I Want My MTV

OK be honest, you started humming the song didn't you! Well, maybe just the older folks among us, but there really is a point here. The video revolution has been around for quite a while. So why does it still seem new in education?

Perhaps it is because change in education tends to happen slowly. Much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth has occurred because of this, but this may not be a bad thing. Or is it? Other fields seem to be more adaptable to innovation, and particularly when it comes to all things technological.

For example, some years ago I had knee surgery. The doctor did not have to slice a big hole in my knee and start digging around to find the part he needed to fix. Instead he made a small incision and inserted a tube into my knee, found the torn meniscus, and snipped it. Not only was my recovery faster, but I got some really cool pictures of the inside of my knee, complete with arthritis!

OK, I wasn't happy about the arthritis, but the use of video to greatly advance surgical procedures is fantastic. Now, has the change in use of video in education been just as fantastic? In some classrooms, it may be just that.

Some teachers, using a flipped classroom model, teach class content through video which students watch outside of class. Students then come to class ready to work with the information and the teacher is able to guide them along, since she is not stuck at the front of the room lecturing. Other classrooms use video as supplementary to the topic, giving a boost of information which can be viewed either in class or outside of it. Other teachers have students create video, making them active and creative, and enabling them to use tools they are mostly quite familiar with. 

YouTube, TED Talks, and many other video-based tools, have allowed countless new ways of approaching teaching and learning. The students are ready. Are we?