Does YouTube Work in Your Classroom?

It’s time for the Wednesday Website suggestion!! For two years, I was the Technology Specialist at a school in Georgia. During that time, I amassed a large collection of websites that I use with my students. If you want to search through some of them, you can check out my IKeepBookmarks site. Or, you can check back here each week for the Wednesday Website suggestion.

We all know that educational videos can be a wonderful asset in the classroom.  However, many schools have blocked websites like YouTube in an effort to keep students safe.  If your school blocks YouTube, than this week’s Wednesday Website Suggestion is for you.  I personally can access YouTube, but many other sites that provide videos are blocked to me – because I do not live in the US. 
So, this website suggestion actually has 6 websites!  There are 5 websites where you can access some great, free, videos to help give your students a new way to look at curriculum – all of these have videos that can be seen overseas.  The last website is one to help you save YouTube videos to your computer in an effort to show them to your class.  Disclaimer – Check the licensing on the YouTube video before you download it, not all are available for this option.

1.)  National Geographic Videos – The kids sections of the National Geographic website has great videos, for both science and social studies, including videos on countries, animals, interviews with famous scientists.
2.) History Channel Videos – On the History Channel’s website, you can view full length videos of many regular shows from the TV channel, including Modern Marvels and How the Earth was Made.  You can also search for videos based on topics, such as Vietnam War or American Presidents.
3.)  PBS Video – While I cannot access the videos on PBSKids overseas (if you can access these – they are wonderful!), I can access videos on the PBS Video site.  On this site, you can find full length videos of many regular shows from the TV channel, including Frontline and American Masters.  You can also search for videos based on topics, such as History or Technology.
4.)  WatchKnowLearn.org – This site is an organized grouping of videos found on other sites.  You can stream these videos right on their site, but be warned that some of the videos are YouTube videos.  However, not all videos are from YouTube, many are from other websites.  The best part of this site is that it is organized by age and educational subject – including videos for math, language arts, technology, and holidays.
5.)  TeacherTube – Similar to YouTube, but this site should hold only videos to be used by teachers and students. 

6.)  Ilivid – If you still can’t find what you are looking for anywhere but YouTube, this site provides you with a free and easy software that will allow you to download YouTube videos directly to your computer, to be watched when you don’t have access to YouTube.  Disclaimer – Check the licensing on the YouTube video before you download it, not all are available for this option.

Do you have another great site for educational videos?  If so, please leave a comment, so that we can all learn from each other!