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Leveraging YouTube for Digital Educational Innovation
- Authors
- Name
- Yuxue Zhao
Catalog
Introduction
In an age where digital platforms are reshaping education, YouTube emerges as a potent tool for both information dissemination and creative expression. Its vast content repository provides an unparalleled resource for learners and educators alike. In this essay I will discuss the features of YouTube and utilize a YouTube video about the game "Hades" in EFL classroom to foster a deeper understanding of mythology, enhance language skills, and cultivate digital literacy among students.
Digital Text Type
YouTube is a social media platform with rich communication features. Its functionalities are not limited to informing, such as educational videos ranging from academic lectures to everyday life skills, but also include entertaining covering all sorts of music, series, and creative content. Creators use the platform to appeal to audiences, employing various methods to increase their follower count and video views. Additionally, YouTube allows users to contact through comments, live streaming, and private messaging.
About cultural practice, YouTube, as the world's most influential video-sharing platform, has fostered new forms of communication, such as vlogging, live streaming, and the use of super chats during streams, thereby influencing a wider range of digital communication behaviors. A point of discussion here is YouTube's 'dislike' feature, which exemplifies the interplay and mutual shaping of digital practices and text types. Initially, YouTube allowed the display of both 'likes' and 'dislikes,' but the practice of using 'dislikes' to express disapproval or even as a form of malicious attack impacted the platform's community dynamic. Consequently, YouTube's management team removed the public display of 'dislike' counts. This change in digital text type has, to some extent, affected the cultural norms on YouTube. With 'dislikes' and negative comments less visible, there's a noticeable decrease in negative feedback, thereby altering the cultural practices on the platform.
The platform's utility for learners is multifaceted: It offers a wide range of content, making it easy to find educational materials. Videos combine visuals and sound, providing an engaging multimodal learning experience that helps with information retention and understanding. This content is freely available online, allowing learners to study anytime, anywhere. With creators worldwide, it also gives authentic insights into different cultures, enhancing language learning. YouTube's up-to-date materials on current events and technology keep learners informed. Furthermore, it supports active learning by allowing users to create and share their content, boosting their confidence and skills. However, finding quality educational videos among the vast selection requires critical thinking and the ability to discern reliable sources and valuable content.
Subject Matter Analysis
I plan to use a YouTube video introducing the game 'Hades' (from 0 to 12 minutes and 8 seconds) as class text. This video explores the single-player Roguelike isometric dungeon crawler set in Greek mythology, it analyzes the mythology and legends behind 'Hades,' covering almost all content offered by the game and the actual myths behind each element. The selected parts include the video's introduction and the game's main character, Hades. The video is multimodal, offering auditory and visual experiences at the same time.
The video primarily employs video production technology, including time-stamping, as mentioned in the video description. This feature of YouTube videos allows viewers to jump directly to specific parts of the video. It utilizes video editing techniques to integrate content and add visual effects, and transitions. Additionally, the video contains in-game images and charts, employing screen recording and image processing technology for display. The narration makes use of high-quality audio recording equipment to ensure clear sound transmission.
The content planning demonstrates the video creator's prowess in crafting social media content, notably through a clear introduction of the focus at the video's outset. The creator underlines that the video centers not on conventional game reviews but on the myths and legends underpinning the game. Initially, the creator "educates" the audience, cautioning about spoilers and delineating the video's structure. Timestamps are strategically placed, enhancing user-friendliness by enabling viewers to skip directly to preferred sections. In publishing content on social media, the creator adopts self-protective measures, clarifying their role as enthusiastic researchers rather than experts and preemptively apologizing for any potential inaccuracies to sidestep audience criticism. In terms of language use, the video presents valuable lessons. At the lexical level, the video showcases precise usage of domain-specific vocabulary such as "Codex," "euphemize," and "iconography." These terms not only enrich the depth of the video content but also reflect the creators' expertise in the realms of mythology and video games. Additionally, the use of literary expressions like "brushed the stars" and "wealth beyond imagining" demonstrates the artistic and expressive power of language. According to Gross's perspective on complex lexical forms, these symbolically rich expressions not only enhance the narrative's vividness but also allow viewers to experience and feel the content more deeply.On the syntactic level, a highlight of the video is its use of complex sentence structures, including conditional clauses ("if you’ve played Hades"), purpose adverbial clauses ("so that you don’t want to be spoiled"), and comparative degrees ("how closely the myth in the game matches pre-existing established mythology"). Gross (1990) stresses the crucial role of syntactic analysis in understanding textual meaning (pp. 3-5), and the video's use of complex sentence structures provides a rich syntactic analysis text. Moreover, the use of the first-person singular perspective and the direct address to the audience with "you" creates an intimate and conversational atmosphere, making viewers feel more engaged and personally addressed. In summary, from a linguistic perspective, this video segment is excellent material for learners.
Goals
The goal of using this YouTube video introducing the game "Hades" is to inspire students to create YouTube videos on the re-creation of mythological characters through imitation. This teaching goal revolves around four core elements:
Reimagining ancient myths: The course aims to help students understand how to re-envision ancient mythological stories to fit contemporary life and values. Through the video, students will learn how to capture core elements of mythological stories and transform them into new creations, such as placing characters from ancient myths in modern societal scenarios.
Effective communication in the target language: The course emphasizes developing students' ability to communicate effectively in the target language, especially in describing, narrating, and creating processes. By imitating the narrative style, grammatical structures, and use of professional vocabulary in the video, students can understand how to use descriptive language to enhance the appeal of stories and learn how to convey complex emotions and themes through storytelling. Chik (2015) emphasizes that learners need target language popular culture to help them develop reading and writing skills, whether in text or practice (p.360). Hence, reading and writing skills remain an important part of language learning, but in the digital age, their practicality should be emphasized, setting the goal of narrating stories in the target language.
Deep understanding and use of the YouTube platform: The course aims to cultivate students' deep understanding and use of YouTube as a content-sharing and social media platform. Students will learn how to plan and produce video content, including topic selection, scriptwriting, video shooting, and editing, as well as how to build and maintain a successful channel on YouTube, including video optimization and audience building. According to Hallet(2018), besides traditional language symbol systems, there are many other types of symbol languages and symbol patterns, such as visual language and digital media, playing an important role in daily communication. These non-traditional symbol languages, whether used alone or in combination with oral language, should be viewed as meaningful communication tools (p.4). Therefore, learning to use platforms like YouTube also involves learning the symbolic language of social media video sharing platforms, which should be included in the learning objectives.
Lastly, fostering a critical understanding and perspective on media platforms such as YouTube entails actively engaging students in activities like publishing videos, commenting, and analyzing video content. Steininger (2020) stresses the importance of adopting a critical and inclusive approach in foreign language education, which involves a deep understanding of digital cultural practices and their implications for both individuals and societal transformation (p.82). Therefore, it is crucial to encourage students to carefully consider the resources available on digital platforms and to participate thoughtfully in social media interactions. This cautious engagement is impactful not only for the personal development of students but also for societal progress.
Communicative Activities
My proposed activity, titled "Mythology Today: Crafting Modern Narratives from 'Hades,'" will be aimed at middle school students.
In the concrete communication setting, students will be expected to demonstrate their competence through active engagement in various tasks. They will use multiple modes of communication, such as participating in group discussions and leaving comments in the class channel. During group presentations, students will have the opportunity to showcase their ability to articulate the traits of mythological characters, express personal interpretations, and evaluate both the game's and their peers' myth adaptations, demonstrating their critical thinking and creativity. Through group collaboration and peer evaluations on the channel, this communication scenario is intended not only to allow students to express themselves but also to enable them to refine their communication skills.
The competence of students will be evident through their specific behaviors: they will engage in watching videos to interpret game storylines and mythological references, employing mediation skills to connect ancient myths with contemporary narratives. Speaking skills will be demonstrated during group discussions and presentations, while listening skills will be used to absorb information from videos and peers' insights. Aptitudes and general competencies will be honed through various activities: critical thinking will be enhanced by evaluating representations of myths within the game, creativity will be fostered by innovating new contexts for mythological characters, and collaboration will be cultivated as students work together in groups, promoting teamwork and collective problem-solving. In terms of knowledge, students will be expected to exhibit an understanding of narrative structures and adaptation genres, linguistic competence in language suitable for character and story development, and integration of cultural elements from ancient mythology and modern interpretations into their creations.Activity steps for students are the following:
Step 1: Interactive Viewing (30 minutes)
Prepare to watch selected clips from "Hades" gameplay in groups. Pause at key moments to discuss specific mythological references and artistic interpretations. You can use smartphones or computers to access relevant materials. Take notes on character design, dialogue, and connections to original myths.
Step 2: Guided Group Discussion (30 minutes)
Discuss questions such as differences between the game's portrayal of Hades and the original myth, modern values in storytelling, and the impact of the game's portrayal on our understanding of mythological characters. You can use smartphones or computers to access relevant materials. Engage with your group, share your thoughts, and ensure everyone participates.
Step 3: Creative Brainstorming Session (30 minutes)
Brainstorm ideas for modernizing your chosen mythological character or story. Consider their modern role, interaction with society and technology, and how their attributes could translate into contemporary skills. Select your group's best ideas and prepare a 5-minute presentation. Get ready to record the presentation.
Step 4: Presentation and Evaluation (30 minutes)
Upload your recorded presentation to the class channel on YouTube. Everyone should visit the class channel on YouTube to watch the presentations and leave comments/questions. Each group should respond politely and appropriately to comments.
Conclusion
The endeavor to incorporate YouTube as an educational tool through the analysis of "Hades" transcends mere content consumption, aiming instead to engage students in active learning and creative production. By bridging ancient mythology with modern storytelling techniques and digital media skills, this approach not only enriches students' understanding of cultural narratives but also equips them with the competencies necessary for navigating and contributing to the digital world.
References:
Chik, A. (2015). Popular culture, digital worlds and second language learners. In The Routledge handbook of literacy studies (pp. 339-353). Routledge.
Gross, M. (1990). Linguistic representations and text analysis. In Linguistic Representations and Text Analysis (pp. 31-61). London, United Kingdom. HAL. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00278084
Hallet, W. (2018). 1. The Multiple Languages of Digital Communication. In J. Buendgens-Kosten & D. Elsner (Ed.), Multilingual Computer Assisted Language Learning (pp. 3-17). Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788921497-003
Ludiscere. (2021, May 8). The Mythology Behind Hades [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y4aGe0Y-K0&t=353s
Steininger, I. (2020). Towards a concept of Critical Digitalisation in the foreign language classroom . Kritische Fremdsprachendidaktik: Grundlagen, Ziele, Beispiele (pp. 69-85). Narr Francke Attempto.