Using YouTube in the Classroom

Facilitator: Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin)

Return - http://ly.tcea.org/ytc

Learn how to use this multi-faceted video tool to support open, anytime, anywhere disruptive learning.

Are you a YouTuber? If not, your children and/or your students may be. If you have published videos of any sort to YouTube, you have joined a global community of video creators. What's more, YouTube's built-in search makes it easy to find content from anyone in the world.

Ready to Get Started?

session Topics

1) Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom

2) Working with Video

3) Quick Video Creation Tools

4) Google Educator Level 1 - YouTube Tips

5) What Else?

Big Ideas to Keep in Mind

"Educators who engage with today's students are in a unique and powerful position to leverage the impact that digital media has on the lives of our younger generation.

Learners of today consume, create and publish multimedia content continuously using a variety of devices...as a means of communicating and representing their lives, their ideas and their feelings."

- Dr. Katie Alaniz (@Dr_Katie_Alaniz)

Student created digital media, when combined with rigorous content standards, has demonstrated a positive effect on student achievement and performance on high-stakes testing.

Videos are even better tools than still images, as videos send multiple streams of information to learners through movement, music, words and pictures. This supports student learning regardless of their learning style or intelligence.

In classroom settings, images and video clips hold the potential to increase students' understanding of a subject while also prompting them to develop emotional connections with the material being presented.

1) Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom

Need some ideas for using YouTube in the Classroom? Here are a few quick ones you can explore. What have you tried already?

Introduce new content
Formative assessment. Use tools like RooClick, Formative, EdPuzzle, or video embedded in a Google Slide deck or Powerpoint with interactive elements created using Forms (Google or Microsoft Forms)
Showcase student understanding by having students create a 10 second video on topic
Provide a playlist of YouTube videos for students so they can watch and learn. Get students to use VideoNot.es or TurboNote to take notes on videos
Offer video feedback on student work using screencasting tools
Create videos about learning on the go with YouTube Capture app on iOS

Remember, you can support younger learners in creating engaging video content with age-appropriate tools. Learn more

1. Document your Work

Use videos to showcase or document your work. Create a channel in Youtube and store your resources there. Make a video digital teaching portfolio.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akCsw4Op83M&t=2s

2. Student Video Projects

Have students create videos to teach concepts to other students in class. What better way to have students demonstrate a concept than to assign a video project.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGJrH49Z2ZA

3. Connect with Others

Connect with other educators by searching for educational videos in Youtube. Once you find videos that you know work for you or better, work for your students, add those creators to your PLN and interact with them.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVo6kY202Ik

4. Engage, Inspire, and Promote Creativity

Letting students create videos can be quite engaging and inspiring, especially when you free them up to use their own style and creative juices. Notice how the students in the video below are accurately using the vocabulary associated with the topic.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6HD9kDOOr0

5. Set Yourself Apart

Creating videos allows you as the teacher and your students too be different from everyone else. Students will remember especially how you made them feel, and letting them create in a manner that matches their personality, style, and attitude.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpTTXLKecfI

6. Flip Your Classroom

Create instructional videos that your students can watch at home as an introduction to new material or review of content. When students return to class the next day, they can then have hands-on practice or focus on what they didn't understand.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IDLSvCNPTs

"Using media to simply transmit information in the clasroom has not proven effective" (Grabe & Grabe,2004 as cited in Digital Media in Today's Classrooms: The Potential for Meaningful Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. Listen to Dr. Katie Alaniz, one of the authors, share about the book

A Few More Ideas...

Video modeling has been proven to be effective teaching tool.

“Most human behavior is learned via observation through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasion,s this coded information serves as a guide for action,” says Albert Bandura, social learning theorist.

Research, as pointed out in various studies, has shown that “modeling is an effective instructional strategy in that it allows students to observe the teacher’s thought processes” (source).

Sample Activities

Think-Alouds for Informational Texts
Flipped Classroom Approach
Create technology-enhanced anticipatory sets

Technology Enhanced Anticipatory Set

Utilizes a media presentation to introduce a unit or lesson.
Effective TEASes seamlessly coalesce media, images, music, and text within a three- to seven-minute multimedia piece, ultimately heightening learners' interest and motivation.
A TEASe's storyline is composed of visual and audio pieces to activiate prior knowledge, very broadly stitched together with short lines of text to guide viewing.
TEASes that include elements of pop culture and music relevant to students' lives most powerfully engage learners.
Should not be used to deliver content to learners, rather, TEASes help students focus their attention and interest at the beginning of a unit, even before the content is delivered.
Narrative messages wield tremendous influence in changing the attitudes and beliefs of audiences. They allow for a specific reading or viewing experience. They transport recipients into the narrative world, personally involving them cognitively and emotionally.
TEASes provide a unique opportunity by which to ready students for learning.

See The Water Cycle example of a TEAS to the right

The Water Cycle

Brandon Smith create the Water Cycle technology enhanced anticipatory set (TEASe) as a way to introduce his students to the Water Cycle.

Learn more about Brandon's efforts online

"Classroom video projects teach students to plan, organize, write, communicate, collaborate, and analyze. In fact, video has become so prolific that some colleges even include video submissions as part of their application process.

As this media further matures, students may need to be able to express themselves as effectively through moving imagery as with the written word." (Source)

Create Documentaries

Study fairy tales from different locales, analyze them, then create their own. Story analysis and media construction are the acquired skills.
Collaborate to create an online clearinghouse of student-created media to serve as a resource for supporting one another in preparing for exams
Create stop-motion videos for sharing/commenting on lab experiements/results
Study media coverage and resources to develop different forms of persuasive media techniques to protest an issue they feel strongly about
Create a digital story to describe reflections on a particular topic
Construct a multimedia presentation to teach learned content to others
Build an animated cartoon strip that highlights important findings
Create documentaries
Explain the water cycle
Animate a poem or story then share as a video
Use emojis to tell a story, highlight key information from informational media or text
Have students create a movie sheet for other students' creations

YouTube for Schools

2) Working with Videos

Dear TCEA Responds:

Do you know of a simple and free way to download YouTube videos for G Suites Classroom? Students are blocked from YouTube. KeepVid, the solution I was using, is no longer available. Unblocking not an option.

Thanks, Vicki

Read the Response

Online Video Tools

47+ Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom - Richard Byrne shares a lot of resources that you can consider if you can't do YouTube.
AlarmTube - Set a time you want to wake up, choose a video you want to hear as you rise, and you're done.
Create Interactive Videos (Choose Your Own Adventure) - Greg shares how to make a Choose Your Own Adventure video by having you go through a Choose Your Own Adventure video.
Creator Academy - Learn to be a more successful YouTube video creator by taking these free courses.
Get More Out of YouTube Using These URL Hacks - MakeUseOf shares several tricks to tweak the YouTube url and get more benefit from the video.
How to Easily Blur Faces from YouTube Videos - Richard Byrne shares how to blur faces in YouTube videos. Simple.
KeepVid - Easily download YouTube videos with KeepVid.
ListenToYouTube - Enter your YouTube URL and this site will create an mp3 file of it that you can download and listen to.
NicerTube - Interesting way to share YouTube videos. Share your video on a distraction free page with a cute background image.
QuietTube - Want to share a YouTube (or Viddler or Vimeo) video but don't want all the clutter around it? QuietTube is your answer.
SafeShare.TV - Cool tool that makes it very easy to share YouTube videos with your students - strips out all the adds, relevant videos, etc. Very nice!
Storyboard Bookmarklet - This bookmarklet will create a storyboard of any YouTube video for you to print out. Very clever.
TestTube - Check out YouTube's idea incubator site to see what their engineers and developers are thinking up.
TubeChop - Pull up the YouTube video you want and then set the beginning and ending where you want. It's a 23 minute video but you only want to show 1:47 minutes? No problem with TubeChop. Creates a special link for you just for that section.
TubeReplay - Watch your favorite YouTube video without having to press replay…just use this tool!
TubeTrackr - So you are serious about getting your YouTube channel to the next level? Consider taking advantage of YouTubes marketing tools with TubeTrackr.
ViewPure - Remove the distractions and ads using this tool. Similar to QuiteTube. Example Here
VTubeTools - This form allows you to customize the way your video appears by allowing you to set various parameters and then generating an embed code for you.
WeVideo - Use this online, paid video editing service. It offers free features but best features cost $$$.
YouTube Capture -Easily capture video on your iOS device and upload to YouTube.
YouTube Editor - Do some simple video editing in the cloud with this tool. Combine videos, trim and rotate clips, add text effects and transitions, and more!
YouTube Time - Create a link that sets the starting point of your video with this easy form.
YouTube Toolbox: 100+ Tools and Resources to Enhance Your Video Experience - An extensive list of tools to consider when you are working with YouTube videos.
YouTube Doubler - YouTube Doubler will allow you to watch 2 YouTube videos at once. Enter the URLs of both videos, and you're ready to go.

Did You Know?

A week doesn’t go by that a friend doesn’t ask me, “Can you help me with video editing?” Lacking formidable video skills myself, this blog will show you how folks continue to believe I’m a video editing whiz. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are my simple video tricks.

Read the TCEA TechNotes blog entry

Technical Tips for Working with Video

Tip #1: Export to MP4 Video Format

Choose a screencasting tool that allows you to export directly to MP4 video format. This is the most commonly used video format and works with all devices. Anything else will just result in headaches.

Screencastify, TechSmith’s SnagIt/Camtasia, ExplainEverything, and Touchcast allow you to do this without much fuss.

Tip #2: WebM is a "New" Video Format

The new HTML5 friendly video format is also known as WebM and you may need to convert from that format to MP4 to easily share the file with others.

Nimbus Screencast and Screencastify are both Chromebook apps that will save to WebM.

You may need to rely on a web-based video converter to get these videos to MP4 format, depending on where you host them. YouTube, though, will accept WebM format.

Check out available video conversion tools.

Video Conversion Tools

Online Video Converter: This is a web-based converter you do not have to install (great for Chromebooks) to use .
FFMPEG GUI (Windows)
AnyVideoConverter
VLC Media Player (cross-platform) with built-in video conversion

What's YOUR favorite video converter?

Tip #3: Decide ahead of time where you will publish your video

The best solutions include Google Apps for Education (GAFE) Drive since you have unlimited space, OneDrive for Business (Office 365), or YouTube.

You can also set up your own video hosting solution or take advantage of one like Vimeo.

3) Quick Video Creation Tools

Did You Know?

Research (via Adobe) that indicates that more than 50 percent of students and teachers assess “watching” as the most effective learning source, followed by online research. Explainer videos combine both of these factors, as videos are watched and simultaneously searched online, and search results likely contain additional valuable information.

1. Simple videos for short attention spans.

A student’s attention span might, excessively speaking, decrease as I am writing this. After all, the average attention span of a Generation Z individual is about 8 seconds. Massive amounts of information expressed in long texts is outdated. What explainer videos offer is a condensed version of a lot of information. As Gen Z students process information faster, they require understandable information bits so the content remains memorable.

Explainer videos pick up on the concept of apps using images, keywords, attractive design layouts, user friendly interfaces, and simple sentence structures.

It’s the main message, the key points, or the announcement of something in a simple and video-based way. Learn more.

A Few Video Editing Tools

Microsoft Photos

On a Windows 10 Computer? Try the revamped Microsoft Photo-Movie Editor

Microsoft Photos should already be on your Windows 10 computer at no additional cost.

My favorite features? You can add custom music, animations, title cards, and change backgrounds easily. Best of all, you can save your video creations to MP4 video format.

YouTube Video Editor

No matter what computer you are on, give YouTube's built-in video editor a try. It offers some simple video editing features you can take advantage of.

You can trim beginning/end of video, cut video portions out of the middle of the video. You can also blur face of people in the video.

Shotcut Video Editor

Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor. What's more, hundreds of audio and video formats and codecs. Some popular image formats include BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF, WebP as well as image sequences, audio, and has LOTS of tutorials.

Get Shotcut Video Editor for Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux

Did You Know?

Want to record your mobile device screen, like Android or iPhone/iPad? You will want to check out these tools!

Android: Free Screen Recorder & Video Recorder (use your personal Google, not G Suite EDU in Google Play Store) - XRecorder from InShot, Inc
Check my roundup of amazing video editors for Android in this blog entry, Androidify Learning

iPhone/iPad:

Apple Clips

Clips is an iOS app for making and sharing fun videos with text, effects, graphics, and more

Record Your Device's Screen

Tried screencasting yet?

1. Develop an outline or map of where you want to go

2. Develop your presentation

3. Pick your recording tool

4. Screencast using shortcut keys

5. Publish/share your video

Did You Know?

What smartphone based video creation tools are YOU or your students using in your classroom? Read these TCEA Blog Entries...

Five Free Tools to Create Educational Videos by Andre Oentero

Chromebook Friendly

Mind-Mapping Tools

Chromebook Friendly
- Coggle
iOS Friendly
- Ideament (iOS, free but $2.99 with in-app purchase)
- iBrainstormer
- Total Recall – MindMap
- Penultimate

Web-Based Whiteboards

iOS-Based Whiteboards

Tip: Keep videos short, 2-3 minutes or 5-10 minutes max (shorter is better). You can always create more videos. Think “bite-sized chunks” that students can nibble on their way to/from school, sitting somewhere waiting for an adult to do something, or during the gap in a basketball game on television or in person.

4) Google Educator Level 1 - YouTube Tips

Track & Share Videos via YouTube

Find YouTube videos relevant to a content area
Create a playlist
Save individual videos to the playlist you created

Did you know that you can publish videos to YouTube as public (searchable), private (only you can see them), and unlisted (anyone with the link, but not searchable, can view). You can also create playlists (or a list of videos you want to watch), give those playlists titles and descriptions and shared with others via email or link.

Your YouTube account has what is known as "My Channel." This is a place where your playlists and published videos that you have put into YouTube are saved. My Channel is only visible if you have logged in with your G Suite account. Add videos to playlists using the + Add To option under each video.

Visit the Google Help Center for additional information.

Find videos relevant to an area of interest (e.g. photosynthesis). Create a playlist for Photosynthesis.

Save videos to the playlist you created for photosynthesis. Then, share it with others on your team.

Video Sources

American Memory Collection
Internet Archive
NASA Videos
OpenFlix
OpenVideo
Vimeo Creative Commons Videos
YouTube USA Gov (find out more about Creative Commons)

Audio Sources

5) What Else?

Videos in the Classroom - Wakelet

Final Thought

By charging students with tasks that require creativity, analysis, and applications, teachers move the focus away from themselves to an emphasis upon their learners.

Student-centered products enable learners to showcase their new knowledge and skills in relation to a particular topic in an infinite variety of ways.

Source: Digital Media in Today's Classroom

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