When I first started teaching at my school YouTube was blocked. For three years I tried to get used it but I never did. After numerous debates I finally got our Network Admin (my supervisor) to unblock YouTube for the school at the beginning of the year. This week at school YouTube became blocked again; I was devastated. We had a teacher’s meeting on why it was blocked. The reasoning was that there were too many distractions and some inappropriate material so it had to be blocked. I couldn’t believe we were going to block the entire site, again. Fortunately, my supervisor thought about it, and decided that the good outweighed the bad and unblocked YouTube. He said that YouTube was a tool, and just like any tool it could be used in a positive or negative way. Our school has a welding class, and we let the students use torches. I post this because I know my school is not the only one that thinks YouTube is an evil time-wasting devil. If your school blocks YouTube, try to persuade them to change. YouTube is a tool and it is up to the teachers to help the students use the tool properly.
It's like fighting the cold war sometimes. I can certainly understand how fearful many IT admins are about YouTube, but they're clearly throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Ack.
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