iPods, Blogs and YouTube … Oh My!

Posted By on May 29, 2009

Lions, Tigers and Bears ... Oh My!iPods don’t produce iPeas, a blog is not related to a blob and going on YouTube doesn’t mean you are riding on the subway.  Of course, most of us know that by now, especially if you’re reading blogs.

Last year, I decided to show my class a short video on the Sacrament of Penance from BustedHalo.  I saved the file on my laptop and took it in to show my students.  First, they were surprised that this 37 year-old fogey had a laptop to begin with, and then they got a look at my desktop icons!

“You have AIM?? How do you know what AIM is?” Of course I know what AIM is, and Yahoo Messenger and Twitter and Facebook and MySpace too.  “Is that World of Warcraft?  You play WoW?  What class do you play?”  A Paladin, of course.  That got a chuckle out of the boys.

Their reaction helped me realize something that day.  Before then, I think they really thought of me as an old fogey.  However, at that moment I was able to make a connection with them because, to a certain extent, I spoke their language.  Dare I say that I got a little bit cooler in their eyes simply because I knew of the “things of today”?  I knew the lingo and they hadn’t realize that before.

Personally, I’m comfortable with technology and I’m not afraid to use non-traditional methods to teach traditional concepts.  Additionally, I like what new media has to offer in helping us share our faith.  The Church has begun to see its value in recent years, most recently with the launch of Pope2You.  I think as Catechists, we need to be able to do the same.  We need to be able to speak their language because if we continue to teach the way we were taught, then our students will interpret what we teach as not being useful in their lives.  “You just don’t get it!”  We need to know their world and be able to speak to the issues and concerns of that world.

I’m interested in incorporating the use of new media in my classroom.  I’d like to use printouts from relevant blogs to supplement the material found in the text and produced by my church, or even have students read the blogs directly.  I’d like to turn students on to podcasts that I think are geared towards Catholic youth and can further enhance their learning of Catechesis even after they leave my class.  I’d like to speak their language, make the connection and get the message across.

Their are multiple challenges to doing that, however.  You can’t control the messages of podcasts or the content of blog posts.  There is a risk in that you could expose the students to concepts that may not be wholly in communion with the teachings of the Church.  That lack of control really scares me.  Additionally, parents may react negatively to their children using these additional resources.

Lastly, I don’t know if the space is mature enough to support that kind of use and I don’t know the landscape well enough to make that determination.  I’m sure there are a few blogs out there that I may be able to use, but the podcast space specifically covering child-friendly doctrine is just developing at best.

Has anyone else started incorporating new media into their Catechist ministry?  Do people have suggestions on child-friendly, Catechesis-based blogs and podcasts that I should be considering?

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About the author

My name is Carlos Torres, and for better or for worse, I am a Catechist. As a Catechist, I help supplement the religious education that parents give at home with focused and detailed lessons around Scripture and Tradition as taught by the Church. Now, I have no background in teaching, much less in dealing with a group of tweens and teens who don’t want to be with me, in a classroom, on a weeknight, learning about faith; yet week after week, I and many other Catechists do just that by letting the Holy Spirit guide us in planting those seeds and helping fulfill the Church’s mission to “go and make disciples”.

Comments

  • http://platytera.blogspot.com/ Christian

    Like you, I use the net regularly at work, and in preparing for class, but haven’t suggested any online content to the kids. The Catholic stuff I watch, e.g. at YouTube, isn’t pitched at 6th graders anyway. And I think you’re right to be careful about suggesting kids go online for something…next thing you know they go somewhere else, parents go ballistic & require a conference with the DRE and the Pastor, all before your next class.

    I like the idea of showing something on to them on my laptop, though. I can control that. I’ll have a look at the Busted Halo video.

    ps speaking of penance, I posted this today, kinda long:

    http://platytera.blogspot.com/2009/05/david-nathan.html

  • http://platytera.blogspot.com/ Christian

    I watched the Busted Halo video, liked it. Offhand I think it’d be better for highschool kids, but if you use it in your 6th grade class, I’d like to hear your observations.

  • http://www.catechistcorner.com Carlos

    Technically, BustedHalo is geared towards people in their 20′s and 30′s. I wanted to use the video as the start of a discussion on the difference of mortal and venial sin, and then talk about not bieng afraid in confession.

    If you use it, you should frame it for the class first. I told them that is was geared for adults, but I thought they could benefit from it. It’s short enough that they don’t get lost and they seemed to get a kick out of Mike and him returning the stapler.

  • http://platytera.blogspot.com/ Christian

    I may try it….they’ll like the idea of “this is for adults but I think you’re mature enough.”

    Did you run the vid from your laptop to a bigscreen & sound system?

  • http://www.catechistcorner.com Carlos

    Nope. I happen to have a 17″ laptop, so I had one line sitting and one line standing behind them. I ran it full screen and everyone was able to see and hear fine.

  • http://www.catechistsjourney.com Joe Paprocki

    Carlos, I love your post!

    I’m very interested in trying new technology with my 8th graders. Unfortunately, I don’t have an Internet connection in the room I teach. I asked my DRE about using the school’s computer lab. She’s not sure anyone on the parish staff is ready to even broach that subject: “CCD kids using the school’s computer labs?!!!” Perish the thought!

  • http://www.catechistcorner.com Carlos

    We teach in the church basement. I don’t think there is internet access there either. For the video, I managed to download it onto the laptop to overcome that obstacle. I think that is really the only option.

    I hope that over time I can incorporate more and more technology. Right now it’s the occasional video on the laptop and the more frequent iPod with my portable speakers. Hey, you gotta start somewhere. :)

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About the author

My name is Carlos Torres, and for better or for worse, I am a Catechist. As a Catechist, I help supplement the religious education that parents give at home with focused and detailed lessons around Scripture and Tradition as taught by the Church. Now, I have no background in teaching, much less in dealing with a group of tweens and teens who don’t want to be with me, in a classroom, on a weeknight, learning about faith; yet week after week, I and many other Catechists do just that by letting the Holy Spirit guide us in planting those seeds and helping fulfill the Church’s mission to “go and make disciples”.