Why YouTube for Schools could be a game changer
Today’s teachers have to be more than narration machines; they have to entertain their pupils in order to educate them. So the launch of YouTube for Schools may well make the video site a valuable and free teaching aid and not just a distraction in class rooms.
This excellent TED Talk is one of over 400,000 videos available on YouTube for Schools. The presentation by Gabe Zichermann is on how video games can make kids smarter. It’s a great video, but aside from praising games he makes the point that children live in a world full of stimulation and traditional teaching finds it hard to compete – kids want more and they want it faster.
YouTube for Schools is a trimmed down version of the ‘proper’ website and designed to allow teachers access a tailored collection of educational videos organised by the level of their students and subjects.
We know YouTube is popular with young people, but it’s not all about sneezing panders and talking dogs. Previous research of ours has shown that for many school children YouTube is their preferred search engine for homework as they seek out video on their subjects over written articles. For example base jumping Norwegians might not seem educational but can act as a platform to introduce kids to forces.
Research we carried out for the 2011 Children’s Media Conference found that 46 per cent of boys watch online videos at home and of the children who consume online video 66 per cent do so through YouTube. However, YouTube is often seen by schools as a distraction and by parents as unsafe, so is often blocked along with Facebook and gaming sites.
YouTube for Schools will that children learning about the heart can hear from Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor who had a stroke herself; and those being taught statistics can get extra help from the Khan Academy.
YouTube for Schools is YouTube’s most affective avenue into education, but could it also help its parent site lose some of its credibility? We find that children are often attracted to the sites anarchy and layout – it could be the case that seeing the service as a tool for school might result in children being put off.
For a full run down of what YouTube for Schools is all about we suggest you read this article from Digital Trends. Or alternatively, and rather suitably, watch this YouTube video.
What do you think about this new YouTube product? Is it the future of teaching or nothing new?
More than half of children own a toy based on a virtual world
Children’s virtual worlds – like Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin – aren’t just popular online; they’re also proving a big hit as toys with new research showing over half of UK children own a toy based on a virtual world with some as popular as Dr Who.
Dubit recently studied the popularity of toys based on online worlds, looking at Disney’s Club Penguin, Mind Candy’s Moshi Monsters, as well as Build-a-BearVille, Poptropica and Webkinz.
The study of 500 kids showed that an amazing 55 per cent of children owned a toy from at least one of these games. The most popular was Disney’s Club Penguin, with 32 per cent of children owning a branded toy from the online world. Club Penguin, which has 150 million registered users (globally) launched in 2005 and has spawned a series of books and video games. Each toy is connected to the virtual world as they’re packaged with a code that allows items to be unlocked in the virtual world.
Moshi Monsters, whose plush toys and Mini Moshling Treehouse are expected to be among the most popular toys for Christmas this year, was a close second. The study showed that even before Christmas a quarter of UK children already own a Moshi Monster or a Moshling (a Moshi pet). Since launching in 2008 Moshi Monsters has gone on to accumulate 50m registered users, with one in three British children believed to be a member. Even with the publishing industry struggling The Moshi Magazine, launched in February, has accumulated the largest circulation of any UK children’s magazine.
As a comparison with toys related to kid’s TV shows, the research shows that just as many children own Club Penguin toys as they do toys based on Dr Who. Furthermore, Moshi Monster toys are more popular (25%) than toys based on the cartoon Ben 10 (20%), and only marginally less than popular than Spongebob Square Pants (29 per cent).*
Interestingly, toys from virtual worlds are gender-neutral, with equal popularity across boys and girls.
73 per cent of the children questioned had played at least one of these online games, with half having played Club Penguin and 47 per cent stating that they’d played Moshi Monsters.
Dubit’s head of research, Peter Robinson, commented: “Children are spending more time playing in virtual worlds and now those worlds are becoming part of their offline playtime.
“Today’s kids are platform agnostic and don’t care where their favourite stories and characters come from. It used to be the case that books or TV shows launched characters and toys, but now online entertainment is proving just as important.”
*Research into children’s TV shows was carried out in October for Toy News.
What kids want for Christmas
Every month we conduct exclusive research for Toy News – the leading publication for anyone working in the toy industry.
In November we found out what will be topping kid’s Christmas lists and whether toys are still the biggest gift or is it all expensive gadgets and video games.
When given the opportunity to pick anything for their lists, unsurprisingly high value electronics were the most popular gifts, followed by video games. It wasn’t all bad news for toys, as while they weren’t too popular with older children they came top for seven to eight year-olds.
Wondering how lists differed between boys and girls and whether kids really want gift vouchers? Read the full report online by visiting Toy News.
Image courtesy of Axel Buhrmann
Bookseller Children’s Conference
On September 29th Dubit presented ”A story about storytelling – Books, cross-media and The Swiss Family Robinson” at the Children’s Book Conference, run by The Bookseller.
The Seminar combined new research with existing experiences to outline how young people want to consume stories. The Swiss Family Robinson, which turns 200 years-old next year, was chosen as a case study.
Our presentation used original research, focus groups, and knowledge learned through working with young people for over a decade. The result was a guide on how to take children’s stories online.
The video includes clips from our focus groups which are represented as screen-shots on Slideshare.
The presentation is available below as a slideshare and you can also watch the video on this page. If you want more information on how to take your stories online then get in touch. You can also subscribe to our YouTube and Slideshare profiles for future presentations.
BBC News covers Dubit’s work with young people
Young people are central to our work at Dubit, whether it’s research, marketing or building virtual worlds. We were even set up by teenagers over ten years ago! Our work with them continues today and has been recognised by the BBC as they featured our investment in youth through our work with apprentices.
The video is below. For images from the day visit our Flickr page.
Youth Trends – Hauling
Teenage girls talking about their High Street bargains? No it isn’t the latest show to come to MTV, it’s a new youth trend taking over YouTube!
Definition - haul: In short: a shopping spree a vlog titled “Makeup Haul” or “(Store Name) Haul” is a video showing a shopping spree in that given area, showing products or clothing that will usually be featured in future How To, or tutorial videos. (Source Urban Dictionary)
Who’s doing it? –Teenage girls. It’s big in America and is a gaining momentum in the UK.
What is it? – The trend for teenage girls to show off their latest purchases through the medium of YouTube. Sometimes it’s bragging about bargains, reviewing clothes, or just showing the store bags they have and what’s inside.
So it’s an American thing? The biggest Haulers are American but it’s by no means unique to the US with UK teens getting involved too.
Are we talking about designer products? As most of the products are bought by the Haulers, it’s usually restricted to the High Street. Brands such as H&M and Forever 21 seem to attract most of the attention.
They’re being paid for this? No, not often: most just like to talk about their shopping. The fact that the girls are spending their own money adds to the charm.
Are brands involved at all? Some brands (mostly US ones) have started to see the benefit of targeting Haulers: these include Urban Outfitters , Forever 21 and cosmetics brand ELF. Some simply send the Haulers free products, others host Hauling competitions.
Does this sound familiar? It does. They are the female equivalent of the men unboxing videos they record themselves opening their latest gear or gadget.
Who should I watch? The Queen of the Haulers is Blair Fowler, otherwise known as JuicyStar07. Her videos attract over half a million views and she has been nominated for a Teen Choice Award, which she explains at a frantic pace in this video. Most Haulers don’t get close to this level of fame but you might want to check out UK based Dollybowbow and HollyYMBB who have 35,986 and 8,822 subscribers respectively.
Will it last? As long as there are teenage girls who enjoy shopping and making videos then this trend has legs.
Carry on the debate on Twitter with the #dubittrends hashtag.
Ten things you didn’t know about Moshi Monsters
Since beginning in 2007 Moshi Monsters has risen to become an online game and children’s social network with over 50 million members worldwide. There is a good chance that if you have children they probably have a Moshi of their own, as half of the country’s six to twelve year-olds are members.
As Moshi Monsters gets tipped to become one of the must have toys for Christmas 2011 we present you with ten things you probably didn’t know about the Moshi phenomen.
Before it went social Moshi Monsters was facing bankruptcy
Mind Candy, the company behind Moshi Monsters, hasn’t always had it so good. Speaking to The Independent, Mind Candy CEO, Michael Acton Smith said: “The real tipping point came in 2009 when we allowed kids to connect with each other and gave them a forum to discuss things. Until then, it had been a solo experience and we were on the edge of bankruptcy. It was when we added the social element that membership really took off.”
Education was the focus
When the game was built in 2007 the focus was on educating children. Acton Smith claims that teachers and parents loved it but kids just rolled their eyes.
Low subscriber numbers isn’t an issue
Only a “single-digit percentage” of Moshi’s users are paying members. But that is not a problem says CEO Acton Smith “Because we’ve got a relatively low cost base, you only need a few percent to be insanely profitable.”
Built for homework
A player’s ability to earn Rox (the virtual currency in Moshi Monsters) lessens after fifteen minutes since the game is optimised for short-term play. Mind Candy says this is to encourage children to do homework and play in other ways.
Breathing life into print
The Moshi Monsters magazine is the UK’s highest-selling kids’ publication. Its first issue, published in February this year sold out, despite printing over 80,000 copies. As well as comic strips, competitions, gameplay tips and other fun stuff it also has unique codes that unlock virtual items and other cool Moshi content.
A game by any other name…
Moshi Monsters was going to be called Puzzle Monsters but changed to Moshi Monsters to make it more suitable for a global brand.
Bright Sparks
In June this year one of Mind Candy’s original investors, Spark Ventures, sold half its stake in the company for $200m – 14 times what they money it invested in 2004.
A quick fix
The average game session is only ten minutes.
Class of 2007
Moshi Monsters was tipped for success by the Guardian in 2007. It was included in a list of hit websites to watch out for in 2008, alongside Twitter and Etsy.
Must have toys
Moshi Monsters and their babies (Moshlings) have made Hamleys coverted top ten list of toys for Christmas 2011. They sit alongside blockbuster film figures like Transformers and Cars 2 as well as festive staples like Barbie and Lego.
For more info on social games visit the Dubit Platform blog or subscribe to Dubit’s This Week in Social Games newsletter.
Dubit through the eyes of a six-year-old
Despite working with young people on a daily basis there are still times when we are truly surprised by how their minds work. This was one of the reasons why we sponsored Jack Henderson to design a new Dubit logo for us.
Jack is a brave six-year-old boy who, along with his brothers Noah and Toby, has been looked after by Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Hospital. To say thank you, Jack is raising money for them by drawing pictures in return for a donation. Want to see a drawing of a pig drinking beer or a sausage dog pooing in puddles? Then check out Jack’s blog. At first he set out to raise £100 but he is now chasing £20,000. Go Jack!
So, armed with only the description below, Jack and his crayons got busy and came up with the picture at the bottom of this page. Don’t worry, there is an explanation too. Needless to say we were intrigued with his approach and the thought that went into the design….
Thanks, Jack, and best of luck with your work.
Want Jack to draw something for you? Visit his blog.
Here’s what we gave him: Can you draw us a new logo? Our company is called Dubit, we’re a youth communications agency and we work with young people in research, marketing and games. We work a lot with young people and families so maybe you want to include that in your design.
d: is a walkie talkie to help people speak to each other
u: cup of coffee for when people take a break
B: pair of boobies as babies use these for milk
i: a cannon to shoot the baddies
t: the cross that Jesus Christ died on
QR Codes – The winners and the losers
When we released the results of our survey in to what young people think and know about QR codes, awareness proved to be the biggest barrier to their success. This was closely followed by poor application.
Since then we have been trawling streets, internet and television to find the five best and worst examples of QR codes in the wild. If you’ve got any examples then please post them in the comments section.
The Best
Gravestones
Japan really sets the benchmark for QR codes. One of the most bizarre is their addition to grave stones, as seen in this video. Having more than the deceased’s basic details on stone can look crass and that’s even before you look at the cost of extra text. But a simple and discreet QR code means that visitors can see photos, videos and text on those who have passed away.
The World Park
This campaign by Magma pretty much ticks all the QR code boxes. As well as being well sign-posted with plenty of instructions for QR virgins it manages to incorporate video, quizzes, maps and a host of content that really improves on the experiences of people at New York’s city parks. We’ve seen museums and galleries do similar applications but this really does make the parks come to life in the way a only a smart phone and QR code can.
Nutritional Info
Another cracking example from Japan, this time McDonalds are using them to present nutritional information on the food. It might not be as flashy as other examples but it provides relevant additional content where it may otherwise get lost.
Gumball dispensers
Don’t have change to buy sweets? This tweeting gumball machine lets you use the QR code to pay for your food. While we wait for Near Field Communication to gain momentum QR codes for payment might be the perfect stop-gap. Oh, it also tweets your purchase!
Speaking adverts
Instead of using their print adverts to send readers elsewhere, Reporters Without Borders used QR codes to make them more engaging. Further Brownie points are awarded for clear instructions on how to make them work
The Worst
Lynx
In game advertising has great potential but we have to question Lynx’s decision to place adverts with QR
codes in EA games, such as Fight Night Champion. The advert on the ring looks great but nobody who is playing the game is going to stop so they can pull out their phone and take a picture. Marketers need to consider the competition for consumers attention, which in this case will always be won by the boxing game.
Labrinth
Simon Cowell’s Syco Music decided to add QR codes to material promoting their new act, Labrinth (horrible spelling, we know). With a new music act the opportunities for QR codes are vast with rich media such as video and audio being perfect for fans smart phones and favoured by the youth. Instead, they used the QR code to send fans to the artist’s website – a missed opportunity.
Sky
Despite the ironic “But lo, what is this? A QR code?” recognising that people are still a bit confused by QR codes, Sky’s advert still doesn’t tell readers what to do with it. Top marks for letting them know what the benefits are (online movie demos, it would appear) but being told to ‘follow it’ seems to confuse matters. If they wanted to retain the medieval language a simple ‘point your magical smartphone at this cryptic image’ would have sufficed.
SIDI Crossfire
We’re all too familiar with the feeling that a QR code was just slapped on to an advert but in this mess of an advert it’s probably true. As well as having little information on what to do, apart from ‘Scan Me’, it’s also too small and gets lost amongst the boots and bike. When it is scanned it then links through to a full version of the website, hardly mobile friendly and something that could be achieved by the URL.
Maynards
Maynards launched a treasure hunt using QR codes through the Toronto and Montreal subway with a $25,000 prize. A nice ide
a, if only the competition wasn’t hosted in the underground with no mobile internet and no way for the phone to link up to the custom Facebook page. There are some rather technical ways to get around this but they weren’t employed by Maynards. Our research showed that an obstacle preventing mass use of QR codes
was teens having a bad experience with them in the past, meaning promotions such as this can do more harm than good.
