YouTube for Learners

I love I can look up and instantly start learning at anytime on YouTube.  There are so many amazing tutorials made by so many different people I don't always know where to start!  This can also be a little overwhelming for young learners.  And, I am always looking for ways to keep content for learners with the least amount of distractions as possible.  But the real question is, how??

First, you can view all videos in full screen mode to help eliminate advertisements, comments, and other suggested videos.

But, did you also know you can combine the power of Google Slides with YouTube?  By using the video URL and embedding a video in Slides you have more control over what your learners see.

Now that the video is embedded on a Slide, right-click to select Format Options. Here you can adjust the start and stop time of a video, along with other formatting options.

Use these features to help keep learners focused on the content. Do you notice a difference in how your class responds to videos shared using these tips?

Posting Videos to YouTube

When having learners, or yourself, uploading video projects to YouTube I would encourage you to check the settings for privacy.  A learner was working on a project and found their own video linked to a website they had never come in contact with before.  It is a very strange feeling to find your work somewhere you have never actually been asked to share with before.

An option for sharing using YouTube is to Unlisted so that the projects can only be accessed by those who have the link.  This can be achieved when uploading projects from an iPad or a computer.  Here are step-by-step directions for uploading a video from the iPad.

Sign into your school Google Drive and allow Google to access your account information

Upload the movie file from your iPad to your YouTube Channel

Enter a Title and Description for the project

Select Standard Definition

Enter Tags related to the content area

For Category, select Education

Select Unlisted so that only individuals with the link can view the video.

Then Publish

Also, here are directions for uploading to YouTube from a computer:

Keep these instructions for when you have a video project later!  

Safely View Videos from YouTube

I know it's not easy managing what students see when they connect to videos on YouTube.  It is so disheartening to be watching one thing and then another video starts playing before you can stop it.  The next video usually has some sort of connection, but it is so easy to get led down a path and turn up in a spot where you don't want your students watching.  I encourage the use of SafeShare.Tv.

SafeShare.TV allows individuals to enter a URL for a YouTube video and generates a new URL that takes away all the extras from YouTube, so that viewers only see the stop, pause or play buttons for the video.  And, the links never expire!

As with most tools, there are many options available, for free, to provide this service. This is just one that I feel works really well for the students I work with every day.