Internet videos taking over educational lessons
by Jake Coyle on Sep. 20, 2007, under Calendar
As students meekly file back to school this fall, they might remember that class is in session at – of all places – YouTube.
Yes, in this upside-down world of education where video games are touted for teaching kids visual skills, even YouTube can be of some benefit to learning.
When one thinks of lessons learned from watching videos on YouTube, what comes to mind is sage wisdom like: iPods can be blended, Mentos react violently to Diet Coke and cats typically lose arguments with ceiling fans.
But one of the site’s top categories is called “Howto & DIY,” a broad section that compiles videos explaining everything from magic tricks to Soulja Boy’s “How to Crank That” dance (tinyurl.com/2y424p).
I’m sure that upon hearing this, students across the country are tossing textbooks out the window. However, there are many videos that are quite useful or – to use the most fearsome of words – “educational.”
One video is in response to a clip posted by filmmaker Michel Gondry, who shows himself solving a Rubik’s Cube with his feet. The video (tinyurl.com/2hdxko), watched by nearly 900,000, carefully explains how Gondry accomplished his trick. The lesson, it turns out, is not so much about the Rubik’s Cube, but rather, techniques of deception in filmmaking.
Learning how to play any musical instrument is also easier, since such videos allow close-up demonstrations. Guitar lessons in particular abound, including a video of Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden explaining his technique (tinyurl.com/29etsc).
Science experiments also can be found, including one, which shows what happens when you mix water and corn starch – and then shake it (tinyurl.com/y29bkt). Workout videos are popular, too, such as one about how to work out your abs without buying anything (tinyurl.com/yv9hgk).
Many videos offer cooking instructions, like director Robert Rodriguez’s excellent “10 Minute Cooking School” (tinyurl.com/yu8q5o). Others teach how to draw cartoon characters like Homer Simpson (tinyurl.com/2xkqkq).
One also can learn how to style “rock star” hair (tinyurl.com/29sj6u), do a backflip (tinyurl.com/2aqukm) or french kiss (tinyurl.com/2uxmyt). It’s a little sad, really, that the days of the sexually uninformed adolescent – so long a staple in comedy – is a thing of the past.
YouTube isn’t the only repository for instructional videos. Currently in Beta, 5min.com specializes in visual how-to lessons explained in five minutes or less. The site’s slogan is: “Everyone is good at something.” One of its most popular videos currently teaches how to survive a knife attack.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
The brilliant FX comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” returns for its third season Thursday. The show was created by three guys all around 30-years-old (Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton), but comic veteran Danny DeVito came aboard last season. In this video, posted on FunnyorDie.com (funnyordie.com/ videos/60d14b6331), Day discovers just what contractual obligations they signed up for when DeVito joined. Don’t miss the cameo from Fred Savage.
What’s your favorite Web site? E-mail Jake Coyle at fcoyle@ap.org.
