Wednesday Web v.2: Alternatives to YouTube

As our students continue to become technologically savvy it is our job as educators to adapt to these new learning styles. The use of digital media, particularly video, is beginning to expand. Most of us are familiar with (and use) YouTube as one of our “primary” sources of video. While there can be some whacked out content on the site, it is also full of rich, educational material that many teachers feel is helpful to our students. YouTube, as of this post, is still a blocked site in the Chicago Public School system (as many of you have been rudely awakened by the CPS alarm when you visit a blocked site!). There have been discussions to “unblock” the site, or to set permissions for teachers to access it within the network. Until that happens we need to work around the system.

This week’s Wednesday Web will help you with that. The post lists alternatives to YouTube, in the form of file converters and alternative video sites. If you happen to know of a site not listed, please share!

Also, a little bit of YouTube trivia....
*YouTube was launched in December 2005
*Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim (the founders) are alumni of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
*They sold YouTube to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock

Download Helper (for Firefox) (for Internet Explorer)

There are two versions of Download Helper that I am aware of. One is a Firefox extention, the other is for Internet Explorer. Both are equally cool. After downloading the software an icon sits on your taskbar or toolbar (which can be enabled or disabled easily). When you are outside of the CPS network and you find a YouTube video you would like to use, you can convert it with the click of a button (or in the case of I.E., an arrow). A menu will appear asking you if you want to convert the file.

Zamzar

Zamzar is another free online file converter in Beta (trial version). With its free account you can convert up to 100 MB files. Zamzar does the conversion and emails you a link to the new file extension.

YouTube Downloader

From their site: YouTube Downloader is software that allows you to download videos from YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, and many others and convert them to other video formats. The program is easy to use, just specify the URL for the video you want to download and click the Ok button! It also allows you to convert downloaded videos for Ipod, Iphone, PSP, Cell Phone, Windows Media, XVid and MP3.

Kick YouTube

Quite clever, Kick YouTube can only be used outside the CPS network. Here’s how it works: locate a YouTube video to watch. When you do you will see a URL similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGoeLU0oKU8
In order to access the Kick YouTube file converter simply put the actual word “kick” in the URL address right before the word “youtube” like this:
http://kickyoutube.com/watch/?v=gGoeLU0oKU8 and hit “go” or enter. You will see your video with a bar along the top. Simply choose the file format you desire and press “go” at the end of the tool bar. Kick YouTube will also have a suggested list of additional videos along the right side.

KeepVid

This site contains a “bookmarklet” that you drag onto your toolbar. When you are watching a video you like and want to keep it you click on the “Keep it!” bookmarklet and the video will be downloaded as a .flv file (flash video files).

VidGrab

This video downloading site allows you to not only download videos, but to burn them to dvds as well. It also contains a link to a .flv player if you need one

Download YouTube Videos

Another one…this one not only contains a link to a .flv player, but has a file converter to convert it to a different file format should you desire to do so.

Format Factory

Format Factory contains links to additional file converters, some free downloads, some paid programs. I haven’t tested any of these, so before downloading anything I recommend you go to CNet and look them up…. http://www.cnet.com/

TeacherTube

Teachertube is a free media sharing site where teachers can post or grab videos for their students. Check it out, it contains videos appropriate for all grade levels. If you register Teachertube will send you an email alert when new content is posted.

SchoolTube

Schooltube is a free media sharing site, where many of the videos are created by students. Teachers can set up private “channels” to house their student videos, making them public or private.

Kideos

As its name implies, Kideos is a website that houses videos for kids, in this case to the age of 10. Each video is screened by their advisory board for content, so it is possible to have your students (or other young children) safely watch videos from this site. If you register (free) you can customize your list, as well as block any videos that come from YouTube.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a site that allows you space to upload videos that you’ve made (you cannot upload videos by others). You can also view other people’s collections. Think about having your students create short videos to teach something or show off!