Making students' work matter by making it public

Over the past week, I have been creating projects that were required to be posted on youtube. I had never seen the point of posting things on youtube. I did not think a lot of the videos were appropriate, and the only reason I ever went on the site was to listen to music videos. I am now becoming more enlightened on the website, and how it can be useful to have in the classroom. I have seen videos in Kim K's class in which students created a video of displaying the different designs that can be made from Tanograms. The students' voices were heard as they read the story that went along with the animals they made with the geometric shapes. I was stunned to see the variety of the animals the students were able to design. After the video was over, it got me thinking about how proud those students must have been after watching their video on the computer screen. They were aware that others would be watching their video, and it pushed them to do their best on this project.
I endured similar feelings this past week while doing my read aloud and my iMovie. I was aware that others would have the ability to view my videos on youtube, and it made me want to do my best. I did not want to present anything less than my highest quality to the public. I was conscientious on how I was going to sound, or look. It made me double think how things were going to go. Considering all aspects of the presentation are things that all students should do when they are completing a project to ensure the highest quality.
I also like that it involves getting the students experience with technology. I had never posted a video on youtube, so it was a good learning experience for me. I gained knowledge on how to make my work public, so that I will be familiar with doing it in the future. I think that this is a simple solution that teachers could incorporate with projects to make students more concerned with the work that they do. Just this little step shows them that someone cares about them and the work that they are doing. No students' work should go unnoticed.