Comments on: YouTube: Friend or Foe?

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:19:48 +0000

Teachers are already allowed to use their discretion when viewing movies in the classroom or when choosing which books to use. They weren’t showing us pornography or reading us smut then. Why not you tube now?

By: bbox231

bbox231 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:16:36 +0000

Tracy is correct. That said, I stand by my point that legitimate material can very frequently be found hosted in other locations. And a modicum of effort may be required to locate same.

For example – Science Channel content is serviced by YouTube AND the Science Channel website.

See for example -

http://www.youtube.com/user/sciencentral?blend=8&ob=4

and

http://science.discovery.com/videos/physics/

There are, of course, other sites that do as Tracy suggests – and they simply are a link to YouTube and those sites will carry the YouTube logo.

If there are legitimate sites that are blocked by your network administrator, they are “blacklisted” usually because the sites are “mixed content” – e.g., legit and offensive content exist. If you identify a site that is important to your work as an instructor, I’d encourage you to work with the district administrator and identify “legitimate” sites that are useful. These same sites can then be “whitelisted” and made accessible for your use.

As someone who works with these same concepts and tools in the private sector I find YouTube an unacceptable risk to redistribute on my corporate network.

Sadly, the potential for harrassment litigation makes the trade-off between the infrequently available useful information and the less frequently available “good stuff” – - – - an easy choice.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:36:46 +0000

YouTube videos that are hosted by YouTube are often found on other sites, but cannot be viewed, as they are linked back to YouTube and blocked by the FUSD gatekeeper software. There are many video and other sites that are blocked by the district server, and cannot be accessed in the classroom.

By: bbox231

bbox231 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:43:58 +0000

What’s so important about YouTube as a source of media ? If the concern is for the content – YouTube (despite its notoriety) is hardly the end-all cure-all for Internet video – - – - most of what’s found therein can be readily located elsewhere.

Why are restrictions on access to *this* particular file-sharing site of any significance to a professional educator ? My personal experience is that content found in YouTube will be found in dozens of other URL’s pretty readily and with minimal effort.

That said, corporate network operators all over “blacklist” sites like YouTube in an attempt to reduce access to potential pornographic or offensive material and any legal advisor would recommend doing so as a reasonable action aimed at reducing distribution of offensive material on the corporate network (which can be a contributing factor in sexual harassment litigation).