
A couple things about this occurrence struck me. First of all, I was excited to be able to find what I was looking for and know that I was legally able to use it. Second, I was shocked that a resource as simple and well-known as YouTube would be blocked. I understand that there are less than desirable things available on the internet, but it seems like there would be better ways around this that banning the entire site. There is such a wealth of information that teachers could use in class that is being denied to them. It's difficult to think about integrating more complicated technology if some classrooms aren't even allowed to use YouTube. Lastly, this brought up the question of what to do now. A different acquaintance suggested ripping it from the website and using it in a different player. After doing some research, I found that there is in fact software available to do just that - but didn't want to wrestle with the legality of doing so. So, back to square one - a teacher with a perfect example of tech that he is unable to use.
Photo Credit: Flickr
That is kind of sad and discouraging situation to be in. I can understand if the school wanted to block youtube on computers used by students, but it seems reasonable to allow teachers to have access to it.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to a situation I recently encountered. One of my family friends is a teacher near my hometown. I had shown interest in visiting her classroom, so we were trying to coordinate a time and figure out lunch plans via facebook since it is a quick and easy way to communicate. This was a problem though because facebook was blocked in the entire school. Yes, we could have emailed, but it seems ridiculous that a website that can be used for resourcing and communication was blocked on the teacher's computer.
Shouldn't our schools give the teachers more credit and freedom?