Video resource review

These online video resources are going to add so much to the classroom! New Vista shows promise. The 70 podcasts were especially enlightening because the ones I watched were by students. It would be fun to see if my students could submit a podcast of their own. Maybe there could be a classroom contest where all the students highlighted "Life in Hilton/ Hamlin, NY etc." The writing piece would be a chance for them to write a script. They would need help on the actual production piece, but it would be exciting to see what they could come up with. It might be expanded to a tech project, but I would need help to enable students to do the videography piece. Hmmm... I'll have to give it some thought. At any rate, the 5 minute podcasts were great quickies that students could watch when there is that extra time in class. They'd be especially god for social studies, especially since there are so many from Japan, hence WW2 could work. When I'm working on writing for social studies, I might be able to incorporate them into a compare/contrast piece.
In contrast, YouTube is a bit broad. Teachers would have to screen the podcasts carefully before students got on. Then we'd have to watch to see if the kids are indeed watching what we picked! On a personal note, my nephew downloaded a clip from a baseball game in the 1950's with Babe Ruth etc. in it as well as my father-in-law and other of my husband's relatives. The family has really enjoyed watching it. With this in mind, teachers could download a personal video to this site and have kids watch it. I'm thinking of a video that might have been done on vacation with the idea of showing it in class--Mark Twain's home, for example.
TeacherTube can be a super resource. I loved it. I wish the podcasts had a one sentence synopsis on them so there wouldn't need to be a preview. I watched a "Cry Me A Verb" video, which was about Spanish verbs and wouldn't help me much! I loved the humorous "Welcome Back to School" podcast and plan on using it on our first day. Hopefully, the kids will enjoy it as much as I did/will! Sally C