Create Cell Phone "I search" video papers with Twiddeo

I was listening toEd Talk (01_14) recently and they (John, Jennifer, Dave, and Jeff) spoke about a new resource called Twiddeo, which is just Twitter with video. It was an interesting discussion about whether Twiddeo should replace Twitter, but it got me thinking about educational learning uses of this new resource. So I decided to try it out. And the result....so easy! And fun! You can post videos from your computer, but you can also post immediately from your cell phone to your personal account. This allows for many "out-of-school" learning assignments with cell phones and video. And since I was playing with Twiddeo, I though I better get more involved with Twitter so I put up my twitter information and have vowed to Tweet from time to time!

The first idea that came to my head was conducting an "I search" video paper. I know when I taught high school writing "I search" papers was very popular. Why not take it to a new level and have students conduct an "I search" Twiddeo, where they would document their "search" or research on a topic. This could be done for a language arts, social studies, or science class. In language arts the students could search for local authors and the places that inspired their work. In social studies, students could search for local history projects (such as local landmarks that played a role in the Civil War). Another example would be in a physical science class, students could do a video "I search" on citizens who are going "green" and how they are helping to prevent global warming. The great thing about using Twiddeo for conducting research or "I search" is that the focus becomes the process and not the product. The focus is how to conduct the research and students learn to use their cell phone as a way to collect data and document research. Of course students would need to get verbal permissions to post any person in their video.

Another project idea that came to mind was that since Twiddeo is social networking where you can view multiple videos and responses on your feed, students in foreign language classrooms could have video exchanges with students in other countries very easily. Each student could document different aspects of their culture (such as clothing, holidays...etc) and compare them instantly on Twiddeo. Since Twiddeo is more personal (as mentioned in the Ed Talk podcast), this would allow people in difficult cultures to make more personal connections.