Having access to YouTube in the classroom gives teachers a huge resource of video content. However that resource comes with a responsibility to keep our students safe, this can be an issue with advertisements and links for off-topic videos within YouTube. Luckily, there are some easy ways to use YouTube safely for instructional purposes.
1. Use KeepVid to Keep Videos from YouTube
The website KeepVid.com allows you to quickly download videos to your computer or flash drive for safe keeping. Videos that you download will not have advertisements on them or links to other "recommended" videos. Downloading a video also allows you to keep it for as long as you want to use it. There are many great videos that I have found and when it was time to use them in class, the link went bad or the video was taken down. Having your own copy of the video guarantees this will not happen to you.
Please watch the screencast below for step-by-step details on how to use KeepVid and also how to upload videos to your Google Drive to share:
2. Use a YouTube Video Clipper
Tammy Worcester created and has shared this free video clipper template. Once you download the template, you copy the YouTube video URL and the start/stop times if desired. It will generate a new link that you can use in your classroom or share with your students to use at home. The new video link will not have any of the related videos or links for students to click on.
3. Insert YouTube Videos into a Google Presentation
One teacher I know creates a new Google presentation for every month and every time she shows a video from YouTube it is in her presentation. This makes it easy for her to keep up with what she has shown and it removes all the side advertisements and related videos. It is super easy to insert a YouTube video into a presentation by going to Insert--->video from YouTube. You can search for YouTube videos within your presentation.
I hope this has given you some tips for using YouTube safely in your classroom!
Questions? Comments?
Please email me at: pamelabatchelor@johnston.k12.nc.us