An Overlooked YouTube Feature

YouTube contains many useful features that are frequently overlooked. One of those features is using your YouTube channel to store videos even if you don't make them public. Another overlooked aspect of YouTube is that it can serve as a file conversion tool for some video formats.

When you upload videos to YouTube you don't have to make them public. Since YouTube doesn't limit how many files you can upload, you can use your YouTube channel to simply store your video files for free. When you need the files, you can download them at anytime.

Occasionally, you may have a video file that you need converted to MP4. In that case, upload it to your YouTube channel. Once it has been uploaded and processed, you should be able to download it as an MP4. I recently did this with an AVI file.

Check out the screenshots below to see how to download your files from YouTube. (This only works with videos that you own and are in your YouTube account).

Click image for full size.

Click image for full size. 

I'll be sharing many more tips and tricks like this one in my upcoming workshop at the Ed Tech Teacher Google Jamboree in Medfield, Massachusetts. Please join us, it is going to be fun!

How to Collaboratively Create Video Playlists

YouTube is full of handy little features that many people don't notice or use. One of those features is the option to collaboratively create playlists of videos. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to collaboratively create a playlist of videos.


Applications for Education
There a lot of great educational content on YouTube. The challenge that many teachers and students have is finding and keeping track of it all. Turn on the collaboration feature when you start a playlist and work with your colleagues to develop lists of educational videos for your students. Or, as I suggest in the video, have students collaborate to create a playlist of helpful videos.

At the EdTechTeacher.org Google Jamboree in Medfield, Massachusetts on December 5th I'll be running a workshop all about the great features of YouTube that teachers can use.

YouTube - It's Not Just Cats & Khan Academy

Early next month EdTechTeacher.org is hosting their second annual Google Jamboree in Medfield, Massachusetts (not far from Boston). When I was asked to present at the event I immediately said yes. It's going to be a great day of learning about all things Google Apps in education. My workshop is titled YouTube - It's Not Just Cats & Khan Academy. In the workshop we will learn how to use many of the frequently overlooked features built into YouTube.

Some of the things that you'll learn in my workshop at the Google Jamboree on December 5th include the following:

1. Creating photo slideshows. The YouTube photo slideshow creation tools allow you to specify the length of time that each image is displayed for. After uploading your images you can use the annotations tool to add as much text as you like to each frame of your video. See the video embedded below for a primer on this.


2. Create slow-motion videos. The most recent addition to the YouTube editing tools is an option to record videos with a regular speed camera and then turn that into a slow-motion video. Directions for doing this are available here.

3. Blurring faces in your videos.

4. Stabilizing shaky footage and adding color/ light filters to your videos.

5. Privacy settings for sharing videos.