YouTube Features You're Not Currently Using

Facilitator: Dr. Bruce Ellis @DrBruceEllis

Make the most of YouTube by learning how to search for hidden treasures, create tailored playlists for your students, and use online tools that make YouTube an even more valuable tool.

Filters

Make use of filters. Often folks search and then just keep scrolling looking for content. Save time and weed out unwanted videos. You may not be able to combine videos

If you subscribe to Google Play Music then you receive YouTube Premium gives you a variety of benefits:

  • Ad-free - No ads before or during videos and no video overlay ads!
  • YouTube Music Premium - Download music for offline listening. Turn on audio-only mode to listen to audio portion without loading videos.
  • YouTube originals - Consider watching How Far is Too Far? The Age of A.I., or one of many other shows (and growing!).
  • Download videos to watch offline - Access downloaded videos from your Library
  • Background play - You can still enjoy YouTube playing even if you are using other apps or your screen is off.

There are benefits to verifying your YouTube account, such as:

  • Upload videos longer than 15 minutes - currently the maximum file size is 128GB or 12 hours (whichever is less).
  • Add custom thumbnails - take more control of the thumbnail since you may not like what YouTube chooses for you. You can upload your own thumbnails - read the section on this tutorial on creating BOGY thumbnails.
  • Live stream - On mobile, you'll need at least 1,000 subscribers AND no live stream restrictions in the past 90 days. No subscriber minimum for streaming from desktop or webcam. NOTE: You may have to wait up to 24 hours the first time you want to live stream for it to be enabled; afterwards, you can live stream instantly.
  • Appeal Content ID claims

Even though YouTube's automatic captions accuracy rate is between 50% and 80%, based on the video you are watching, it is still handy to have the words available. Besides using the auto captions, consider making use of the Transcript of the video.

  • Go to the video of your choice.
  • Click on the more icon (the three dots) just below the video.
  • Select Open Transcript. The transcript will open to the right of the video.
  • If you don't want to see the timestamps, then click on the more icon (in the Transcript header) and toggle it off.

You are able to click-n-drag to select the contents of the transcript so that you can copy/paste it someplace else.

For videos that you have uploaded, you will need to wait a bit (5 to 10 times the length of the video) for captions to be generated for your video. You can then edit the transcript (which is also the closed caption and subtitles for your video). George Kao shares how on this YouTube video.

Playlists allow you to curate videos that target specific content and/or audiences. Once you find a video, click on the Share icon and add to (or create) your playlist.

Other features to consider include making a collaborative playlist so that others can add to your list. In the Playlist Settings, check the privacy of your list of videos (especially if your YouTube videos include your students).

Add all to... allows you to append a larger list with the videos included in a specific playlist.

If you are a YouTube creator (even if you aren't famous...yet), then be sure to subscribe to the YouTube Creators channel. You get behind the scenes scoop on features that are changing with YouTube as well as other important content...such as copyright features, COPPA and YouTube, the community tab, and much more!

YouTube Creator Academy can help you with free online courses that cover a lot of different topics that are important for folks who are wanting to step out and start producing content on YouTube. Even if you are just considering having students create content (whether for YouTube or not), you'll benefit from the helpful advice, tips, and ideas! Begin by checking out these lessons and online courses on Production (Produce Great Videos).

Charlie McDonnell, who was a YouTube sensation, gives some good advice for anyone that is considering using social media as a form of major communication to others: be yourself...that is, not the fictitious person that you think other people will like - so they'll like you. Be YOU!

Extensions & Tools

Extension Manager (aka Switcher) is a great extension to have installed in Chrome if you have a lot of extensions installed. You can easily enable/disable them on the fly without having to dig into your Chrome settings. Below is the menu bar for Extension Manager.

AdBlock is a great help when you are trying to avoid those pesky ads. This extension is for Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, Apple, and Android. Once installed you will have the opportunity to give a donation to support the tool but that is optional.

ViewPure removes comments and side-bar videos. You do need an account (which is free). You can create custom urls (shortlinks) for videos. You can even set a password to your purified video link! They even offer resources for teachers to help make your experience better.

QuietTube is a no-frills tool that supports YouTube, Viddler, and Vimeo. It removes ads and comments so you can better focus on the video! There is even a bookmarklet that you can drag/drop on your bookmark bar to make it even easier to use.

You can convert YouTube videos to animated gifs. Though there are many sites that will do this, Kapwing is free, allows you to clip the specific section of the video to convert, and does not put a watermark on it. Kapwing supports all videos shorter than 30 mins and smaller than 500 MB.

Watchkin is another free site that provides a distraction free page for viewing YouTube videos. The provide a bookmarklet to make it easier to Watchin-ize your videos. You can also use their auto-redirect script so that that anytime you watch a YouTube video, it will pull up in Watchkin for you.

EdPuzzle is a freemium service that allows you to make interactive video lessons from YouTube videos by asking open-ended or multiple choice questions or allowing for comments. You can also use their YouTube extension for Chrome. The free plan allows you to store up to 20 videos.

Video Effects allows you to tweak the way you view and listen to videos. Add video effects (overlays) the the video as it plays and make the audio better. You can also set it to automatically loop a video.

Vialogues is a tool that lets you have time-stamped discussions with others on videos you have identified. You can link to a YouTube video or aelect a video (1 GB or less) to upload - supported formats: MOV, FLV, MP4, MPG, MPEG, AVI, WMV, and 3GP. You can make the discussion public or add other vialoguers. Others will need to login to comment.