YouTube Tricks & Resources for Art Teachers

I have found out that sometimes in order to get the concept of my lesson across to my students it is more helpful to show a video versus trying to explain it 10 different ways, the use of visualization is a powerful ally in the world of teaching.  I first started using video to help me instruct when it came time to teach the concept of certain photography techniques, such as Dodging & Burning.  Working with small mechanics in Photography, it can be hard to show students how it works while in a big group, and you can go from small group to small group, but there is no guarantee that students will be able to see what you need them to in order to understand what is happening.    

Enter in YouTube and it's fun tricks that make it easy to show all your students a concept at once, give them access to information from you (PhotoShop Tutorials in my case), or even introduce them to concepts or ideas beyond your realm of expertise!

This video of the Slo-Mo Guys explaining how the inside of a camera works is a great visual that helps students understand what happens inside the camera to take a picture.  You can upload a video to start at a specific time, or even upload it to start & end at a specific point.

I will be the first to admit it, I DO NOT KNOW IT ALL!  And I do not know it all about Photography either, I mean I like to consider myself pretty knowledgeable, but Photography is a vast medium that has changed very fast in the Art world in a short amount of time and it would be hard to know everything.  Understanding this, I know my students will not be experts either, nor will they have my experience to remember or know as much as I do.  YouTube allows you to create a playlist of videos.  With this playlist, you can gather resource videos, like I have done to share with my photography students.  Or if you create tutorials for students to follow, you can give them the link to access all of them in one location.

Another great thing about YouTube is the YouTube Studio!  With the YouTube Studio you have the ability to edit videos you created in YouTube.  You can trim videos, add music, add end scenes, combine videos, & more.  Great way for students to throw some pizzazz onto a project to turn in, or for educators to add that just right finishing touch before letting students watch it.

Watch this video on how to use YouTube Studio

While these next resources tips aren't about YouTube, I do find them to be very beneficial to Art Teachers in general.  At times, with most of the Art medium being so physically based, it may not seem like you can do much with it online, let alone find a way that allows students to truly experience it.  I found these next resources helpful in not only giving students access to much art, but allowing them to experience & it as well.

Google Arts & Culture is a fun site that allow you and your students to explore the Art world in a variety of ways!  You can look at Art by Artist, Medium, Theme, Locations Nearby, even Mood!  The site is made up of videos, images, interactive studios, virtual reality tours & more to help you & your students experience Art.  What I mention barely scratches the surface of what the website entails, really a great resource for any Art Educator. (View Screen Shots)

Experiments with Google has a Subsection titled Experiments with Google Arts & Culture.  This website combines Art & Technology to become interactive in the process.  Students are able to learn about Art by playing vs reading.  You can color famous paintings, solve puzzles of famous masterpieces, and even see how Art & Science are combined by looking at a project that shows the predicted sea level rise. (View Screen Shots)

Lots of fun resources this week to help your students explore their creative side more, and allow you to give them access to information at one place, or help them explore the bigger world.  As always, get out there and work on your 📷Picture Perfect📷 opportunities with your students!