So, a few weeks ago I wrote about the launch of www.undertenminutes.com which is a video site with videos in er…under ten minutes. The response has been amazing and there have been 11,700 pages displayed and 3,400 unique visits in just 19 days. Which is great. But now I have to make a decision.
Do I just use the site to share videos for free stuff? Or could we allow paid-for content too?
I think that the site should be used for videos for any tech at all. Here’s why…
1) A lot of us have paid-for tech and software in our school. How-to videos for this content might be very useful!
2) What does free mean anyway? Most things seem to have a paid-for element too them anyway, so it would be silly to cap it at free-only stuff.
3) There is only so much free stuff out there, the site could run its course very quickly.
So, I have decided that as long as a video isn’t an advert or a sales pitch, it should be allowed. Now I know this may be hard to judge, I mean showing 10 minutes of a product is quite a good advert, but it is my site and if I deem it to be too advert-y, it’ll get removed. I think similar rules to a Teachmeet should be encouraged. The video should focus on how to do something and how to do it in the classroom. By teachers who have been there and done that. Not by a sales rep.
What do you think?
What videos should we allow? Should we block anything?
As one of the 3400, I have to say that the site itself is great (I even bathed in some of the reflected glory when I mailed a link round to the staff at my school).
I think you’ve answered your own question really. If a vid isn’t a sales pitch and helps people to use an application more effectively or introduces them to a new one then it should be fair game.
I see no reason as to why commercial products should not be demonstrated in the site. Free products are an exceptional resource for any classroom but many schools have access to commercial products and there are many teachers in the community that would be able to provide the site with great video ideas using these products.
I agree with the above, there is a very blurry line around free (google, Evernote, etc). The site is great, I’ve used it in addition to contributing to it, the thing you need to retain is credibility and authenticity… and as long as the videos are high quality and not a sales pitch then the free / paid argument should be moot.
I think just make the distinction very clear so you readers can judge for themselves. I teach Maths and the best quality free resources can put some of the paid for sites to shame.