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Free Technology for Teachers: YouTube Playlists: Why You Need Them and How to Make Them

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Free Technology for Teachers: YouTube Playlists: Why You Need Them and How to Make Them

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YouTube can be one of our best tools to use in the classroom once we figure out how to harness its power. One of the simplest ways to tap into the power of YouTube is to organize content by placing videos onto playlists. Playlists can contain content that others create as well as videos that you create and upload. Adding videos to playlists saves you time and the stress of having to search for a video minutes before you need it. The video below will show you how to upload your own videos, how to create and add videos to a playlist, and how to share a playlist.

Applications for Education
How many times a day do you have to tell students what they missed when they were gone? One of the things I did at the end of each day was record a short screencast where I would walk students through what they missed if they were absent and I showed them exactly what they needed to do to get caught up. I would upload those screencasts to YouTube and then add them to the playlist for that particular class. Students knew they could access the link to the playlist from our classroom website so it dramatically cut back on the number of students asking me what we did when they were gone.

I also created playlists for each unit that I taught. If I found a video that I thought might be useful I added it to a generic playlist for the class. Once I previewed the video, I would either move it to a shorter and more specific playlist so I could find it very quickly when I needed it or I would delete it from the generic list.

This video walks you through the process of uploading a screencast to YouTube, adding it to a playlist, and then sharing that playlist with others.

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YouTube Playlists: Why You Need Them and How to Make Them

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YouTube can be one of our best tools to use in the classroom once we figure out how to harness its power. One of the simplest ways to tap into the power of YouTube is to organize content by placing videos onto playlists.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Three Things That Can Help You Teach With Video

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Free Technology for Teachers: Three Things That Can Help You Teach With Video

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Whether you want to make your own instructional videos or you just want to make sure that your students are learning something from the videos that you share with them, there are a few basic things that you should know.

1. Short and sweet.
Two well-made videos that are each two minutes long are better than one video that is four minutes long. Check out the research the Wistia published last summer. Check out the research the Wistia published last summer. Based on data from more than 500,000 videos played more than one billion times, Wistia determined that there is a significant drop-off in viewer engagement after the two minute mark.

Not every concept or topic can be boiled down to two minutes, but the point is that brevity is best when it comes to videos. This is true whether you're having students make videos or watch videos.

2. Outline
Writing an outline for a video that you are going to make will save you time in the long run. Writing that outline will help you cut out tangents and filler material. (Save those tangents for subsequent videos).

3. Video as supplement, not replacement.
Even the best videos can't entirely replace good classroom instruction and good books. Look at the videos you make and share with your students as supplements to your instruction and their reading, not complete replacements. When you look for a video to share with students, think about the gaps that it fills in your instruction or the gaps that you will have fill after students watch the video.

Learn more about teaching with video in the upcoming Practical Ed Tech course, How to Teach With Video.

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Three Things That Can Help You Teach With Video

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Whether you want to make your own instructional videos or you just want to make sure that your students are learning something from the videos that you share with them, there are a few basic things that you should know. 1. Short and sweet.

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We've been listening to your feedback and are excited to introduce everyone to live video streaming with Swivl! We know that sometimes recorded videos alone of the classroom aren't able to fit ever...

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(6) Recording an Interview using Hangouts on Air YouTube Live - YouTube

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(6) Recording an Interview using Hangouts on Air YouTube Live - YouTube

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Recording an Interview using Hangouts on Air YouTube Live

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Uploaded by Patrick Donovan on 2017-05-09.

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Swivl Multi-Camera Setup to Improve Student Feedback | Donovanscience

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Swivl Multi-Camera Setup to Improve Student Feedback | Donovanscience

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Swivl recently released an update to their software, also a new app (https://www.swivl.com/pro-plus/), that allows you to use multiple iPads to record at once. You can have up to 5 iPads recording video, and audio, at once. This allows you to easily record up to 5 different students, or groups, in a classroom at once. This increased video data will allow a teacher to better be able to give feedback to students as they work in groups because it is impossible for a teacher to be with all of the groups at one time. By going back to the video after the class is over, or even during the class in block situations, the teacher can better observe the intended learning characteristics they were aiming for during that class period. You can find some other examples of the use of the multi-iPad setup by going to the Swivl Blog.

Our initial test run involved a 6th grade Language Arts class where the students were working in inner/outer circle groups as the inner groups were having a discussion about a topic and the outer group was observing and recording feedback. An iPad, with a wide angle lens, was place in front of each group before they started. We had the main iPad in our Swivl so that we could hear, and view, the teacher interactions with the students. We had 3 separate groups spread throughout the classroom and each group had their own iPad.

The students conducted their conversations, the teacher interacted with certain groups occasionally, and the whole time the video was being recorded. The students were to give feedback to the inner circle while focusing on the characteristics of feedback that were discussed in previous classes. This was the first time they were going through this process so the teacher needed to know what feedback to give to the students in order to improve this type of activity in the future. The nice thing is that this teacher was working with an instructional coach and they could now go over the video later to focus on the feedback to the students, while also reflecting on the activity itself. The comments feature in the Swivl Cloud library will also make it so they can share the video with others while they work to improve the effectiveness of this learning activity for students.

One important possible outcome of this recording is that we can now give better feedback to the students about how they work in groups. We expect our students to know how to work collaboratively and effectively in groups but it is not something that we always teach, let alone give specific feedback to students in order for them to improve. We can't expect it if we do not teach it, or model it. We need to be able to give feedback to students in order for them to learn how to better collaborate with other students. Repeated use of this software with effective feedback to students could lead to vastly improved collaboration skills for students and we know that is something that they will need to be successful in the 21st century.

in Classroom Applications. Tags: feedback, Swivl

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Swivl Multi-Camera Setup to Improve Student Feedback

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Swivl recently released an update to their software, also a new app (https://www.swivl.com/pro-plus/), that allows you to use multiple iPads to record at once. You can have up to 5 iPads recording video, and audio, at once. This allows you to easily record up to 5 different students, or groups, in a classroom at once....

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Green Screen on a Budget | Donovanscience

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Green Screen on a Budget | Donovanscience

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One of my favorite outcomes of technology being so readily available and cheaper for students to use, is that our students can make use of green screens in videos that they create. There are so many apps or programs out there that have the ability to do the green screen effect well that this is something that almost everyone can do. You can do this easily without having to know a lot about video editing.

Last year I purchased some green fabric to have around for when I, or other teachers, wanted to have a cheap green screen. I spent a whole $12 on my fabric and can make use of the software that is already on our device (iMovie) as well as the camera on my computer or my phone to quickly create a green screen effect video. While the cheap and easy software may not do a perfect job of removing the green, or in some cases whatever color you pick, but it does a good enough job for what most of our students will create. You can use Do Ink on an iPad or WeVideo on a Chromebook to do the same thing. While Do Ink is a paid app, it is still cheap, and you should purchase the package for WeVideo in order to do all that you want. Luckily WeVideo is part of the Creative Suite that Google offered starting last year, which includes Soundtrap and Explain Everything, and is a must buy if you have Chromebooks.

The beauty of being able to do a green screen effect on a budget is that we can easily just let our students use their own creativity in order to create what they want to. They can decide the backgrounds and instead of just presenting about a volcano, it can look like they are at one. They can easily create their own newscast and have it look like they are behind an actual news desk. You can have students act out a play while appearing to be in any setting they want, including many famous theaters. You can easily find some videos to use too and use them as your background so there is a lot that you can do. I can easily see Kindergarten students doing this, which means that any of our students can do this.

Go out and buy your fabric or paint and let your students create using their creativity (2 of the 4 C's). They can easily collaborate (another one of the 4C's) as they communicate (last of the 4C's) out their ideas and creations.

in Classroom Applications. Tags: Creation, video as a tool

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One of my favorite outcomes of technology being so readily available and cheaper for students to use, is that our students can make use of green screens in videos that they create. There are so many apps or programs out there that have the ability to do the green screen effect well that this is...

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Swivl Multi-Camera Setup | Donovanscience

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Swivl Multi-Camera Setup | Donovanscience

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Over the summer, Swivl announced they were going to release the ability to record from 2 cameras at once for free in their Swivl app. Earlier in the year they updated their app to allow you to record from up to 5 devices at once to get a single video that allows you to see and hear from 5 different viewpoints in one setting. This was a great tool for teachers as they wanted to record parts of the classroom in order to better see/hear what students were doing/saying or if they wanted to just get a better picture in order to reflect on their own teaching.

As part of their update, you are now even able to use a Chromebook or any laptop that has a browser and webcam, in order to record from a second perspective. You still need to be running the Swivl app on an iOS device as your primary recording device but this allows many teachers who have other devices in their classroom already, to be able to do the multi-camera setup without having to find another iPad.

All you need to do is start the Swivl app on your iPad and click the Dual-Camera (you will see Multi-Camera if you have a pro account) button while going to cloud.swivl.com/plus on your other device. You will get a code to sync up the other device and you are ready to record. The recordings will be synced up in the Swivl Cloud and you will be able to view them, even turning audio on and off for each feed, in the cloud.

I have written and talked about the power of video in the classroom, and for teacher reflection, many times but being able to record from two cameras at once will help many teachers get a better understanding of the teaching and learning going on in their classrooms. There are too many times that we have a lot going on in the classroom and can't observe everything that is going on. By having multiple cameras recording, we will be able to see more of what is happening and better understand how well students are learning. We can even have multiple groups being recorded so we can go back later in order to see how well they were working together in order to figure out what areas we need to teach in order for them to be better collaborators. There are a lot of ways that having a video of the learning in the classroom can help a teacher and you are only limited by your mindset.

View the video below to get started.

in Tech Tips. Tags: Growth Mindset, Swivl, video as a tool

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Over the summer, Swivl announced they were going to release the ability to record from 2 cameras at once for free in their Swivl app. Earlier in the year they updated their app to allow you to record from up to 5 devices at once to get a single video that allows you to see...

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My Top Swivl Tips and Tricks | Donovanscience

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My Top Swivl Tips and Tricks | Donovanscience

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I have been using a Swivl for a couple of years now and I believe it is a great tool. I am part of the Swivl Pioneer Program and received a Swivl to try out but that is not the reason why I like the Swivl so much. I like it because I believe that video can be a very powerful tool and having a tool like the Swivl which can record video of you easily while having great audio, can make that video more powerful than without using a Swivl.

I have seen too many videos of teachers in their classrooms that were shot on a phone or a small camera from the corner that required another person to record it. Those videos also had awful sound and made it very difficult to know what the teachers or students were saying. Being able to hear is just as important as being able to see what is going on in a classroom recording. The fact that the Swivl also has the ability to have multiple microphones or camera sources, makes this a very versatile tool.

Lastly, I believe that using video to reflect on our own teaching is too important to not do it. Professional athletes use video all the time to improve and teachers can do the same thing. There are too many things going on in a classroom that can affect our ability to perceive everything going on and our ability to accurately measure the learning going on, but video can help us overcome that.

My Top Tips and Tricks with the Swivl

1. Practice, Practice, Practice - As with any tool, especially if you are using it for the first time, you need to practice using it before you get comfortable with it. Students tend to get used to the Swivl very easily so the more you use it, the less likely they are going to be impacted by it. It is also easy to forget a step when setting it up so by practicing, you will be more sure you are all set to go each time. You also have to get used to not turning your back to the Swivl, otherwise it can't follow you.

2. Be Conscious of the Line of Sight - The Swivl tracks you using an infrared signal sent from the Marker to the Swivl. This infrared light can't travel through you, so when you turn your back to the Swivl, it will not know where you are. If you are walking around the room, make sure the Swivl can track you. This just means you might have to adjust how you move around your room.

3. Use the Center Button on the Marker to Stop the Swivl - One setting that you can turn on, and I always have turned on, is the option to stop the swiveling of the Swivl by hitting the center button on the Marker. This is useful if you have the part of the classroom you want to record all set up and do not want it to move, even if you are moving.

4. Check your Audio - In the upper right corner of the recording screen is a microphone icon that will show you the audio level that it is receiving. You can easily double check your connection by blowing into the microphone and watching the microphone icon turn red. This is a quick thing you can do to make sure your audio is all set up.

5. Turn on Auto-Upload, Turn off Auto-Delete - Having your recording automatically upload to your Swivl Cloud is a great feature. If you are a control freak like me however, you may worry about that upload failing. Just for safety sakes, I turn off the auto-delete and will check my video in the Swivl Cloud before deleting it. This is just because I want to make sure I can get to it in the cloud before freeing up space on my iPad.

6. Double Check Your Connections - This is the easiest mistake I see when people use the Swivl is that they forget to connect everything. In the older model of the Swivl you had to connect using both the audio cable (from the Swivl to the iPad) and make sure the Swivl was connected to the iPad using Bluetooth. The newer Swivl is nicer in that you only need to connect the base to the iPad using the lightning cable, one less thing to forget.

7. Use a Tripod - While it may be easiest to just set the Swivl on a desk or off to the side, this can cause some issues when it is tracking you or allowing you to see more of what is happening in the classroom. You can easily place the Swivl onto a tripod in order to get a better view of the classroom and to bring the Swivl to a higher height so the infrared signal from the Marker to the base doesn't get blocked by students as easily. Try different recording locations and see which angles you like the best.

8. Use the Swivl Cloud - There are some nice features in the Swivl Cloud but my favorite is the ability to have time-stamped comments. This is great for watching the video later and leaving comments or questions at various points in the recording. You can easily click on the comment to get to that point in the video. We are currently recording a classroom for students who can't be there and they can use the time-stamped feature to write notes over what is happening in class so they can better use that video in the future.

9. Use your Instructional Coaches or Other Teachers to help you Reflect - I have a whole blog post on this so I will just link it here.

Overall, a tool is only effective as how you use it. The Swivl is a great tool for recording video but you need to think about how you are using it and how you can use it more effectively. Practice is important and involving others (Instructional Coaches or other teachers) can make things much better for both you and your students.

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I have been using a Swivl for a couple of years now and I believe it is a great tool. I am part of the Swivl Pioneer Program and received a Swivl to try out but that is not the reason why I like t...

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Using a Swivl for Instructional Coaching | Donovanscience

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Using a Swivl for Instructional Coaching | Donovanscience

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Earlier this year we purchased Swivls for each building in our district to be used by our teachers in their work in the classroom, as well as their work with our instructional coaches. The Swivls are great when we want to record classroom situations to be shared with others, but they can also play a role in our coaching processes. While Jim Knight has written a lot about how video can be used for coaching, there are multiple ways that I believe that having a Swivl can improve the coaching process.

2nd Chance Coaching

Typically a coaching cycle will involve some observation where the instructional coach is observing and recording something specific in the classroom based upon a planning conversation. Often times while the coach is making observations, based upon what the coachee (teacher) wanted, there could be other things going on that would be useful upon which to record data. I have found it happening myself while having a reflecting conversation that both the teacher and I will think of something else we could have recorded. Normally you would have to schedule a second time to plan, observe, and reflect but if you have video of the initial lesson, you can use that to continue the coaching cycle. You do not need another classroom observation since you can just rewind the video and start from the beginning.

Remove the Lens of the Observer

In my science classes we would spend a lot of time talking about how measurements can be impacted by the person doing the measuring. Even when a coach and coachee agree to what they want observed in their classroom, there is always the chance that the observation will be influenced by what the coach believes and thinks. We can remove the chance for bias by using video as a 3rd party data point. You can't argue with what you see on the video recording as it is not impacted by any perceptions, it is just what you see. This will also make it easier for the coachee to believe what the other person saw as they can go back and rewatch it also. There are a lot of things that happen in a classroom and it is hard to be aware of everything that is going on. Even the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL will look at pictures or watch video after every drive to see what was really going on, not just what they perceived to be happening.

Reducing Discomfort From Having Others in the Room

There are many teachers who get noticeably nervous when another teacher is in the room, even if they are the ones to ask them to be there. Students can also get distracted or behave differently when others are in the room, which can cause a change in the data and remove some of the effectiveness of the observation. By using the Swivl, the teacher can record multiple classroom sessions which will allow them to get more comfortable with it and will also allow the students to get comfortable with having the classroom recorded. You should never expect to get everything right the first time so recording multiple classes will allow you to get a better video to use for the coaching process and will remove some of the variables that happen when having observers in the room.

Allow For More Coaches to Help

A classroom can get crowded really quickly when there is an extra adult in the room, let alone if multiple teachers join your class. I once had about five principals in my room who wanted to see my class in action while they were in our building for a meeting. Combining 25 students with 5 more adults and it was very crowded and became disrupted. By using a video recording, you can allow others to take part in the coaching process without overcrowding your classroom. This also gives you more time since you do not need to have everyone's schedules to line up with free time at the same exact time. You can even use the video in your PLC time by having a coaching discussion with other teachers and use that to grow together.

Overall the Swivl is a very versatile and easy to use tool which makes using video in the coaching process a powerful tool when it comes to learning and growing as an educator. It allows us to learn even when we feel that the lesson bombed and that there is nothing to take away from it. Even after a horrible loss, every NFL team goes back and rewatches the video of their game in order to learn and grow. (sorry for the multiple football analogies) We should be able to do the same thing, and having an instructional coach help us will only increase our growth as an educator.

in Classroom Applications. Tags: featured, instructional coaches, Swivl

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Using a Swivl for Instructional Coaching

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Earlier this year we purchased Swivls for each building in our district to be used by our teachers in their work in the classroom, as well as their work with our instructional coaches. The Swivls are great when we want to record classroom situations to be shared with others, but they can also play a role...

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We've been listening to your feedback and are excited to introduce everyone to live video streaming with Swivl! We know that sometimes recorded videos alone of the classroom aren't able to fit ever...

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We've been listening to your feedback and are excited to introduce everyone to live video streaming with Swivl! We know that sometimes recorded videos alone of the classroom aren't able to fit everyone's needs, but your favorite live streaming video apps on their own also don't work perfectly in the classroom when you...

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Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Free Ways to Create Videos on Chromebooks

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Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Free Ways to Create Videos on Chromebooks

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Last week I published an updated list of tools for creating videos on Chromebooks. It's time to update it again as I forgot to include Pixiclip which I featured in a post earlier this week.

Pixiclip is a free tool for creating simple instructional videos. Pixiclip provides you with a blank whiteboard on which you can draw, type, or insert images. You can record your voice as you draw or type on the screen. A variety of drawing tools is provided in Pixiclip. You can use Pixiclip without creating an account on the service. If you do create an account you can keep your videos private. Learn more about Pixiclip in my video embedded below.

My Simpleshow is a free tool for creating Common Craft style explanatory videos. The best aspect of My Simpleshow is the emphasis that the developers have placed on storyline planing and development. As is demonstrated in my tutorial below, students have to write a script on My Simpleshow before they can begin to use the video editing tools. (Disclosure: My Simpleshow is an advertiser on this blog).

Adobe Spark is a suite of free tools for creating images, videos, and simple web pages. Key features of Adobe Spark's web app include an integrated Creative Commons image search tool, the option to download images as JPEGs, and the option to download your videos as MP4 files. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to create images, web pages, and videos with Adobe Spark in your web browser.

Sharalike is a good option to consider when you want to create an audio slideshow. To create an audio slideshow on Sharalike simply import some images from your computer, your Android device or from your iPad, drag them into the sequence in which you want them to appear, and then add some music. Sharalike offers a small collection of stock music that you can use or you can upload your own music.

PowToon is a popular tool for creating animated videos online. PowToon provides a drag-and-drop editor for creating animated videos. The videos that you create feature digital paper cut-outs on a colorful background. Think of PowToon as an online tool for creating videos in the style made popular by Common Craft. PowToon provides drawings of people and objects that you can arrange on blank canvas. After adding your narration to the arrangement you can publish your video.

Magisto is a video creation tool that allows you to quickly drag videos and images from your desktop and or Google Drive account to your Magisto account. After you've uploaded the media that you want mixed, select a theme and music for your video.From the video clips and images that you upload, Magisto will select the best portions to remix and blend together. Magisto creates your video after you've completed the steps of uploading media, selecting a theme, and choosing music. The final video is emailed to you. In addition to the web-based service Magisto offers a Chrome app, an Android app, and an iPad app.

WeVideo offers the most features of any of the tools in this list. It is an online video creation tool that I have written about many times over the last few years. WeVideo offers templates that new users can follow to create their first videos. Advanced WeVideo users can skip the templates, use the full editor, and apply themes to their videos by choosing them from the themes menu in the editor. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. WeVideo's Google Drive app allows you to save all of your video projects in your Google Drive account. WeVideo also offers an Android app and an iPhone app that students can use to capture images and video footage to add to their projects.

Nimbus Screenshot is my favorite tool for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks. It is easy to install, includes customizable countdown timer, and offers multiple ways to save and share your videos. Screencasts recorded with Nimbus Screenshot can be saved to your local drive or to an online Nimbus account. I chose to save to my local drive then upload to my YouTube channel. You could also save to your local drive then share to Google Drive or another online storage service.

Recording a video with the webcam on your Chromebook can be accomplished through the use of a free Chrome app called CaptureCast. CaptureCast, produced by Cattura Video, allows you to record the screen on your Chromebook as well as input from your webcam. To record a video with the webcam on your Chromebook open CaptureCast in your browser then allow it to access your webcam and microphone. You can specify how high of a resolution you would like to use to capture your video. You can also choose your audio quality. If you have an external microphone connected to your Chromebook, make sure that you have it enabled before you start recording. When you have finished recording in CaptureCast you can save your video on your Chromebook or upload it to YouTube, to Vimeo, or to Google Drive.

Finally, YouTube offers some good video creation and editing tools that most people overlook. One of those tools allows you to combine video clips to make one longer video. You can combine your own videos and or use video clips from YouTube's gallery of Creative Commons licensed videos. So while your students aren't limited to just their videos, they also just can't grab any old video from YouTube, like this chart-topper, to include in their projects.

You can learn more about how to use YouTube's overlooked features in YouTube, It's Not Just Cats & Khan Academy.

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10 Free Ways to Create Videos on Chromebooks

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Last week I published an updated list of tools for creating videos on Chromebooks. It's time to update it again as I forgot to include Pixiclip which I featured in a post earlier this week. Pixiclip is a free tool for creating simple instructional videos.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Six Ways to Create Screencasts on Chromebooks

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Free Technology for Teachers: Six Ways to Create Screencasts on Chromebooks

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The number options for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks has increased every year since Chromebooks first hit the market. For a while there was only one option, last year there were four tools that I recommended, and today there are six free tools that I can recommend for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks.

Loom is a free screencasting tool that works on Chromebooks, Macs, and Windows computers. Loom is a Chrome extension. With Loom installed you can record your desktop, an individual tab, and or your webcam. That means that you could use Loom to just record a webcam video on a Chromebook. Of course, this also means that you can use Loom to record your webcam while also recording your desktop. Loom recordings can be up to ten minutes long. A completed recording can be shared via social media and email. You can also download your recordings as MP4 files to upload to YouTube or any other video hosting service.

Soapbox is a free tool from Wistia that makes it easy to create great screencast videos on a Chromebook or any computer that is using the Chrome web browser. With Soapbox installed in the Chrome web browser you can quickly record your screen and your webcam at the same time. The most distinguishing feature of Soapbox is that you can have your video transition from your screen to your webcam to a combination of the two. Soapbox includes some simple editing tools for zooming in on an area of your screen and calling attention to specific parts of your screen.

ViewedIt is a free Chrome extension that makes it quick and easy to create and share screencast videos. With the extension installed you can record your entire screen or just one window tab. ViewedIt will let you record yourself with your webcam too. The best part of ViewedIt is that you can track who watches your video. To record on ViewedIt you simply have to click the extension icon then choose what you want to record. When you're done recording your video is automatically stored on ViewedIt. From ViewedIt you can share your video via email and social media. If you choose to share via email, you will be able to track who watched your video.

Nimbus Screenshot is my favorite tool on this list because of its ease of installation and it is the only tool on this list that provided a customizable countdown timer. I like the countdown timer because it gives me a few seconds to prepare to start talking over my screencast. The other tools just started recording the second that I hit the record button. Nimbus Screenshot was also the easiest to install and configure on my Chromebook. Screencasts recorded with Nimbus Screenshot can be saved to your local drive or to an online Nimbus account. I usually choose to save to my local drive then upload to my YouTube channel. You can also save to your local drive then send it to Google Drive or another online storage service.

CaptureCast lets you record your webcam while recording your screen which you cannot do with the Nimbus tool. You can choose to record your screen, your screen and your webcam, or just your screen or just your webcam. CaptureCast gives you three options for recording definition. So if you're on a slower network you can choose a lower resolution recording to save processing time. CaptureCast lets you save a recording locally or send it to YouTube or to Vimeo.

Screencastify might have the most name recognition in this list, but I don't like it as much as some other tech bloggers like it. The set-up process asks a lot questions that could confuse new users. The free version limits recordings to ten minutes and puts a watermark on the recording. On the upside, there is an option to upload directly to YouTube.

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Six Ways to Create Screencasts on Chromebooks

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The number options for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks has increased every year since Chromebooks first hit the market. For a while there was only one option, last year there were four tools that I recommended, and today there are six free tools that I can recommend for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks

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Free Technology for Teachers: Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks

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Soapbox is a new tool from Wistia that makes it easy to create great screencast videos on a Chromebook or any computer that is using the Chrome web browser. With Soapbox installed in the Chrome web browser you can quickly record your screen and your webcam at the same time.

Soapbox is a little different from other screencast tools. The most distinguishing feature is that you can have your video transition from your screen to your webcam to a combination of the two. Soapbox includes some simple editing tools for zooming in on an area of your screen and calling attention to specific parts of your screen.

Completed Soapbox videos can be shared via email or anywhere else that you want to post a link to your video. The shortcoming of Soapbox is that you cannot download your video. It lives on Wistia's hosting service.

Applications for Education
Soapbox is another option to explore if you aren't happy with the current options for creating screencasts on Chromebooks. The editing tools make it stand out a bit from some of the other screencasting tools that work on Chromebooks. Screencasts in general are useful in helping students learn how to navigate a new web tool.

Come to the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp to learn more about making videos on Chromebooks.

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Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks

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Soapbox is a new tool from Wistia that makes it easy to create great screencast videos on a Chromebook or any computer that is using the Chrome web browser. With Soapbox installed in the Chrome web browser you can quickly record your screen and your webcam at the same time.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Screencast-o-Matic Now Offers Background Music

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Free Technology for Teachers: Screencast-o-Matic Now Offers Background Music

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Screencast-o-matic has long been my favorite tool for creating screencasts on Windows and Mac computers. This morning I logged into my account and noticed that Screencast-o-matic now offers the option to include background music in your screencast videos. Click here to watch a screencast about this new feature.

Screencast-o-matic's background music option provides a choice of three songs to users of the free version of the service. Screencast-o-matic Pro users have access to the whole library of music and can import their own music. If you're interested in a getting a Screencast-o-matic Pro account I have five discount codes that I give away. Send me an email if you would like to get a Pro account discount (first come, first served). Sorry, all discount codes have been given away.

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Screencast-o-Matic Now Offers Background Music

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Screencast-o-matic has long been my favorite tool for creating screencasts on Windows and Mac computers. This morning I logged into my account and noticed that Screencast-o-matic now offers the option to include background music in your screencast videos. Click here to watch a screencast about this new feature.

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The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom | Edutopia

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The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom | Edutopia

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Photo credit: amandagolden133 via flickr (CC BY 2.0)

A backchannel -- a digital conversation that runs concurrently with a face-to-face activity -- provides students with an outlet to engage in conversation. Every time I think about this tool, I remember my student, Charlie (not his real name). Given his learning challenges, he struggled to keep up during class discussions. Long after his classmates grasped a concept, he would light up in acknowledgement and then become crestfallen as he had no way to share his revelation. Charlie needed an alternative means to participate, and a backchannel would have provided him with that outlet.

TodaysMeet would have let teachers create private chat rooms so that students could ask questions or leave comments during class.

A Padlet wall might have fueled students to share their ideas as text, images, videos, and links posted to a digital bulletin board.

The open response questions available in a student response system like Socrative or InfuseLearning could have become discussion prompts to give each student an opportunity to share his or her ideas before engaging in class discussion.

At the time, we did not have mobile devices. If we had, then a number of free tools could have augmented class discussions and supported students like Charlie.

Consider the students like Charlie who cannot process at the same pace, the ones unable to speak up over the din of the class, or those who want to share ideas to a point of disruption and need an outlet for their enthusiasm. Backchannels give all of these students a voice. They create a blended environment where teachers and students engage in both physical and online conversations so that learning is no longer confined to a single means of communication or even an arbitrary class period. Backchannels don't replace class discussions -- they extend them.

Capturing Curiosity

To start the year, Rhonda Hahn (@mrshahn) asked her ninth grade biology students, "What are you curious about? Are you a skeptic? Have a burning question?" To document their curiosities, she supplied them with a Padlet wall:

From time travel to stem cells, her students unleashed their ideas. Using their digital contributions as a foundation, Rhonda set her students loose on a collaborative research mission to explore their interests. Within the constraints of a traditional learning environment, the students might not have felt the same confidence to express their curiosity or the intrinsic motivation to seek out answers. By providing them with an outlet for their questions, Rhonda created an authentic learning environment to support further scientific exploration.

This may seem like an advanced concept, but even the youngest learners can leverage a backchannel to express their ideas. To inspire questioning and wondering, Meghan Zigmond put her first grade students in groups and allowed them to use a Padlet wall to capture their questions as they read Douglas Florian's Comets, Stars, The Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings. Normally, Meghan found that only a few of her students might have a chance to share their ideas, and these thoughts might be lost at the end of class. However, by incorporating a backchannel, all of her students could contribute their questions both in their small groups as well as to the entire class. With the inquiries documented, Meghan could then let the students drive their scientific investigations for a unit on objects in the sky.

Connecting to the Conversation

During a parent presentation on Google Glass, Terri Eichholz (@terrieichholz) discovered that by using mobile devices and a backchannel during presentations or lectures, her students actually paid closer attention to the speaker. She used Socrative to capture her fifth graders' questions and answers throughout the presentation, giving them an immediate channel for their thoughts. Throughout the presentation, they could pause their physical conversation to incorporate the digital one. In doing this, Terri observed that her students seemed genuinely interested in developing good contributions and were less likely to interrupt the speaker to express them. At the end of the day, she had an archive of all that had been discussed and encouraged each of her students to have a meaningful voice.

Ann Feldman asks:

How many students participate in a class discussion? A handful? Five to ten? . . . to get all students to have a voice is every teacher's challenge.

To meet this challenge, Jeff Bernadt (@jbernadt) integrated TodaysMeet into his high school history class. As each student read a different article, he or she contributed reflections to a backchannel. A face-to-face conversation while simultaneously reading might have been a distraction. However, by typing their thoughts, all students contributed their ideas while each having the autonomy to work at his or her own pace.

In a traditional class, the vocal few might have dominated the discussion. The backchannel gave every student an opportunity to express his or her views and to listen to voices that otherwise may not have been heard.

Ubiquitous Opportunity

Over 12 years ago, as Todd Curtis (@toddacurtis) and his teaching partner tried to get all of their eighth graders engaged in class discussions, they noticed a trend. Though students talked freely outside of class, they became silent in class. As an experiment, they jury-rigged their email system into a backchannel. Todd reports:

It was instant-amazing. All you could hear were the keys clicking. And best of all, the conversations were never lost. You could read them all.

It can be difficult to collect every student's ideas solely in a face-to-face setting. Vocal students might dominate the conversation before more reticent ones can contribute. Younger students may be more eager to share their thinking, while older ones might hesitate because of social pressures. A backchannel creates ubiquitous opportunities. In a blended environment, students and teachers can communicate through multiple modalities, allow their thoughts to develop over time, and engage in authentic learning. Across the curriculum, backchannels lead to better outcomes as learning no longer becomes confined to a desk, or a room, or even the school day.

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The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom

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Photo credit: amandagolden133 via flickr (CC BY 2.0) A backchannel -- a digital conversation that runs concurrently with a face-to-face activity -- provides students with an outlet to engage in conversation. Every time I think about this tool, I remember my student, Charlie (not his real name).

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Backchannel and the Classroom | Inside the classroom, outside the box!

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Backchannel and the Classroom | Inside the classroom, outside the box!

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Using Video Effectively in the Classroom | graphite Blog

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Using Video Effectively in the Classroom | graphite Blog

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When we show videos in class, we want our students to watch actively rather than passively: to comprehend, not just consume. We want our students to be active viewers.

But why stop at comprehension? Active viewing is great, but it isn't enough.

When it comes to video, students shouldn't just get it; they should also have something to say about it. Students need to be active and reactive viewers -- comprehending and critiquing, reading and reacting, getting and giving knowledge. Below you'll find great tools, tips, and strategies for helping to foster both of these essential media-literacy skills.

Three Essential Teaching Strategies

So how do you get your students to tune in instead of just kicking back? It all starts with setting up an essential question before you hit play. This is key to helping students watch the video with purpose and context.

From there, try any or all of these strategies to help kids think critically about what they watch.

Backchannelling

Using your essential question as a guide, have students take notes and react together, in real time, with a backchannelling tool. You can even join in on the action, and as an added bonus the backchannel creates a running record to review afterward.

Pro tip: This works great for feature films or documentaries, because it combines the film screening and discussion, maximizing class time.

Transcripts

Transcripts aren't always available, but when they are, they can be a really powerful tool. One option is to have students follow along on the transcript and annotate as they watch. Better yet, have students read the transcript before watching -- this way students can create their own essential question for the video.

Pro tip: After students read a transcript, ask them how seeing the video afterward may have altered their understanding or interpretation of what they read in the script.

Multiple Viewings

Students may not always enjoy it, but watching a video more than once is key to going from passive to active -- and all the way to reactive -- viewing.

Pro tip: With each viewing, introduce a new essential question to help students see the video in different ways.

Tips and Tricks for a Few Great Video Apps

Active Viewing

Make use of YouTube's closed-caption feature so students can watch and read at the same time, engaging different modalities. And, of course, use discretion when selecting videos -- it's always a good idea to preview anything you're going to show in class.

Use Zaption to string together multiple videos in a tour; you can also add essential questions and checks for understanding along the way.

Instead of starting a video with an essential question, add them throughout a video using EDPuzzle's audio track or comment features. This works especially well for flipped classrooms where students may watch a video individually or at home.

Reactive Viewing

Do you know that TED-Ed has a built-in tool for designing lessons that feature TED talks? It's a great way for teachers to add context to a video, but students can also use it to show what they know and create their own instructional videos.

For older students, Twitter can work great as a real-time, in-class backchannelling tool during a viewing, but it could shine even better as an asynchronous, at-home backchannel. Give your class a hashtag, assign a video, and have students post their thoughts to Twitter, using the hashtag, whenever they happen to watch.

Give students an authentic reason to watch and understand videos by having them remix a video using MediaBreaker. Remixing requires students to understand the material deeply, and MediaBreaker encourages students to add critical, socially engaged context.

Find the Perfect Video or App

Spread the Word

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Using Video Effectively in the Classroom

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When we show videos in class, we want our students to watch actively rather than passively: to comprehend, not just consume. We want our students to be active viewers. But why stop at comprehension? Active viewing is great, but it isn't enough.

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Ankeny looks for alternatives to parent conferences

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Ankeny looks for alternatives to parent conferences

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Ankeny looks for alternatives to parent conferences

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After several years of low attendance at conferences, one metro school district is looking for new ways to communicate with parents. Last spring, only 33 percent of Ankeny parents attended conferences at the district's two high schools, said Jennifer Owenson, chief human resources officer.

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Step 9: Creating and Using Video – Teacher Challenges

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Step 9: Creating and Using Video – Teacher Challenges

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Welcome to the nineth step in our free professional learning series on class and student blogging!

The aim of this step is to provide an overview of creating and using videos with students to help get you started using video or get more out of using videos.

Why educators use video

Educators use videos for a wide range of purposes including:

To motivate and engage students - students enjoy using technology to create their own videos.

Supplement or enhance a lesson to bring the topic to life

Provide instructions students can review anytime, any where - handy for when students are absent, to help students with skills they find hard and exam revision.

There are so many different ways you can use to create videos with students, ranging from quick and fast ways to create video to more creative, time consuming techniques, that it is impossible to cover them all.

Below is an overview of using videos to help get you started. We've embedded examples and included video tutorials where appropriate.

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Video creation and editing

There is a wide range of video creation and editing tools and apps that you can use to quickly create and/or edit videos.

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Animoto is a video creation that allows you to create videos from photos, video clips and music using their website on your computer or their app on your mobile device.

Animoto is a wonderful tool to use with students because it allows them to focus on content creation without needing to learn video editing or manipulation.

Using it is as simple as uploading your images, video and audio, or selecting files from Animoto's media files, and then letting Animoto mix the images, video and music together to create a professional-looking video in minutes.

Below is an example of an Animoto created by a student. Check out more student work here.

Book creator allows students to quickly create their own beautiful books. We've included Book Creator in our video section because books created using this app are often shared as a video.

Watch this video to see how to use the Book Creator app. Refer to Karen Arrington's post to learn all the different ways you can share your books including sharing as a video. You'll find numerous ideas for using Book Creator with different ages students here.

Explain Everything is an app that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations.

You'll find video tutorials on how to use Explain Everything here.

Here is another video tutorial series on using Explain Everything.

Here's an example of Grade 2 student using Explain Everything for increasing patterns.

Instagram is an online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

Instagram allows you to create video clips with a maximum clip length of 15 seconds and apply 13 video filters.

Read these posts on why Larry Ferlazzo uses Vine and Instagram videos with his students:

1. Using Vine/Instagram in the classroom.

2. Some more vocabulary videos by ELLs.

Watch this video created by one of Larry's students using Instagram.

Watch this video on how to create a video using Instagram.

You can learn more about using Instagram here.

iMovie is a free video editing software application for the Mac computers and iOS devices. Educators use iMovie if want to use free software to create or edit movies on their Apple devices. iMovie allows you to easily combine your images and photos, with audio or music, to make professional looking movies.

The iMovie app is an essential app for quickly creating movies on iOS devices.

Watch this video to learn how to use iMovie on an iPad.

Loom is a free screencasting tool available via Chrome extension. You can use on Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks. Loom allows you to record your camera and screen with audio directly from your Chrome browser. You can then download your video, embed it on your blog, or share it via social media or email etc.

Screencasting is such a versatile way to use video in the classroom. Not only can teachers make tutorials, but students can share their learning as a screencast by narrating their digital creations.

For a very simple example, students could narrate a Google Slide presentation.

Below is an example of a Loom created by Kathleen Morris.

PhotoPeach allows you to quickly upload photos to create great looking slideshows and simple quizzes. Refer to these instructions for creating PhotoPeach quizzes.

Learn more about animals on PhotoPeach

PowToon allows you to create animated videos and presentations.

Here is an example of a PowToon created by an educator.

Screen-O-matic is an easy, free way to record screencasts on your computer. You can record the screencast online using their website or download their app onto your computer.

Tom Perran uses Screen-O-matic with a Wacom Pen tablet to make instructional videos for his maths classes using his laptop.

Here is an example of a video created using Screen-O-Matic.

Lots of educators also use Screen-O-matic to create how to screencasts.

This video on " How to Participate in a Twitter Chat' by Vicki Davis was created using Screen-O-matic.

Video techniques

Creating videos can be as simple as recording a video to more elaborate videos using a range of different video techniques.

Below are some examples of different video techniques used with students.

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Digital storytelling refers to a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to create and share story. Stories through the lens is an excellent resource to help you and your students create great images and video for digital story telling.

RSA Animate Style Videos

RSA Animate style videos combine illustrations that follow along with what the speaker is saying.

Here is an example of a well known RSA Animate video.

You'll find detailed instructions for creating RSA Animate Style videos with students here.

Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.

Dolls or lego with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of re-positioning.

Here is an example of a lego stop motion video.

Learn more about making stop motion movies with students here.

Some educators use a green background in front of which moving subjects are filmed so they can add a separately filmed background to their video.

This technique is known as chroma keying. It is commonly used for weather forecasts, news telecasts, special effects in movies and video games.

Here's an example of a video created by a student using a green screen.

You'll find detail information on using a green screen with your class here.

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Copyright and videos

Video is more confusing than images because you see a lot of remixed videos online or videos using commercial music especially on YouTube.

You are free to embed any video from YouTube, Vimeo, BlipTV, WatchKnowLearn, etc. on your blog or website as long as it gives you the embed option.

That being said, you (or your students) can't necessarily use parts from videos on YouTube (or other sources) to make mashups or as part of another video. If you use any video that you are cutting, making changes to, or adding to a project, or adding audio, it is better to use creative commons content, free or public domain content or request permission from the copyright holder.

You can read more about Creative commons and free or public domain content here. Refer to The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons for comprehensive information on the use of images, curriculum docs, text and quotes, music, videos.

Watch this video on Creative Commons.

If you do use copyright content on YouTube this is what might happen:

1. The video and/or audio is pulled because of a DMCA complaint, copyright infringement or content ID match.

2. No action is taken but they might add an advertisement to your video that says 'Buy this song'.

The following videos are good for explaining video copyright to younger students.

Video hosting websites

Videos from video hosting websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Media Core, SchoolTube and Google Drive can be easily embedded into posts or pages.This is handy when you have large video files you want to add to your blog posts, want to play your video within an embedded player or want to embed a video created by someone else into your posts.

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YouTube is the most popular video sharing and viewing website on the Internet. While some schools block YouTube there are lots of educators who use YouTube to share videos they, or their students have created, or to source video resources to use with their students.

We recommend you set up a class or teacher YouTube account if you plan to upload videos or create YouTube Playlists because this helps separate your work videos from your personal videos.

YouTube Playlists are fantastic way of compiling a list, or group, of videos that play in order to share with students. When one video finishes playing the next video starts. Using YouTube playlists you can control the start and finish times of each video - this is handy if you want students to watch specific parts of videos.

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to create YouTube Playlists.

Vimeo is another popular video sharing and viewing website. Less videos are hosted on Vimeo compared to YouTube. Vimeo is less likely to be blocked in schools compared to YouTube which is why it's a popular video hosting website for uploading videos for class and for finding videos to use in class.

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Google Drive allows you upload video files up to 10 GB in size on your desktop computer or using the Google Drive app on your mobile app, and share them with select people or embed them into posts and websites.

Google Drive is a popular video hosting option for schools using Google Apps for education. Many of our Google Apps for education schools upload their videos to Google Drive and use the embed code to add to their posts.

Once you've uploaded your video to Google Drive you need to:

1. Click on the video or photo you want to embed and then click on the More icon and select Share.

2. Click on Advanced option in Share window.

3. Click on Change next to Private.

4. Click on On - Any one with a link or On - Public on the web and then click on Save.

5. Click on Done to close the Share window.

6. Click on the More icon and then Open in new Window link.

7. Click on the More icon in the new window and select Embed Item.

8. Copy the embed code.

9. Paste the embed code into your post using Insert Embed in the Add Media Window and then click Insert into Post.

12. Once your post is published you'll see your photo or video embedded.

Embed videos in posts

Videos from video sharing websites can be embedded into posts or pages by either using:

Using the Video URL

Edublogs allows you to quickly embed videos, images and other content such as Tweets and Scribd into a post or page using their URL.

Websites that you can embed using their URL are:
You embed a video using the URL as follows:
1. Copy the video's URL from your web browser's address bar while viewing the video.

For YouTube videos you need to use the video URL listed in Share this video.

2. Go to Posts > Add New or Pages > Add New or open an existing post or page in editing mode.

3. Paste the URL on a line by itself in your post/page editor.
Important URL Embed Tips
The link must be on its own line without any characters or whitespaces before or after the URL and must not be hyperlinked otherwise it won't embed.

You can tell if a URL is hyperlinked by clicking on the link. If the hyperlink button in the toolbar highlights and a link box with the option to edit appears, like the screenshot below, it means your link is hyperlinked.

Click on Remove Link icon to remove the hyperlink.

Using Embed Code

You can also embed videos using their embed code.

This is handy when you want to change the size of the video embed, remove related videos when embedding YouTube videos or are embedding from a video sharing websites where you can't use the video URL (e.g. Ted Talks, SchoolTube or TeacherTube).

Here is how you remove suggested videos using embed code:

1. Click on Share underneath the YouTube video you want to embed.

2. Click on Embed and then on Show More.

3. Deselect Show suggested videos when the video finishes.

4. Copy the embed code.

5. Go to Posts > Add New or Pages > Add New.

6. Place your cursor where you want the the video to appear and then click on the Add Media button.

7. In the Add Media window click on the Insert Embed Code tab.

8. Paste the video embed code into the embed code field.

9. Click on Insert into Post.

10. Your Add Media window will close and the embed will appear in the visual editor as shown below.

11. When you view your published post you will see your video.

We'd like you to add your voice and ideas to our ongoing conversation about student blogging by completing the following tasks:

1. Find a video on YouTube or Vimeo that you would like to share with students and embed it into a blog post using the URL method. Or choose one or more of the video creation and editing tools and try using the tool with your students or try creating something for your students using it. For example, you could create a Animoto to introduce yourself to your students and parents then embed it into your About page or you could get your students to bring photos of their holidays and create their own Animoto. Leave a comment with a link to where you've embedded the video so we can check out how you went.

2. Read through the most recent comments in reply to this step and leave a response to another person's comment.

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Welcome to the nineth step in our free professional learning series on class and student blogging! The aim of this step is to provide an overview of creating and using videos with students to help get you started using video or get more out of using videos.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Excellent Tools for Creating Videos Without Installing Software

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Free Technology for Teachers: Excellent Tools for Creating Videos Without Installing Software

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Over the years I've published some lists and reviews of free tools for creating videos online. Quite a few of those tools have been for creating simple videos that are really just automated, audio slideshows. See Animoto for an example of this. There's nothing inherently wrong with having your students use those tools, but at some point you will want to take your video projects to the next level. These are the five tools that I recommend for creating and editing videos without installing any special software.

Pixorial is the online video creation tool that I hear teachers talking about a lot lately. The thing that I like the most about Pixorial is that the video creation and editing tools are laid out in an intuitive user interface. Most users will never find themselves wondering what any of the editing tools do or what to click on next. To create a video in Pixorial you can upload pictures and raw video footage then organize that media into the sequence in which you want it to appear. You can insert transitions between elements by selecting them from the transitions gallery. If you would like to add a soundtrack to your production you can select one from the Pixorial gallery or upload your own audio files. Pixorial also makes it easy to add text to each picture or video that you upload. Just click on "overlay text" in the video editor when you're viewing the element that you want to add text to. Pixorial offers a free plan to educators. The educators' plan provides 30GB of free storage. Pixorial offers Android and iOS apps too.

WeVideo is a collaborative online video creation tool. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. The video editor provides tools for trimming the length of display and or sound of each element you add to your video project. What makes WeVideo collaborative is that you can invite other people to create and edit with you. The WeVideo Google Drive app allows you to save all of your video projects in your Google Drive account. WeVideo also offers an Android app that students can use to capture images and video footage to add to their projects.

PowToon is a nice service for creating explanatory videos through a drag and drop process. The videos that you create feature digital paper cut-outs on a colorful background. Think of PowToon as an online tool for creating videos in the style made popular by Common Craft. PowToon provides drawings of people and objects that you can arrange on blank canvas. After adding your narration to the arrangement you can publish your video. PowToon's free version limits your videos to 45 seconds.

Wideo is a service that allows anyone to create animated videos and Common Craft-style videos online. You can create an animated video on Wideo by dragging and dropping elements into place in the Wideo editor then setting the sequence of animations. Each element can be re-used as many times as you like and the timing of the animation of each image can individually adjusted. Wideo's stock elements include text, cartoons, and drawings. You can also upload your own images and audio files to use in your videos.

WIDEOO REEL ENG NEW LOGO from Agustin Esperon on Vimeo.

Weavly provides a simple drag and drop interface that allows you to search for, trim and combine tracks without ever leaving the Weavly site. You can mix together video and audio from YouTube, Vine, and SoundCloud. You can also add animated GIFs from Loopcam, Tumblr, and Imgur. To start creating your Weavly video perform a search for video content. When you find a video clip that you like drag it to the Weavly editor where you can adjust the start and end times of the clip. Then move on to adding sounds by search for sounds and draggin them to the Weavly editor where you can again trim the start and end times. Finally, you can add some animated GIFs by searching for them and dragging them into the editor. You can repeat all of these steps as many times as you like to create your video.

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Excellent Tools for Creating Videos Without Installing Software

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Over the years I've published some lists and reviews of free tools for creating videos online. Quite a few of those tools have been for creating simple videos that are really just automated, audio slideshows. See Animoto for an example of this.

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“The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher’s Reflections on an Innovative Idea” – FlippedClass.com

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“The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher’s Reflections on an Innovative Idea” – FlippedClass.com

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"The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher's Reflections on an Innovative Idea"

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By Daniel Nemerow, M. Ed. Introduction Imagine giving your classroom over to your students, allowing them to drive instruction, to take the conversation where they need it to go, and still address all of your state content standards. I'm fortunate in that I get to do exactly those things every day.

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Creative Uses for Video Cameras in the Classroom | Carolina.com

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Creative Uses for Video Cameras in the Classroom | Carolina.com

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By Heather Ferguson
Product Developer

The hand-held video camera is an easy-to-use, engaging classroom tool. Video cameras are now readily available and affordable and are very much at home in 21st-century classrooms. Videos, particularly homemade videos, appeal to today's learners. For teachers considering ways to incorporate video into learning, here is a list of ideas to get you started.

1. Film students' oral presentations. Not only does the material provide examples of the assignment for your future classes, but it also gives your students the means to improve their public speaking skills. Allow students to record themselves practicing their presentations. Then, have them review their final presentations.

2. If you maintain a class Web site, consider recording your classroom lessons and posting them onto your site. Not only will this help inform absent students, but the entire class can refer to these videos as a refresher.

3. To add some excitement to your field trips, consider implementing an idea used by Judy Jones, a biology teacher at East Chapel Hill [NC] High School. Judy divides her students into groups and lends each group a video camera to use during their annual trip to the North Carolina Zoological Park. Before the trip, she instructs students on the cameras' use. The class enjoys not only the use of the cameras but also the freedom of the assignment-to record animal behavior. You can see some of the class's video clips here.

4. Encourage your students to use video cameras to film their independent or group science projects. If you feel comfortable lending your students a video camera, allow them to film the presentations outside class. Your students will surprise you with the array of creative and entertaining advertisements, documentaries, and movies they produce.

5. With challenging laboratories, record a demonstration of the correct way to perform a procedure. Show students the video before they begin the laboratory exercise to help alleviate some of the frustration, waste, and time constraints associated with difficult labs. Click here to see how to load a gel for electrophoresis.

6. Your students will enjoy using a video camera during laboratories to record their observations of chemical and physical changes (e.g., flame test chemistry) or of living organisms (e.g., bessbugs).

7. The time-lapse setting on some video cameras allows you to capture footage of long processes that students might otherwise be unable to observe, such as the germination and growth of Wisconsin Fast Plants® and the emergence of an adult painted lady butterfly from a chrysalis. First, mount the video camera on a tripod or otherwise stabilize it so that it does not move during the filming period. Experiment with the time-lapse settings to determine the desired interval between frames. Longer intervals work with subjects that do not change quickly, such as growing plants. Consult your camera's manual for instruction on use of time lapse. Click here to see the time-lapse reaction of silver nitrate with sodium chloride, taken with a FlexCam® microvideo camera. You might also record video in real time and later make it slow-motion, for example, to slow and analyze the sequence of movements in the locomotion of a fish or bird or the movement of mouthparts in a feeding crayfish.

8. Collaborate with other schools by sharing videos from your classroom or lab. Your students then have the opportunity to see other classrooms, communicate with students at distant campuses, and compare the results of experiments.

9. Pique your students' interest in science by having them contact and record interviews with various science professionals. Scientists are often happy to answer questions, give tours, and share advice and insight with students. Be sure that a parent or other responsible adult accompanies the students to such interviews. Parents may even help film students' interviews of scientists. Share the videos with the class, and discuss the diversity of science professions. A few examples of professionals that can be included in this project are meteorologist, chemist, physicist, physician, dentist, researcher, professor, teacher, veterinarian, and botanist.

If you are interested in purchasing a classroom set of video cameras, consider the FlexCam® offered by Carolina.

As you and your students continue to work with video cameras, you will find many creative ways to enhance instruction.

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creative uses for video cameras in the classroom

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Creative Uses for Video Cameras in the Classroom

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By Heather Ferguson Product Developer The hand-held video camera is an easy-to-use, engaging classroom tool. Video cameras are now readily available and affordable and are very much at home in 21st-century classrooms. Videos, particularly homemade videos, appeal to today's learners. For teachers considering ways to incorporate video into learning, here is a list of ideas to get you started.

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6 Best Education Videos to Make for Your Classroom | Animoto Blog

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6 Best Education Videos to Make for Your Classroom | Animoto Blog

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We've updated this post with even more ways to create dynamic, multimedia lessons. Take a look at 10 Ways to Add Video to Your Classroom.
Videos are a great way to bring vibrancy into the classroom! For teachers, a video shares content in a powerful and engaging way. For students, a video encourages interaction with academic material by hand-picking images, video, music and text.

Here are 6 videos you can quickly and easily integrate into your curriculum:

Video Technology for Teachers

Introduce yourself - You'll look more approachable when you use video instead of the standard introduction speech. You can incorporate your credentials, hobbies, and favorite music all in one video.
360p Final American Politics Sample Video
To start or finish a new unit - Use video as a "sneak peek" of all the awesome information to come. On the flip side, videos are great for reviewing what you've taught. Wrap up a lesson or unit with a video of key concepts to emphasize their importance.

Book trailer - If you're an English teacher, this is definitely one of the coolest projects out there. Students make a "movie trailer" advertising a book they've read by matching a brief plot summary with complementary pictures-but no spoilers! Students will also love choosing a song that perfectly captures the mood of the novel.
Madame Bovary Book Trailer
PSA - When you teach students about recycling or staying healthy, you want those lessons to stick. Make an online video public service announcement to reinforce these ideas.

Research report - Let students engage with their research by presenting with video- they'll find appropriate pictures, video and music to demonstrate their new knowledge on topics like world cultures, historical figures, or scientific phenomena.

Scavenger hunt - Want to find out if students really "get" what you've taught? Set them loose to find examples! Give them a theme like "acute angles" or "vocabulary word: gregarious" and watch their videos bring the concept to life using examples from their own lives.

Video Technology for Students

Learn more about how to create a fun and engaging education video with just a few photos and a few minutes.

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6 Best Education Videos to Make for Your Classroom

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We've updated this post with even more ways to create dynamic, multimedia lessons. Take a look at 10 Ways to Add Video to Your Classroom. Videos are a great way to bring vibrancy into the classroom! For teachers, a video shares content in a powerful and engaging way.

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Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Wessling use notes as a reflection strategy?

2. How does video enrich the coaching session between Ms. Wessling and her principal?

3. How could you record your own practice?

School Details

Johnston Senior High School
6501 Northwest 62nd Avenue
Johnston IA 50131

Data Provided By:

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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Using Video to Improve Practice: Do It Yourself!

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High School ELA teacher Sarah Brown Wessling demonstrates how she records her own teaching practice and explains how she uses video as a reflection tool. Sarah shows how she sets up a camera to record her classroom. After recording, Sarah demonstrates how she uploads the video to her computer and takes notes about what she sees.

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Launch Video Classroom Observations With New Toolkit | Edutopia

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Launch Video Classroom Observations With New Toolkit | Edutopia

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A new toolkit from Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research provides resources to help educators leverage video observations in school communities to improve teacher practice and student learning.

Photo credit: Center for Education Policy Research Harvard University

For busy teachers, there are limited opportunities within the school day to be observed, to observe other teachers, to pause and reflect on the details of specific classroom moments, and to receive support from colleagues. Since in-person observations may be difficult to arrange, teachers may find themselves going it alone when trying out new learning, refining practice, or facing challenges in their classroom -- at times without much feedback or support.

A robust new video observation toolkit from Harvard helps address these challenges by suggesting ways of using video technology to rethink traditional approaches to teacher observation and professional development. Downloads from the toolkit include a variety of resources to help school leaders, teachers, teacher leaders, instructional coaches, and personal learning networks prepare for, launch, and evaluate the success of video observations in school communities.

Embedded throughout the toolkit are takeaways from the Best Foot Forward Project. Check out the First Year Implementation report for more details about the first phase of this related Harvard study.

Tools Snapshot

For those short on time, a few of the tools are highlighted below from the four toolkit sections. However, it's definitely worth reviewing the toolkit in its entirety for detailed recommendations and additional tools.

1. Using Video for Teacher Development

Provided tips and resources address ways that school communities can use video to enhance teacher development via self-reflection, peer collaboration, virtual coaching, formal evaluation, and the construction of video libraries. For teachers and teacher leaders, self-reflection tools include steps to analyze instruction and a rubric for assessing video observations. Teacher-leaders and school administrators will find resources for starting video clubs and using video within the context of school rounds. For instructional coaches who use video to inform coaching conversations, sample tools include a script for initial coaching conversations and a guide for conducting ongoing conversations.

The launch of a new video-observation initiative can be both exciting and anxiety provoking. Success hinges on the details of implementation, and there are many questions and challenges to address. Additional guidelines and tools in three other toolkit sections help school leaders address privacy concerns, select technology, assess community readiness, and measure project success. See below for more sample tools.

2. Addressing Privacy Concerns

3. Selecting Technology

4. Assessing Preparedness and Success

How might you use the tools above? How would you (or do you) use video classroom observation? Respond in the comments below or engage in other conversations in Edutopia's community.

Let's Rewind, Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education (2015)

Using Video to Make Classroom Observations More Fair, More Helpful, and Less Burdensome, The Brown Center Chalkboard, Brookings (2015)

Watch and Learn: Observing the PBL Classroom, Edutopia (2015)

Professional Learning Communities (Teacher Development Research Review), Edutopia (2013)

Watch a Classroom Management Expert, Edutopia (2013)

Teachers Observing Teachers: Instructional Rounds, Edutopia (2012)

More Resources From Edutopia and the Web

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Launch Video Classroom Observations With New Toolkit | Edutopia

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A new toolkit from Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research provides resources to help educators leverage video observations in school communities to improve teacher practice and student learning.

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Share Videos Through Google Drive

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Share Videos Through Google Drive

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Google Drive is an incredibly useful tool for storing and sharing files even if they have been created outside of the Google Apps suite. I use it to store screencast videos that I've created. I also use it to store video clips that I've recorded on my mobile phone. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to use Google Drive to store and share video files.

Applications for Education
On a fairly regular basis I am asked for recommendations on how to privately share videos without using YouTube. Storing your video files on Google Drive makes it easy privately share videos with students and their parents.

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How to Share Videos Through Google Drive

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Google Drive is an incredibly useful tool for storing and sharing files even if they have been created outside of the Google Apps suite. I use it to store screencast videos that I've created. I also use it to store video clips that I've recorded on my mobile phone.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Create Video-based Polls on ClipChoose

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Free Technology for Teachers: Create Video-based Polls on ClipChoose

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There is not a shortage of online polling tools to use in your classroom. Most of those polling services are simply text-based or text and images. Clip Choose is different because your polls are based on videos.

To create a Clip Choose poll you enter the URLs of up to eight YouTube videos. After entering your videos your audience then votes for their favorite video or whatever prompt you give them regarding the videos.

Applications for Education
Clip Choose could be a good tool to use to create video quizzes for a lesson about bias and propaganda. When teaching students about types of propaganda I could put two or three videos in Clip Choose and ask students to select the one that demonstrates the use of a particular propaganda technique. For example, if I wanted my students to practice recognizing the use of "glittering generalities" I would put in a video that demonstrates that method and two videos that don't.

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There is not a shortage of online polling tools to use in your classroom. Most of those polling services are simply text-based or text and images. Clip Choose is different because your polls are based on videos. To create a Clip Choose poll you enter the URLs of up to eight YouTube videos.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Ten Good Video Sources for Science Teachers and Students

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Free Technology for Teachers: Ten Good Video Sources for Science Teachers and Students

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On Sunday evening I shared a list of ten good sources of social studies videos. To keep the video source series going I've created a list of sources for educational science videos. Here are ten good sources of science videos for students and teachers.

On his website and YouTube channel Montana's 2011 Teacher of the Year Paul Anderson has uploaded more than 300 quality instructional videos like the ones about biology that are embedded below.

TED-Ed offers dozens of videos on a variety of topics in science. I created a playlist of TED-Ed videos about how the human body works. That playlist is embedded below.

Gooru is a service that aims to provide teachers and students with an extensive collection of videos, interactive displays, documents, diagrams, and quizzes for learning about topics in math and science. As a Gooru member you have access to hundreds of resources according to subject areas such as chemistry, biology, ecology, algebra, calculus, and more. Within each subject area you can look for resources according to media type such as video, interactive display, slides, text, and lesson plans. When you find resources that you want to use, drag them to the resources folder within your account. Gooru also offers you the option to add resources to your folders even if you did not find them within Gooru.

Learners TV has organized hundreds of academic videos. They've also organized more than one hundred science animations. The science animations on Learners TV are organized into three categories; biology, physics, and chemistry.

ScienceFix is the blog and YouTube channel of middle school science teacher Darren Fix. On both the blog and the YouTube channel you will find more than 100 videos demonstrating various science experiments, demonstrations, and middle school science lessons.

Bright Storm's YouTube channel offers video lessons for biology, chemistry, and physics. The videos are nothing more than an instructor lecturing with a whiteboard for a few minutes which could be adequate if a student just needs a refresher on a science topic.

NASA has a few different YouTube channels, but the one that has the most universal utility for teachers and students is NASA eClips. NASA eClips is organized according to grade level with playlists intended for elementary school, middle school, and high school.

Reactions: Everyday Science is a YouTube channel that was formerly known as Bytesize Science. I have featured a few Bytesize Science videos in the past. Reactions: Everyday Science produces short explanatory videos about the science in common elements of our lives. In the past I've featured Reactions videos about the science of snowflakes and the science of grilled cheese.

John and Hank Green's Crash Course channel on YouTube includes courses in chemistry, ecology, and biology. They're good videos, but they do go quickly so your students might have to rewind them a couple of times to catch everything.

The Spangler Effect is a YouTube channel from Steve Spangler Science. Unlike his popular Sick Science videos which are no more than short demonstrations of science experiments students and parents can do at home, The Spangler Effect videos offer longer (15 minutes or so) explanations of science experiments. The Spangler Effect videos explain the science of do-it-yourself experiments and how you can recreate those experiments at home or in your classroom.

A note about Khan Academy: I left Khan Academy off the list because it's the best known source of educational videos. Sal Khan doesn't need my help promoting his stuff.

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Ten Good Video Sources for Science Teachers and Students

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On Sunday evening I shared a list of ten good sources of social studies videos. To keep the video source series going I've created a list of sources for educational science videos. Here are ten good sources of science videos for students and teachers.

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Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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Short videos from YouTube and other sources can be quite helpful in introducing topics to students and or reinforcing concepts that you have taught. Watching the video can be enough for some students, it's better if we can call students' attention to specific sections of videos while they are watching them. The following tools allow you to add comments and questions to videos that you share with your students.

Vibby is a service for breaking YouTube videos into segments and inserting comments into those segments. To segment a YouTube video on Vibby simply grab the URL for the video and paste into the Vibby editor. Once inserted into Vibby you can highlight a segment on the video timeline. Vibby then play only the sections you've highlighted. Click on a highlighted section to add a comment to it. Videos edited through Vibby can be shared via email, social media, or embedded into a blog or website. Click here for a Vibby tutorial.

YouTube has a built-in tool for adding annotations to videos that you own. Open the video editor in your YouTube account and you can add notes, including notes with hyperlinks to other videos, to your videos. Directions for that process are available here.

On VideoANT anyone can add annotations to any publicly accessible YouTube video. To do this copy the URL of a video and paste it into the VideoANT annotation tool. Then as the video plays click the "add annotation" button when you want to add an annotation. To have others annotate the video with you, send them the VideoANT link. You are the only person that has to have a VideoANT account. Your collaborators do not need to have a VideoANT account to participate in the annotation process with you.

eduCanon is an excellent service for creating, assigning, and tracking your students' progress on flipped lessons. eduCanon allows you to build flipped lessons using YouTube and Vimeo videos, create questions about the videos, then assign lessons to their students. Once you have found a video through eduCanon you can add questions to it at any point along its timeline. Students need to answer your questions before they move on to the next portion of your chosen video. You can track your students' progress within eduCanon.

VideoNotes is a neat tool for taking notes while watching videos. VideoNotes allows you to load any YouTube video on the left side of your screen and on the right side of the screen VideoNotes gives you a notepad to type on. VideoNotes integrates with your Google Drive account. By integrating with Google Drive VideoNotes allows you to share your notes and collaborate on your notes just as you can do with a Google Document. You can use VideoNotes to have students submit questions to you and each other while watching videos. Of course, you can insert questions into the conversation for your students to answer too.

MoocNote is a free tool for adding timestamped comments, questions, and links to videos. To do this on MoocNote you simply paste a link to a YouTube video into the MoocNote editor. Once the video is imported you can start to add your comments, questions, and links. The link features is particularly useful for providing students with additional resources for learning about the topics covered in your shared videos. MoocNote allows you to organize playlists (MoocNote calls them courses) of videos according to topics that you identify.

Blubbr is a neat quiz creation service that I have raved about since I tried it for the first time nearly three years ago. Through Blubbr you can create interactive quizzes that are based on YouTube clips. Your quizzes can be about anything of your choosing. The structure of the quizzes has a viewer watch a short clip then answer a multiple choice question about the clip. Viewers know right away if they chose the correct answer or not.

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7 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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Short videos from YouTube and other sources can be quite helpful in introducing topics to students and or reinforcing concepts that you have taught. Watching the video can be enough for some students, it's better if we can call students' attention to specific sections of videos while they are watching them.

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Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Good Video Sources for Social Studies Teachers and Students

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Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Good Video Sources for Social Studies Teachers and Students

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Last week I shared a list of good sources for mathematics videos. That post was one of the most popular posts of the month despite being published during a school vacation week. Seeing the results of that list has prompted me to share lists for other subject areas. Here is my list of good video sources for social studies teachers and students.

The first source that came to mind when I started to think about this list is Keith Hughes's Hip Hughes History videos. Because of his quality work Keith was recognized as a YouTube EDU Guru last fall. Hip Hughes History is a series of short, upbeat lectures on topics in US History and World History. The videos are produced by Keith Hughes, a high school history teacher in Buffalo, New York. Keith has produced more than 200 videos. His section on US History for Dummies is a must-bookmark.

Tom Richey's videos on topics in U.S. and European history are designed for students preparing for the advanced placement tests on those subjects. Tom's videos have a slightly different, yet equally good presentation for students. I've embedded a couple of his videos below. You can find all of Tom Richey's A.P. U.S. History and A.P. European history videos here. Make sure that you also check out Tom's PowerPoint files that are used in many of his videos.

Dan Izzo has uploaded more than 3,000 videos to his YouTube channel. I've featured a bunch of the videos from this channel in the past. On this channel you will find a lot of short (2-5 minute) US History and World History videos. Most of the history videos on this channel are overviews of eras or major topics in history. The channel does not have much organization and videos on topics outside of history are mixed-in so you will have to use the search function to find gems that you can use.

PBS Video is my favorite place to find high quality documentaries. As a teacher of U.S. History I'm partial to the American Experience videos, but there are many other good programs available through PBS Video. Most of the videos on PBS Video can be embedded into your blog or website.

Crash Course offers excellent videos on U.S. History and World History. The videos are fast-paced ten to twelve minute overviews of major concepts and themes. One of World History videos that I've featured before is The Dark Ages... How Dark Were They, Really?

On Timelines.tv you can find six timelines of important eras in U.S. and European history. Each timeline includes short (3-10 minute) videos about people and events in the era. The timelines also include pictures and short text descriptions. The six timelines currently available are A History of Britain, The American West, Medicine Through Time, American Voices, The Edwardians, and Nazi Germany. More timelines appear to planned for publication in the future.

Gooru is a service that aims to provide teachers and students with an extensive collection of videos, interactive displays, documents, diagrams, and quizzes for learning about topics in math, social studies, and science. As a Gooru member you have access to hundreds of resources according to subject areas such as social studies, chemistry, biology, ecology, algebra, calculus, and more. Within each subject area you can look for resources according to media type such as video, interactive display, slides, text, and lesson plans. When you find resources that you want to use, drag them to the resources folder within your account. Gooru also offers you the option to add resources to your folders even if you did not find them within Gooru.

C.G.P. Grey produces all kinds of interesting and educational videos. Some of the videos are a bit too cheeky for some classrooms, but most of them are acceptable for classroom use. Some of the recent videos on the channel are Vatican City Explained and Can Texas Secede from the Union?

The U.S. National Archives YouTube channel offers a mixed bag of videos that include everything from old propaganda films like this one to lectures from historians to short lessons about items in the National Archives.

The Smithsonian has many channels on YouTube. The one that I want to highlight is the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History YouTube channel. Here you will find playlists about the museum, its exhibits, and short lessons based on the work of the museum.

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10 Good Video Sources for Social Studies Teachers and Students

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Last week I shared a list of good sources for mathematics videos. That post was one of the most popular posts of the month despite being published during a school vacation week. Seeing the results of that list has prompted me to share lists for other subject areas.

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Free Technology for Teachers: A Seven Part Guide to Video Editing Fundamentals

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Free Technology for Teachers: A Seven Part Guide to Video Editing Fundamentals

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Wistia is a great video hosting tool that I've written about in the past. Besides using it to host videos, I've used it to convert video file formats.

Wistia's learning center offers a lot of good advice for new and veteran video creators. Recently, they published a new seven part guide to video editing basics. The guide covers choosing your editing software, transferring footage and organizing projects, finding and assembling the best takes from live action video, trimming the head and tail of footage, adding music and B-roll, exporting a proof, and wrapping-up the project. Each part of the guide includes sample videos to demonstrate the topics discussed.

Applications for Education
Wistia's seven part guide to video editing basics was created for people who want to make videos for their small businesses. That said, the concepts in the guide are universal and could easily be applied to videos that your students create.

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A Seven Part Guide to Video Editing Fundamentals

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Wistia is a great video hosting tool that I've written about in the past. Besides using it to host videos, I've used it to convert video file formats. Wistia's learning center offers a lot of good advice for new and veteran video creators. Recently, they published a new seven part guide to video editing basics.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Video Creation

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Free Technology for Teachers: Video Creation

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This page is designed to introduce and show you how to use various free video creation resources.

The process of creating and publishing videos can be a great way to get students excited about researching, storytelling, and sharing their work with an audience. For teachers who have never facilitated video creation projects in their classrooms, choosing the right style of video and the right tools can be a bit confusing at first. To help bring clarity to the styles and tools, I have a rather simple outline that I use in my video creation workshops. That outline with suggested tools for creating videos in each style is included in the PDF embedded below. You can download the PDF here.

The playlist embedded below demonstrates many of the tools featured in the PDF above.

The playlist embedded below demonstrates how to create flipped video lessons.

Click here to learn how to create choose your own adventure videos in YouTube.

WeVideo is probably the most robust online video editing program that you will find accessible to students. The playlist below provides a series of tutorials to help you get started using it.

Shadow Puppet Edu makes it easy to create a video on an iPad. An overview of the app is embedded below.

Wideo is a great tool for creating animated videos online. The webinar recording embedded below provides a detailed overview of how to use the service.

Once your students have created their videos you will want them to share them. You could use YouTube for that or you could try one of the methods featured below.

Google Apps for Education users can have students upload their videos to Google Drive and then share them just as they would share any other file in Google Drive. The videos will play in Google Drive. Complete directions for that process can be found here.

One of the many features of Padlet is the option to upload files to any note on a Padlet wall. If your students have made short videos or compressed the file, they can upload their videos directly to notes on a Padlet wall.

Dropbox users can utilize DropItToMe to have students upload video files to a Dropbox folder. DROPitTOme is a free service that works with Dropbox to allow people to upload files to your Dropbox account without giving them access to the contents of your Dropbox account. DROPitTOme works by synchronizing with your Dropbox account. After connecting the two services DROPitTOme provides a url that you can give to others to upload files to your Dropbox account. You must specify a password that has to be entered before an upload can take place. Give the url and password to those people you want to be able to upload files to your Dropbox account.

If your students are using iPads that are on running the latest OS they can use the AirDrop feature to share their videos with you and with each other.

Finally, students who have created videos that teach a lesson can upload those videos to Next Vista for Learning. Next Vista does review the videos to make sure they meet the content guidelines before they go live on the web.

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This page is designed to introduce and show you how to use various free video creation resources. The process of creating and publishing videos can be a great way to get students excited about researching, storytelling, and sharing their work with an audience.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Six Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks

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Free Technology for Teachers: Six Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks

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As I've written many times over the years, creating videos is one of my favorite classroom projects. Recently, I shared some of my tips for planning classroom video projects. Shortly after publishing those tips I was asked for a recommendation for creating videos on Chromebooks. Here are some of my go-to video creation tools to use on Chromebooks.

WeVideo offers the most features of any of the tools in this list. It is an online video creation tool that I have written about many times over the last few years. WeVideo offers templates that new users can follow to create their first videos. Advanced WeVideo users can skip the templates, use the full editor, and apply themes to their videos by choosing them from the themes menu in the editor. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. WeVideo's Google Drive app allows you to save all of your video projects in your Google Drive account. WeVideo also offers an Android app and an iPhone app that students can use to capture images and video footage to add to their projects.

Wideo is a neat video creation service that allows anyone to create animated videos and Common Craft-style videos online through a simple drag-and-drop process. A couple of months ago Wideo started offering templates to help users start their video projects. Wideo templates provide a basic framework for a video's theme. A couple of the templates that might be of interest to teachers are the slideshow template and the curriculum template.

PowToon is similar to Wideo and is also a great tool for creating animated videos online. PowToon provides a drag-and-drop editor for creating animated videos. The videos that you create feature digital paper cut-outs on a colorful background. Think of PowToon as an online tool for creating videos in the style made popular by Common Craft. PowToon provides drawings of people and objects that you can arrange on blank canvas. After adding your narration to the arrangement you can publish your video.

Within YouTube there is a free tool for creating audio slideshows. You supply the images and YouTube supplies the audio track. You can pick from thousands of audio tracks to match to your slides. After adding your slides and selecting an audio track you can add speech bubbles to your slides. I demonstrate all of these steps in the video embedded below.

Last year at the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp a number of us used Stupeflix to create videos. Stupeflix doesn't require users to register in order to produce a video. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to use Stupeflix to create a video without registering on the site.

For creating a screencast video on a Chromebook TechSmith offers Snagit for Chrome which supports creating screencasts that you can save into your Google Drive account. To use the screencasting option in Snagit for Chrome you will have enable the both the Snagit for Chrome extension and the corresponding Snagit Chrome app. The Snagit Chrome extension is what allows you to capture your screen. The Snagit Chrome app allows you to save your screen captures in your Google Drive account. You do have to install both the extension and the app for Snagit to work correctly.

Topics like this one and many others will be covered in depth during the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp on July 18th and 19th. Discounted early registration is now available. Group discounts are available. Email me richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com or click here to learn more.

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Six Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks

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As I've written many times over the years, creating videos is one of my favorite classroom projects. Recently, I shared some of my tips for planning classroom video projects. Shortly after publishing those tips I was asked for a recommendation for creating videos on Chromebooks.

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Here's my contribution to the TouchCast VideoImport collaborative channel. #touchcast #TouchCast

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FlippedPD | Engage and Transform Teachers with Meaningful PD

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FlippedPD | Engage and Transform Teachers with Meaningful PD

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Free Technology for Teachers: Wideo, WeVideo, and Magisto - Three Good Tools for Creating Videos Online

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Free Technology for Teachers: Wideo, WeVideo, and Magisto - Three Good Tools for Creating Videos Online

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This morning I received an email from a reader who was looking for a video creation tool that offers project themes like those that you can find in iMovie. Here are three nice online video creation tools that I frequently recommend to teachers. All three of these tools have themes and or templates that you can apply to your videos.

Magisto is a video creation tool that allows you to quickly drag videos and images from your desktop and or Google Drive account to your Magisto account. From the videos you upload, Magisto will select the best portions to remix and blend with images. After you've uploaded the media that you want mixed, select a theme and music for your video. Magisto creates your video after you've completed the steps of uploading media, selecting a theme, and choosing music. The final video is emailed to you. In addition to the web-based service Magisto offers a Chrome app, an Android app, and an iPad app.

Wideo is a neat video creation service that allows anyone to create animated videos and Common Craft-style videos online through a simple drag-and-drop process. A couple of months ago Wideo started offering templates to help users start their video projects. Wideo templates provide a basic framework for a video's theme. A couple of the templates that might be of interest to teachers are the slideshow template and the curriculum template.

WeVideo is an online video creation tool that I have written about extensively over the last few years. WeVideo offers templates that new users can follow to create their first videos. Advanced WeVideo users can skip the templates, use the full editor, and apply themes to their videos by choosing them from the themes menu in the editor. In the video editor you can upload your own media clips or use stock media clips to produce your video. WeVideo's Google Drive app allows you to save all of your video projects in your Google Drive account. WeVideo also offers an Android app and an iPhone app that students can use to capture images and video footage to add to their projects.

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Wideo, WeVideo, and Magisto - Three Good Tools for Creating Videos Online

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This morning I received an email from a reader who was looking for a video creation tool that offers project themes like those that you can find in iMovie. Here are three nice online video creation tools that I frequently recommend to teachers.

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Annotate Videos Through Vibby

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Annotate Videos Through Vibby

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Vibby is another service that I featured yesterday and this morning fielded a couple of questions about how to use it. The video embedded below demonstrates how to highlight and comment on videos through Vibby.

Applications for Education
As I mention in the video, Vibby could be a good tool to have students use to analyze presentations.

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Vibby is another service that I featured yesterday and this morning fielded a couple of questions about how to use it. The video embedded below demonstrates how to highlight and comment on videos through Vibby. Applications for Education As I mention in the video, Vibby could be a good tool to have students use to analyze presentations.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Try Vialogues to Build Discussions Around Videos

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Free Technology for Teachers: Try Vialogues to Build Discussions Around Videos

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I've featured VideoNotes a few times over the last year because it is a good tool for building discussions around YouTube videos. It's a great tool, but it doesn't work with videos that aren't already hosted online. Vialogues is a free service that allows you to build online discussions around videos hosted online and videos that you have saved on your computer.

Registered users can upload videos to Vialogues or use YouTube videos as the centerpieces of their conversations. After you have selected a video from YouTube or uploaded a video of your own, you can post poll questions and add comments that are tied to points in the video. Your Vialogue can be made public or private. Public Vialogue's can be embedded into your blog or website. Embedded below you will see a Vialogue that I started around John Green's video about the Vikings.

Applications for Education
Vialogues could be a great tool to use to publish questions for your students to answer while they are watching a video that you have created or found online. You could also use the comments in Vialogues to simply call attention to a specific point made in a video. I'm thinking that I would write comments like, "make sure you know this when you write your essay."

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Try Vialogues to Build Discussions Around Videos

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I've featured VideoNotes a few times over the last year because it is a good tool for building discussions around YouTube videos. It's a great tool, but it doesn't work with videos that aren't already hosted online. Vialogues is a free service that allows you to build online discussions around videos hosted online and videos that you have saved on your computer.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Try EDpuzzle's Chrome Extension to Save Videos for Flipped Lessons

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Free Technology for Teachers: Try EDpuzzle's Chrome Extension to Save Videos for Flipped Lessons

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EDpuzzle is a neat tool allows you to add your voice and questions to educational videos. Recently, thanks to David Kapuler, I learned that EDpuzzle offers a Chrome extension. EDpuzzle's Chrome extension enables you to save YouTube videos directly to your EDpuzzle account. This means that instead of having to search within EDpuzzle for videos you can simply browse YouTube like you normally do then just click the EDpuzzle extension to save the video. Once a video is saved you build your questions around it.

For those who haven't tried EDpuzzle, it is a nice tool for building flipped video lessons. You can insert into saved videos your own voice comments and text comments. You can also create a series of questions to go along with your chosen video. Questions are inserted along a timeline that matches the video. That means that your students don't have to wait until the end of a video in order to answer the questions you've created.

Applications for Education
EDpuzzle can be a good tool to use to create short review videos or flipped lessons for your students. You can also have students use EdPuzzle to annotate videos by pointing out important aspects of videos by using the voice comments option and or the question building option.

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Try EDpuzzle's Chrome Extension to Save Videos for Flipped Lessons

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EDpuzzle is a neat tool allows you to add your voice and questions to educational videos. Recently, thanks to David Kapuler, I learned that EDpuzzle offers a Chrome extension. EDpuzzle's Chrome extension enables you to save YouTube videos directly to your EDpuzzle account.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Plate Tectonics - Video and a Google Earth Lesson Plan

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Free Technology for Teachers: Plate Tectonics - Video and a Google Earth Lesson Plan

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MinuteEarth recently published a new animated video about plate tectonics. The videos does a nice job of explaining how the movement of tectonic plates is measured. The video also illustrate the forces that cause tectonic plates to move. The video is embedded below.

After your students watch the video above you might want to use one of the featured projects on the Google Earth educator's page about plate tectonics. The lesson was developed by Cheryl Davis for 5th and 6th grade students. The lesson uses Google Earth to help students understand plate boundaries and plate subduction.

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Plate Tectonics - Video and a Google Earth Lesson Plan

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MinuteEarth recently published a new animated video about plate tectonics. The videos does a nice job of explaining how the movement of tectonic plates is measured. The video also illustrate the forces that cause tectonic plates to move. The video is embedded below.

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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A teacher recently emailed me because she was searching for some tools that she could use to add questions and clarifying notes to videos that she shares with her students. These are the options that I suggested.

YouTube has a built-in tool for adding annotations to videos that you own. Open the video editor in your YouTube account and you can add notes, including notes with hyperlinks to other videos, to your videos. Directions for that process are available here.

On VideoANT anyone can add annotations to any publicly accessible YouTube video. To do this copy the URL of a video and paste it into the VideoANT annotation tool. Then as the video plays click the "add annotation" button when you want to add an annotation. To have others annotate the video with you, send them the VideoANT link. You are the only person that has to have a VideoANT account. Your collaborators do not need to have a VideoANT account to participate in the annotation process with you.

eduCanon is an excellent service for creating, assigning, and tracking your students' progress on flipped lessons. eduCanon allows you to build flipped lessons using YouTube and Vimeo videos, create questions about the videos, then assign lessons to their students. Once you have found a video through eduCanon you can add questions to it at any point along its timeline. Students need to answer your questions before they move on to the next portion of your chosen video. You can track your students' progress within eduCanon.

VideoNotes is a neat tool for taking notes while watching videos. VideoNotes allows you to load any YouTube video on the left side of your screen and on the right side of the screen VideoNotes gives you a notepad to type on. VideoNotes integrates with your Google Drive account. By integrating with Google Drive VideoNotes allows you to share your notes and collaborate on your notes just as you can do with a Google Document. You can use VideoNotes to have students submit questions to you and each other while watching videos. Of course, you can insert questions into the conversation for your students to answer too.

Blubbr is a neat quiz creation service that I have raved about since I tried it for the first time nearly three years ago. Through Blubbr you can create interactive quizzes that are based on YouTube clips. Your quizzes can be about anything of your choosing. The structure of the quizzes has a viewer watch a short clip then answer a multiple choice question about the clip. Viewers know right away if they chose the correct answer or not.

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5 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos

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A teacher recently emailed me because she was searching for some tools that she could use to add questions and clarifying notes to videos that she shares with her students. These are the options that I suggested. YouTube has a built-in tool for adding annotations to videos that you own.

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Free Tools for Creating Whiteboard Videos

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Free Tools for Creating Whiteboard Videos

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One of the many things that we tried today in my Future Schools workshop was creating whiteboard instructional videos. Someone in the group suggested using those videos as layers in Aurasma that would trigger when students scanned a geometric shape. Even if you don't use Aurasma to showcase your videos, whiteboard videos can be helpful in helping students understand a process or concept. Here is a handful of tools for making whiteboard videos.

Clarisketch is a free Android app that has great potential for classroom use. The app allows you to take a picture or pull one from your device's camera roll and then add your voice to it. While you are talking about your picture you can draw on it to highlight sections of it. Completed projects are shared as links to the video file hosted on Clarisketch. You can share the link to your Clarisketch video and have it play on nearly any device that has a web browser. Clarisketch is also available as Chrome app.

PixiClip is a good option for creating simple instructional videos in your computer's web browser. PixiClip provides a whiteboard space on which you can draw, upload images to mark-up, and type. While adding elements to your PixiClip whiteboard you can talk and or record a video of yourself talking. In fact, you can't use the whiteboard without at least recording your voice at the same time. Recordings can be shared via social media, embedded into blog posts, or you could grab the link and include it on webpage.

30hands is a free iPad app that makes it very easy to create a narrated slideshow and or whiteboard video. To create a basic narrated slideshow on 30hands all you need to do is import images from your iPad's camera roll then press the record button below each image to record your narration. If you don't have any pictures on your iPad you can take pictures using the 30hands app. 30hands also allows you to draw images instead of importing pictures. You can combine imported pictures with drawn images in your presentations. And you can draw on top of imported images. When your project is complete you can save it on your iPad or share it with the 30hands community.

Knowmia Teach is an iPad app for creating instructional whiteboard videos. The app allows you to create your video on a slide-by-slide basis. You can draw and talk on slides in the app. You can pause the app between slides. Images can be inserted into the backdrop of each slide which is great when you want to explain a diagram to students. An option for recording your face on each slide is also including in Knowmia Teach.

ScreenChomp was one of the first whiteboard iPad apps. Other apps have surpassed it in terms of optional features, but ScreenChomp still shines when it comes to ease of use. ScreenChomp provides a whiteboard on which you can demonstrate things by drawing and talking people through your instructions. You can draw and talk over a blank whiteboard or you can upload an image and draw on it while you're talking. Either way, ScreenChomp records your voice as you go. When you're done recording ScreenChomp provides you with a unique URL for your recording. Share that URL through email, social media, or post it on your blog for students to watch.

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5 Free Tools for Creating Whiteboard Videos

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One of the many things that we tried today in my Future Schools workshop was creating whiteboard instructional videos. Someone in the group suggested using those videos as layers in Aurasma that would trigger when students scanned a geometric shape.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Vibby - Break YouTube Videos Into Segments With Commentary

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Free Technology for Teachers: Vibby - Break YouTube Videos Into Segments With Commentary

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Vibby is a new service for breaking YouTube videos into segments and inserting comments into those segments. To segment a YouTube video on Vibby simply grab the URL for the video and paste into the Vibby editor. Once inserted into Vibby you can highlight a segment on the video timeline. Vibby then play only the sections you've highlighted. Click on a highlighted section to add a comment to it. Videos edited through Vibby can be shared via email, social media, or embedded into a blog or website.

Applications for Education
Vibby could be a good tool to use when you want to share with your students just a few pieces of a larger video. Using the comments in highlighted sections could be a good way to call attention to important parts of a video or to add further explanation to a section.

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Vibby - Break YouTube Videos Into Segments With Commentary

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Vibby is a new service for breaking YouTube videos into segments and inserting comments into those segments. To segment a YouTube video on Vibby simply grab the URL for the video and paste into the Vibby editor. Once inserted into Vibby you can highlight a segment on the video timeline.

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Free Technology for Teachers: More Than 500,000 Historical Video Clips

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Free Technology for Teachers: More Than 500,000 Historical Video Clips

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This post comes from the "in case you missed it department." Last week the Associated Press announced the publication of more than one million minutes of archival footage on YouTube. That footage is being published in collaboration with British Movietone. A sample playlist is embedded below.

Applications for Education
Much of the footage in the AP and British Movietone archives is under two minutes. The short clips could be good as supporting material to add to a reference page for students. In general, students will need the larger historical context in order to appreciate the video clips.

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More Than 500,000 Historical Video Clips

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This post comes from the "in case you missed it department." Last week the Associated Press announced the publication of more than one million minutes of archival footage on YouTube. That footage is being published in collaboration with British Movietone. A sample playlist is embedded below.

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Free Technology for Teachers: An Easy Way to Create Video Blog Entries

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Free Technology for Teachers: An Easy Way to Create Video Blog Entries

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One of the things that I always mention in my workshops on classroom blogging is the idea that blog posts don't have to be limited to text. In fact, they don't need to have text at all if you are having students make video blog entries. Posting video blog entries can be a great way to have students share reflections on things they have learned and experience in your classroom during a week.

Blogger makes it easy to create video blog entries. The following screenshots outline the process for posting video blog entries on Blogger. (The directions assume that you already have created a blog on Blogger).

1. Select the video icon in the post editor.

2. Choose "from your webcam" then grant Blogger access to your webcam. Finally, click record.

3. Use the recording button to stop and start the video recording.

4. Click select to insert your video into your post.

5. Publish your post just like any other Blogger post.

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An Easy Way to Create Video Blog Entries

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One of the things that I always mention in my workshops on classroom blogging is the idea that blog posts don't have to be limited to text. In fact, they don't need to have text at all if you are having students make video blog entries.

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Videos on Making Flipped Video Lessons

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Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Videos on Making Flipped Video Lessons

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Creating flipped video lessons is one of the topics that I frequently receive questions about in my email inbox. I've started putting together some videos about how to use various tools for creating and sharing flipped video lessons. In the videos embedded below I demonstrate how use EduCanon, VideoNotes, EDpuzzle, Versal, and Otus to create and distribute flipped video lessons.

Disclosure: Versal is currently advertising on FreeTech4Teachers.com.

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5 Videos on Making Flipped Video Lessons

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Creating flipped video lessons is one of the topics that I frequently receive questions about in my email inbox. I've started putting together some videos about how to use various tools for creating and sharing flipped video lessons. In the videos embedded below I demonstrate how use EduCanon, VideoNotes, EDpuzzle, Versal, and Otus to create and distribute flipped video lessons.

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10 Awesome Tips for Teachers Using YouTube in the Classroom

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10 Awesome Tips for Teachers Using YouTube in the Classroom

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Jonathan is a certified teacher who has taught in the UK and in the US. He now works as a Digital Learning Consultant.

The YouTube Paradox

YouTube is an amazing resource for the classroom, and it is increasingly hard to ignore. YouTube has over 1 billion users with 300 hours of video are uploaded to its servers every minute. People spend hundreds of millions of hours watching YouTube and they generate billions of views all over the world.

There are countless examples of educational videos on YouTube that are invaluable for teachers in the classroom. Every curricular area can benefit in some way from the treasures that it holds. However, YouTube is not without its problems. There are many examples of distracting or just plain inappropriate content, and that can be hard for educators to navigate. So, here are some tips on how to overcome these issues when using YouTube in the classroom.

1. Block YouTube Video Ads

There's no denying the fact that ads pay for many of our favorite, free websites. YouTube is no exception, but at the same time, they are a clear distraction in the classroom and a quick way to shift student attention from the task at hand to something that is clearly unrelated. Many can be skipped after the first five seconds, but others are 20 seconds or more.

To minimize this disruption, try an ad-blocking browser extension like AdBlock Plus. It is available for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and more. It is designed to block banners, pop-ups, malware and video ads on all websites, including YouTube. It is not always 100% effective, but you should see a noticeable improvement once it is installed. Another great option is the AdBlock extension. It has a similar name, and does very similar things, so feel free to compare and contrast.

The Pros & Cons of AdBlock Browser Extensions

2. How to Hide the YouTube Sidebar and Comments

Ads are undoubtedly an annoyance when using YouTube in the classroom, but the videos in the sidebar and the comments underneath can be just as annoying. You can, of course, go full screen with your videos to hide these distractions, but they are still there when you share the link to a video with students, or exit full screen mode. So what can be done about that?

A number of websites and browser extensions exist to help with this problem. Websites like SafeShare.TV, ViewPure, and Quietube let you paste the URL from a YouTube video into their search box to give you a clean, distraction-free view of your video. There are no comments, sidebars or ads to get people off task.

Another solution is to use something like Turn Off the Lights, a browser extension that is available for all modern browsers. This handy tool dims everything around a video so that it is no longer visible and focuses the attention on what you want people to be looking at. For even more options, Chrome users might want to take a look at Magic Actions, an extension that allows a deep customization of your YouTube experience.

3. Remove 'Suggested Videos' on an Embedded YouTube Video

Embedding a YouTube video on your classroom website or on an LMS is a great way to eliminate many of the distractions you encounter on YouTube. However, at the end of the video you will still see YouTube's suggested videos for what to watch next, and these are not always the most appropriate thumbnail images for the classroom. Fortunately, there is a way to turn that off. Here's how to do it.

1. Underneath the video that you want to embed, click the Share button and then Embed to find the HTML embed code you need.

2. Below the embed code, you should see and option that says Show More. Click this to reveal additional options for your embedded video.

3. Uncheck the box that says Show suggested videos when the video ends.

4. Now copy the embed code that you need for your website.

When you uncheck this box, the HTML embed code is modified so that your students will no longer see suggested videos at the end of your embedded video! It is a quick and easy fix.

4. How to Enable YouTube's Safety Mode

As you are probably well aware, not everything on YouTube is suitable for the students that you teach. YouTube has strict rules over the types of content it allows users to upload, but that still doesn't preclude everything that you might hope that it would. One way to avoid the more unsavory content is to enable the Restricted Mode in YouTube.

The Restricted Mode, formerly known as the Safety Mode, is available at the bottom of any page in YouTube, and it lets you hide videos that contain content that has been flagged by other users as inappropriate. It is by no means 100% accurate, but it will cut down on at least some of the less desirable content in your browser.

You can toggle it on or off at the bottom of the screen but you should note that it only applies to the browser that you are currently working in. Students are able to go in and toggle this setting on and off for their own devices, but at least you will see less inappropriate content when you have your computer connected to a projector, or when searching for content to use with your class.

5. Start YouTube Videos at a Specific Time

Have you ever wanted to share a YouTube video with students, (or other teachers), and wished that you could start it half way through the video instead of at the beginning? Well, you can! Simply tap the Share button under the YouTube video you found. This will open the sharing menu where you will see an option to check a box to start the video at a given time. Choose the time that you need the video to start at and you will get a custom URL that, when clicked, will start the video at precisely that point. You can also right-click on any video and select Get video URL at current time for the same effect.

6. Trim the Beginning and/or End of YouTube Videos

Starting a YouTube video at a specific point is useful, but what if you only need 3 minutes from the middle from a 22 minute video? TubeChop.com is a free website that lets you trim the start and end point of a video so that you can share only the edited version with others.

TubeChop is easy to use. Simply paste the URL of the YouTube video that you want to chop, then move the pink sliders to the beginning and end points that you want to use. When you have them set to the times you need, click Chop for an edited version. You can share the URL to this video with others, or use the embed code to add it to a website or blog.

7. Turn Off the Autoplay Feature in YouTube

Are you often caught out by YouTube's autoplay feature that will automatically play the next video when the one you are watching has finished? Well, you are not alone. Thankfully it is easy to fix. Simply look for the Autoplay switch in the top right hand-corner while watching a video. Flip the switch to the off position and, as long as you are signed in with your YouTube account, you will never again have to endure videos starting right after the one you just watched!

8. Add YouTube Videos to PowerPoint Presentations

Did you know that Windows users can add YouTube videos to PowerPoint 2013, or later? It is a handy trick to know if you are presenting at a conference, sharing new ideas at a professional development day, or delivering a lesson to students. Best of all, it is very easy to do. Here are the steps you need to follow in order to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint 2013 or later:

1. On the Insert tab in PowerPoint, click Video > Online Video...

2. Paste the URL of the YouTube video in the YouTube search box and press Enter on your keyboard.

3. Make sure the highlighted thumbnail on the next screen resembles that of the video you want, then click the Insert button.

4. Resize the video player on the slide to the size and position you want it on the screen.

In step 2, (above) you can also choose to paste the embed code for the YouTube video in the search box that says From a video embed code, then click Enter on your keyboard to insert the video. This will often achieve the same end product.

YouTube videos that you add to PowerPoint may not be immediately available to play until you enter presentation mode. However, you can right-click any video that you add and select Preview to make sure that this is the video that you need.

Bonus tip: You can use the same method to add a YouTube video to Microsoft Word documents! This can be a great way to add interactivity to a handout or study guide and is another way to use YouTube in the classroom without using YouTube.com.

9. Take Notes on a YouTube Video with Videonot.es

Many teachers today are flipping their classrooms, or asking students to watch instructional videos at home for homework. A useful tool to complement an assignment of this nature is VideoNot.es. On this website, students can paste the link of a YouTube video, and take notes alongside it as it plays.

Notes are timestamped and synchronized to the video as you type, and you can click back on the notes at any time to see what was being played at the video when you wrote those notes. It is a great tool, but does require students to sign in with a Google account, because it saves all your notes in Google Drive. VideoNot,es is free and well worth checking out if you have not seen it before.

10. Add Questions to a YouTube Video

Another great option for flipped classrooms, or for giving students more accountability over the videos you ask them to watch, is the option to add questions to a YouTube video. This is a great way to check for understanding. There are a number of free tools available that will let you do this. They include:

All of these services collect data for the teacher that shows how well students answered the questions that were added to a given video. This data can be invaluable to help inform future planning. Adding questions, or other interactive elements, also makes the viewing experience less passive for the student, and could potentially keep them more engaged in the content you are asking them to watch.

How to Add Questions to a YouTube Video in EDpuzzle

YouTube for Schools

There are many schools that still ban YouTube because of the potential for misuse. However, if you employ some, or all, of the tips above, you can greatly reduce the harmful elements that some districts are still wary of. Will you ever be able to fix everything? Probably not, but when used judiciously, there are few better ways to engage students in their learning.

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10 Tips for Teachers Using YouTube in the Classroom

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Jonathan is a certified teacher who has taught in the UK and in the US. He now works as a Digital Learning Consultant. YouTube is an amazing resource for the classroom, and it is increasingly hard to ignore. YouTube has over 1 billion users with 300 hours of video are uploaded to its servers every minute.

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Free Technology for Teachers: How Students Can Create Movies and Digital Posters With Artifacts from the National Archives

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Free Technology for Teachers: How Students Can Create Movies and Digital Posters With Artifacts from the National Archives

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The National Archives Experience Digital Vaults is one of the resources that I almost always share in my workshop on teaching history with technology primary sources. The Digital Vaults offers good tools that students and teachers can use to create content using images and documents from the National Archives. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how students can create digital posters and movies in the National Archives Experience Digital Vaults.

Applications for Education
Creating a short video featuring artifacts from the National Archives could be a great way for students to summarize a topic or theme in US History. When I've used it with students in the past I have asked them to demonstrate an understanding of the connections between the artifacts that they chose to use in their videos.

Please note that the Digital Vaults website loads a lot of media when you visit it for the first time. Give it ten seconds or more to load everything before you start to create and investigate. It also helps to be using an updated browser (Chrome or Firefox are best).

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How Students Can Create Movies and Digital Posters With Artifacts from the National Archives

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The National Archives Experience Digital Vaults is one of the resources that I almost always share in my workshop on teaching history with technology primary sources. The Digital Vaults offers good tools that students and teachers can use to create content using images and documents from the National Archives.

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Free Technology for Teachers: Updated Page of Video Creation Tools and Tutorials

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Free Technology for Teachers: Updated Page of Video Creation Tools and Tutorials

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It was recently, and correctly, pointed out to me that the video creation resources page on FreeTech4Teachers.com was terribly outdated. This evening I began to rectify that situation by removing the old information that was on the page and replacing with updated tutorials.

On the video creation resources page you will now find a PDF outlining six types of video projects, a playlist of videos about making flipped videos, a playlist of videos about making audio slideshow videos, a playlist about WeVideo, and a webinar recording about making animated videos.

I will be updating the page again later this week when I finish the next guide that I am developing.

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Updated Page of Video Creation Tools and Tutorials

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was recently, and correctly, pointed out to me that the video creation resources page on FreeTech4Teachers.com was terribly outdated. This evening I began to rectify that situation by removing the old information that was on the page and replacing with updated tutorials.