David Calle: “I am very lucky to have teachers and many people who are working at Unicoos and they add a lot of value”

We invite you to read the interview that we have done with David Calle, teacher, youtuber and founder of Unicoos, on the occasion of the next Educational Innovation Conference that will take place on October 28, at 6:00 p.m.

Find out in this link about this and other master sessions in which great leaders of Education will share their experiences.

DAVID, THE STUDENTS STOP YOU ON THE STREET! HOW DID YOU MAKE YOUR VIDEOS SO VIRAL?

In the end, word spreads that there is a YouTube channel in which the same exercise or derivative that they have never been able to do and that they have fallen on the exam is explained to them in a video that they can watch at home.

Obviously if you make them understand it and encourage them to continue learning and try to teach them that by working they can achieve anything, they get excited when the first exercises start to come out for themselves and then the word spreads and they end up recommending the ones the others.

There are also many teachers who recommend my videos to their students and they have helped a lot.

I recognize that I have a competitive advantage over the school teachers: I am the cool teacher who solves their problems from time to time, since I can do in my videos what the teachers in class do not have time to do and That’s why the kids get so fond of me.

HOW DID THE IDEA OF ??CREATING UNICOOS COME ABOUT?

I am an academy teacher and I had been thinking for a few years that recording videos on YouTube could be very good so that students could review when I was not with them and, above all, they could study those kids that cost them more. In addition, due to my work and experience, many times I had to repeat myself on a lot of subjects that they had already taught and had forgotten about previous courses and that prevented them from being able to keep up with their class and completely disconnected them.

So, I thought it would be wonderful if they could see all the videos they needed to learn to make equations and thus, the next day, with their teacher they would not disconnect and could continue the classes. However, I did not do it because I was very embarrassed and had no idea about cameras, I had a brutal stage fright, fear of criticism from the teachers of the kids and I did not.

2011 came and the economic crisis hit very hard. I went from having 100 students to 40, kids who had been fighting for 3 and 4 years stayed on the road because their parents could no longer face the academy. It was thinking about those kids that made me put my shame and criticism aside and I got on with it. He was late home, but it didn’t matter. I gave my daughter a kiss and ran up to the attic to record those classes with exercises and doubts that the classmates who kept coming to the academy had.

At first, only 20-30 students saw me. Thus it arose.

WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF UNICOOS ?

Many things come together. Ten years ago, there wasn’t as much educational video on offer, and somehow Unicoos filled a gap that many kids needed to fill. They had recorded exercises and homework from all the courses (700 videos I recorded in 4 years) that covered the spectrum of practical knowledge. In addition, obviously, videos have a brutal advantage: you can watch them, stop, watch them again in the library or at home, share with colleagues, etc.

I suppose that 20 years of experience as a teacher are reflected there. I know where they come together, where they fail. I’m lucky to be able to talk and empathize with them and, don’t want it, that experience carries over and this goes hand in hand with the fact that I am very freaky and that when I start something I go to death with it. I am very fortunate to have teachers and many people who are working at Unicoos and they add a lot of value.

YOUR VIDEOS ARE A SUCCESS. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS STILL MISSING IN CLASSROOMS TODAY SO THAT STUDENTS HAVE TO SEEK SUPPORT OUTSIDE OF THEM?

I would start by changing the entire educational system, changing the number of students in class. If a teacher has 20 students, they can cater to the diversity of their students, they can give them special attention and they can try to put different things into practice in class: flipped classroom , gamification, project-based learning or master classes on whatever they want. . Now there is a lot of diversity in the classrooms because society has changed and, therefore, students seek support outside of them.

The educational system is also increasingly changing and that is ending the patience of many teachers, which also causes many students to get lost along the way because they are not being supported. That’s the rationale

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TEACHERS FACE WHEN APPLYING INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM?

These are the biggest challenges: lack of time, training and greater recognition. If they do not have time to acquire the necessary training to renew their knowledge, it is impossible for them to face any kind of challenge in the classroom and they have to try to survive as they can, they cannot experiment.

FINALLY, FOR THOSE TEACHERS WHO ARE THINKING OF CARRYING OUT AN EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION PROJECT, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM AND WHAT ARE THE SKILLS THEY SHOULD HAVE?

I’m not giving advice, but I speak to you from my own experience. The advice I would give you is that, if you are excited about doing something and believe that it can be used to help your students, do not get carried away by discouragement or criticism and think about your students and try it.

If they have an idea, let them fight for it and give it a try. Even if they don’t have certain skills, they are practiced. Just as I transmit to the students. A kid may not have a lot of math skills, but if they do a lot of equations, they’ll be able to learn and pass math.