Before I explore You Tube I decided to do an informal survey of users. After all why not go to the source!
I interviewed nine young people ranging in age from 12 to 21. Five males and four females participated in the survey.
A summary of the results are as follows:
- main reason for going to You Tube is to watch music videos and movie/video clip
- one person likes to watch parodies on You Tube
- a couple of them like to watch highlights of sports (14 and 21 year old males)
- some of the students (age 12, 16 and 17) access YT at school for educational purposes
- two students in Junior high said their access is blocked at school
- a student in High school said that their access at school is not closely monitored
- one student sometimes accesses YT at school for entertainment
- five of the participants in the survey actually have an account, one initially thought in order to access You Tube you had to have one so signed up
- those who did not have an account, sometimes use a sibling or friend’s account so they can see more movie clips
- most were aware that YT blocks inappropriate material
- a few were aware that you can post videos
- five participants were aware that an account is free
- how frequently they accessed You Tube varied from everyday to once per week.
The above responses were based on questions that were asked of all survey participants
Additional Comments:
- feels that their school restricts access as it would be a distracter
- has a high entertainment value
- shows the number of hits a clip has
- most popular with 10-30 year old age bracket
- likes that it is free
- having own account allows you to comment on videos
- need to have an account to upload a video
- hears about something funny and can look for it
- can find older, less popular videos
- comes in multiple languages
- at one time you could watch a show in its entirety but not now due to copyright
- forbids adult material, has a Family Filter
- got started by a friend sending them the link
- can be very distracting in a good way
- plans underway to do a hand puppet show and upload it weekly
- attempts to allow only 18 years of age and up to preview movies is ineffective as anyone can click the age ID button indicating that they are supposedly old enough
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4 comments:
Hi Cindy, I love your informal YouTube survey. Very interesting. Arlene
Interesting findings. I see most of my students go on Youtube to watch music videos or movie clips.
Simon
Great idea to do a survey - smart girl!
I found the results of your survey very interesting Cindy and I wonder if the biggest challenge in using video-sharing for educational purposes will be in getting students to separate the pursuit of entertainment from the pursuit of information to avoid distraction. I know the chief use of YouTube with young people I am familiar with is also for entertainment. One of the parents in my class was shocked that I used something from YouTube to supplement a lesson-an example of an adult who sees this site as simply entertainment. I suspect this may have been the spark for sites like TeacherTube. We have a new job ahead of us, leading the way to the educational potential of YouTube.
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