80 Videos For Technology and Media Integration

This is the time of year when thoughts turn to planning for next year. Whether you are a Technology Director, Technology Specialist or Classroom Teacher passionate about Technology, you are beginning to think about what direction you want to take your program next year. (If you haven't started thinking about, you need too!) There are tons of resources out there to help you with starting points for integration. Even if you feel your district or classroom is as integrated as possible, there is always room for improvement or change.

Dr. Alex Couros over at the Open Thinking Blog has been collecting videos over the past several years that represent ways/ideas/suggestions to integrate technology and media literacy into the classroom and school. All of them are worth a watch, but if you only have a few moments (hours, etc.) here are some of the "must-see" videos:

Conversation Starters
Did You Know 3.0 - Widely viewed video by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod that gives light to the changes imminent in our emerging knowledge-based society. This is an excellent video for framing and introducing the the new reality to students, teachers, faculty, and administrators.

Introducing the Book - This comedic portrayal of a medieval helpdesk relays the point that each new technology will bring with it challenges of user adoption and a steep learning curve.

21st Century Learning
The Machine is Us/ing Us - “Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes”, explained by the Digital Ethnography Project at Kansas State University (Prof. Michael Wesch). The video helps to illustrate important changes brought by Web 2.0 (read/write web, social web) as content and form became separated.

Brave New World-Wide Web - An excellent video by David Truss highlighting his journey to become a connected teacher.

Copyright
Laws That Choke Creativity - Larry Lessig’s must-see TED Talk verifies the dire need for thoughtful copyright reform. Lessig is a talented presenter, and there is much to learn here about engaging audiences beyond the information within.

Wanna Work Together? - This promotional video for the Creative Commons does well to explain copyright, copyleft, and details reasons why one would choose a Creative Commons license.

Influence of Media On Society
Dove Onslaught - Also from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, this video illustrates the incredible impact of advertising on adolescent girls.

History if Technology and Media
The Growing Phenomenon of Internet - This is a 1993 CBC report on the emergence of the Internet. It is interesting to watch this early media account of the Internet and to think about how much has changed in only 16 years. Additionally, the techno-utopianism of this report is striking.

The Internet in 1969 - This is a late 1960’s video describing futuristic technologies that resemble today’s Internet affordances.

Social Networks and Identity
Social Networks in Plain English - This is one of many excellent Common Craft ‘explanation’ videos. It does a great job of explaining digital social networks to those unfamiliar

Behind Every Tweet - This was a video teaser developed for my K12 Online Conference presentation in 2008. It helps to describe how Twitter can be used by educators for solving problems or asking questions. The entire presentation can be viewed here.

There are other categories worth checking out like Public Service Announcements , Internet Safety, and Documentaries. As I said, everything here is worth a watch. So take some time this summer, one or two a day and check out these videos and think about how you can use them in your technology or media program.

80 Videos For Technology and Media Integration


Image Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons