Networked Learning Project – Learning Basic Russian – Post#4

The YouTube video below demonstrates what I learned through completing my Networked Learning Project.  My goal for this project was to learn the cyrillic alphabet as well as common greetings and phrases in Russian.  Because my intent with this project was to learn basic conversational skills, I chose to use YouTube exclusively to learn the content.

During my initial search for resources, I found that there were a considerable number of videos dedicated to teaching Russian.  As a result, I spent a good deal of time narrowing my search to meet my specific learning goals.  In this sense, YouTube was difficult to use as a resource because my researching phase was mainly dedicated to refining my search parameters.  I eventually found several videos featuring native Russian speakers that were excellent.  I am a very visual learner, and it is difficult for me to simply listen to a phrase and repeat it back without any kind of visual cue.  Several of the videos wrote out the words and phrases phonetically which made it very easy for me to follow along. 

I would encourage students to use this approach to learning certain content.  The clause at the end of the previous statement is very important!  Not all content can be effectively taught or learned through YouTube videos.  Luckily, my learning goal was easily achieved by using this networked learning approach.  However, there are often limited resources available through YouTube that effectively teach certain topics, and one has to be selective in order to find accurate and inclusive video clips.  This being said, with the advent of online resources such as KhanAcademy, it has become much easier for students to find credible videos. 

I have already started to use this networked learning approach in my biology classes.  The instructional unit that we are currently on is biochemistry which is typically quite difficult for students.  I will assign homework each night, and students often tell me that they forgot how to complete it.  Accordingly, I have started making video tutorials (about five minutes in length) using a screencasting program and uploading these tutorials to my class website.  Students can then use these to re-learn difficult concepts at home.  They then have the opportunity to look at similar videos on YouTube for extra assistance.  I will continue to use this networked learning technique for the difficult concepts in my course.