“In Plain English” Videos on YouTube

YouTube (see http://www.youtube.com/ ) hosts a number of "In Plain English" tutorials from Common Craft (see http://www.commoncraft.com ). These are very short—under five minutes—and straightforward explanations of current tech phenomena. Search YouTube using "in plain english" and you find links to all of these.

Below are some of my favorites for educators with their explanations from the authors.

Social Media in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/show A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media.

Google Docs in Plain Englsh
http://docs.google.com - Create and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations. It's free.

RSS in Plain English
We made this video for our friends (and yours) that haven't yet felt the power of our friend the RSS reader. We want to convert people and if you know someone who would love RSS and hasn't yet tried it, point them here for 3.5 minutes.

Wikis in Plain English
We made this video because wiki web sites are easy to use, but hard to describe. We hope to turn you on to a better way to plan a camping trip, or create the next Wikipedia. (also embedded in an earlier post below)

Blogs in Plain English
http://www.commoncraft.com/show A video for people who wonder why blogs are such a big deal.

Social Networking in Plain English
We made this video for people who wonder why social networking sites are so popular. We think one reason is because they help to solve a real world problem. www.commoncraft.com/show

Podcasting in Plain English
http://commoncraft.com/show A 3 minute explanation of podcasting.