Peer Review

Popular Sociology

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: "Exploring sociological concepts through popular media." "This site is dedicated to highlighting sociologically-packed media that is both engaging and enlightening. Our content is divided into 4 main categories: (1) Free videos you can find on streaming services such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion; (2) Accessible videos available through subscription services such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and others; (3) Special topics containing multiple videos across a single theme; and (4) Feature films and documentaries (coming soon!)."
Type of Material:: Video Collection.
Recommended Uses:: This site would be useful for a social science professor looking for contemporary videos to include in a class to demonstrate social concepts or develop media projects.
Technical Requirements:: Many of the videos are not free.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Provides popularly based materials for use in the classroom.
Target Student Population:: Undergraduate and perhaps high school.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: None.

Rating:
Strengths:: Easy access to a number of videos. Up to date.
Concerns:: The brevity of the reviews are sometimes at the expense of clarity.

Rating:
Strengths:: The brief reviews allow the professor to evaluate the usefulness of the video, without having to watch it all. The reviews suggest classroom uses.
Concerns:: Many videos are stuck behind pay walls, which means they can't be assigned to students for homework.

Rating:
Strengths:: Simple design. Searchable by category or length of video. Includes a clickable word cloud. The YouTube playlist provides a very compact list of potentially useful videos.
Concerns:: Not all the videos are free. This will be a problem with feature films as well.

Other Issues and Comments:: This looks like a potentially useful site and it is nice to have something that tries to look at popular culture but the brevity of the material is a concern. Some of the videos do not meet the PG rating.
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