YouTube Tips for the Classroom Teacher

When using technology tools in a project based learning environment, teachers are often faced with some unsettling challenges. Sometimes these challenges prevent them from trying many of the teaching and learning resources available on the web. Recently, I was made aware of some faculty and student concerns using iMovie with YouTube in the classroom.

Three of the most common were:

• how to prevent ads from showing up during class presentations 

• how to shorten videos in YouTube to smaller clips 

• problems with uploading iMovie videos (for those with iPads and MACs who are using this app).

Here are some solutions...

How to eliminate Ads and/or crop movies:

There are several ways to eliminate Ads, but here are options worth considering. (Note that Ads display in two areas; the bottom banner and on the right side bar.)

1. Watchkin - new app that cleans up a video page, eliminating comments and ads.

2. AdBlock Plus (not to be confused with AdBlock) at the Chrome app store, will prevent Ads from showing on your video.

3. Using Google Slides, you can easily embed a YouTube video onto a slide without students viewing the side bar Ads and previews to similar videos. Unfortunately, the bottom banner Ads will sometimes display. Google Slides is a better option to Power Point when embedding movies, so I highly recommend this app.

4. SafeShare TV: allows you to crop videos and eliminate Ads.

5. YouTube Editor: has some interesting video editing tools that can be found at their site if you want to explore further. You can also crop movies at this location.

(Note: There is also a Chrome app, Turn Off the Lights; however, for educational purposes, students can sometimes still faintly see the background if the dimming option is not set to 100%, so be cautious when using this app. It does a great job for making your view more pleasing!)

How to solve issues with iMovie upload to YouTube:

1. Sometimes you may experience issues when uploading video directly from iMovie to YouTube. Issues could be related to security settings in your educational environment that may block student uploads or the file size could simply be too large. To troubleshoot, try these steps:

1. By default, you can upload videos that are up to 15 minutes long. If you have a longer video, you need to adjust settings for YouTube to accept it.

2. If you are having trouble uploading, try downloading your movie to your desktop first and then open YouTube and upload it from there. 

STEPS:

• In iMovie, Click the Share button on the top menu bar.
• Select the File icon. (It looks like a movie strip).
• Save your movie to the desktop. 

Once it is saved to your desktop:

• Log in to YouTube and click on the Upload button at the top of the page.
• Enter the name, category, and any other info you want for your video.
• Click on "Upload a video".
• Click on the Choose File button and choose your video file from the desktop where you saved it (not from iMovie).
• Click on the Upload Video button. (Note: it may take a few minutes for your video to upload).

3. For school's that block student uploads, you may need to use a teacher account to publish student work to the web.

4. Looking for a web based solution? You can always use another option to iMovie. iMovie is one of the best apps on the MAC/iPad devices, but there are others available (however, robust editors usually have a fee). Check out a good web based alternative, WeVideo Chrome app for similar results. Try the free version at this website: www.wevideo.com

For PC users, try downloading the free program, Windows Movie Maker to edit movies on a PC.