Learning through You Tube

The above video is on ants nesting in the mangrove swamps of Australia. It is a short video - 4 minutes in length and therefore I think it would be a great introduction to nesting and territory of ants in mangrove areas. David Attenborough brings this informative video and gives much detailed information about the hard working needs of the ants in areas that are constantly altering by tidal changes. As this video is short it does leave some information unexplained - leaving way for questions, research needs and group work. All these are part of the pedegogy of Student-Centered Learning, Problem Based Learning and Learning Engagement Theory.

You Tube have such a large range of available tools and videos that are ideal for teaching students of all ages and interests. Some videos go for 10 seconds others for over 15 minutes, but the reality is you can generally find something on youtube about nearly any subject you need to teach. It is certainly a valuable tool that I will use fairly regularly for introductions to subjects or short snippets to encourage thinking about something important and engaging the students into an area that may otherwise be rather dull to learn about.