YouTube continues to provide a social forum that entertains us through videos uploaded by individuals all over the world. In it’s 7th year (yes prior to 2005 there was no YouTube!) is now owned by Google. Three hours of video is uploaded from mobile phones alone. Here are few more statistics:
- Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
- Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
- 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
- 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
- YouTube is localized in 43 countries and across 60 languages
- More than 20% of global YouTube views come from mobile devices
But beyond the funny videos we all enjoy viewing and sharing or maybe even creating and uploading ourselves, there are a wide range of educational videos. You can search for how to guides to help you learn new tasks and also follow YouTube channels where you can bookmark a series of videos on a given topic.
Here are some of my recommendations to look at:
TED Talks
TEDTalks shares the best ideas from the TED Conference with the world, for free: trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses, all giving the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Today these videos can be viewed free of charge on YouTube.
The TEDx program gives communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are planned and coordinated independently.
RSA Animate
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) describes itself as an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. Some of the talks that have been recorded on video have also been animated. One of my favourites was the talk given by Sir Ken Robinson ‘Changing Education Paradigms’.
Google in Education
The Google in Education YouTube channel enables educators from around the world to connect on the web for free through Google+ Hangouts On Air. These are live webinars the public can view and are recorded on YouTube to watch at your leisure. To find out more about the schedule for Google Education on air visit http://www.google.com/edu/
Other Educational Channels
Broadcast Yourself
Creating your own videos is now easier than ever. 
Many mobile phones now come with a video camera and are capable of creating excellent short videos. YouTube Support provide useful guidelines on how to upload video from your mobile or PC and also how to create video using a webcam.
You can record a web cam video on YouTube and upload it directly to the site. Click the Record from web cam box on the upload page, or simply go to http://www.youtube.com/my_webcam.
Sue Beckingham
Social Media for Learning 