To many in the 30-something and beyond generations, YouTube is a strange phenomenon and a somewhat confusing business concept. Older generations do not fully understand what YouTube is about and generally avoid it. ‘Kids’ spending hour after hour on the computer making & sending silly video clips to each other What is that all about? In my day…Well YouTube is here to stay and that is that. And if it is here to stay, can it be used in the field of education?

Can the skills young people have developed in making and publishing YouTube iWonder
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videos be utilized in education?

Can the making of educational videos by students be used in the classroom and how beneficial might this be in improving student understand a topic?

Would a ‘hands-on’ approach to make a video essay allow students to better retain what they are learning?

This article will argue that the short answer to each of these questions is ‘yes’. The key is how is it to be done and what resources are out there to help.

Where did this idea come from?

Thank Ozzie.

The genesis of this idea started while I was standing under the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. I was traveling on my own as I have recently been let go from my job (redundant in UK parlance) and decided to visit several places on my ‘to see before I die’ list.

While the Swiss mountains are breathtaking, I only had Ozzie to share it with and he wasn’t much good. Ozzie is a 3 inch tall blue and white soft-toy mouse which I found while working in the Australian Outback in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia some 13 years ago.

I suggested to a teacher friend of mine that I could photograph Ozzie in various exotic locations for her class of 5 year olds (who gave the ‘mascot-with-no-name’ his current title by the way). I took many photos in Switzerlan