotoStory movies

·         Film and book reviews

·         Acting out plays or literature

·         Cooking shows

·         Science demonstrations

·         Music Videos