YouTube and young learners
Hello from London!
Recently I hosted a course on the SEETA website titled: How do YouTube? (http://www.seeta.eu/) Over the week a lot of interesting discussions and ideas about online video emerged.
One discussion thread that opened up dealt with the issue of filming young learners. Now I imagine that it would take a very naive or inexperienced teacher to film his/her students and upload the clip onto a video sharing site like YouTube, without first getting the consent of superiors, written agreement from parents and willingness of students, etc.We all realize that we have to take students' privacy very seriously.
But one thing that often surprises me is that I have met quite a few teachers who say that they would *never* consider filming their students even if they were given permission to do so. Others claim that the principle teachers in their schools have implemented a total ban on filming students without even trying to seek parental permission.
I always think that this is a shame considering how much fun it must have been to create a clip like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOfXytNKwxY
So here is what I am wondering:
* Is it correct to be so cautious (i.e. to not even consider filming students out of fear for their privacy?)
* Or do we perhaps have a responsibility to our students to seek permission to engage them in collaborative film-making projects?
Hoping to hear your thoughts
Jamie :-)
Hi Jamie,
Interesting question...
I work mostly with 3 to 6 year olds. I'm trying to build stronger partnerships with the parents, and video seems like a useful tool here. We do open classes and parties quite often, but not all the parents can attend. The more information they have about what we're doing in the classroom, they more supportive they are and the more they get involved.
We've done some off-site excursions where we've made videos and we've done some in lessons (10 4 year olds in pancake lessson being a standout). I don't know enough to understand if 'secure' actually means 'secure.' So while I want to make the videos available to the parents, not sure of the best means.
I feel that I need to be cautious, but not in terms of the actual filiming, more in terms of what I then do with it.
I think I have a responsibility to ensure I'm doing everything I can for my students, and learning how to make use of all tools available is part of that.
Not sure if this is the age range you were thinking of, but any ideas would be really appreciated :-)
Jen
Hello Jen
Thanks very much for this
You are right - there are two issues here:
1. Whether or not to film students
2. Whether or not to put the clips on a video site such as YouTube
I could be argued that filming is fine but that it should end there. However, I think that this would miss an invaluable opportunity for teachers to share their own work and learn from each other.
As a teacher, I find the choir clip that I uploaded about inspiring. If I was a music teacher, I would learn from it. I would think to myself: "My goodness - this is fantastic - this is what I should be aiming for!"
I would show the clips to the singers in my own choir and say: "Look - this is what we want - singing from teh heart - singing with soul!"
My point is that if the choirmaster had allowed fear to stop him from sharing the clip, I never would have seen it in the first place.
What do you think about that?
Thanks again
Jamie
Hi,
A lot of teachers have similar schedules here in Moscow, so filming lessons are a good way of giving teachers the chance to observe each other. It's also good for self-evaluation. That being said, parents sign a permission slip in advance and it's made clear that the training is inhouse only.
I wouldn't feel happy putting a film of my students on an open site. I'm responsible for my learners, but have no control over what anyone does with the film once it's in the public domain. Is that correct?
Hello Jennifer
This is a really interesting point and something that I refer to in my iatefl interview:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Harrogateonline/videos/48/
In the video I mention that this fear is preventing a situation in which teachers are able to learn and take inspiration from one another.
I always wonder the same thing: What is the worst that could happen by putting film of young learners in a teaching context online? I think that these are fears to be explored and discussed.
Forgot to mention that I am hoping for some ideas to take to the Pearson Longman signature event: "Responding to the needs of generation Y"
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/iatefl/
Thanks
J