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In this episode, we are talking about all the different ways you can curate videos to share with your students. Last week, we discussed how to create videos for a mastery-based classroom, so today we thought we would share a variety of tools you can use to store these videos.

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Show Notes

This week, we are going to go over different options to curate some of those instructional videos you may create for your students. We wanted to share some different ideas we have, as well as some different tools that you can use to keep things organized, keep videos easily accessible, etc.

Your Google Drive can really get cluttered and filled so quickly when using tools like Screencastify or other apps that save directly to your Drive. And with the new storage rules for Google Drive, this can become quite complicated, and quickly – videos take up a lot of storage!

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To top it off, if you use Screencastify Editor to edit a video, Screencastify creates a copy of the video to keep the original intact, and then you are editing a copy of the file – essentially double the file storage!

We definitely need some systems in place in order to find videos we have created and share them with our students quickly and efficiently.

Here are ten possible tools for you to consider for curating instructional videos that you have created.

YouTube

YouTube is a pretty amazing tool that teachers and students have become quite comfortable with, both in school and at home. It can also be a great tool for curating videos for your courses!

Pros: YouTube is pretty easy to use, and it is linked to your Google account. Create your playlists to help keep you organized, but don’t rely on students having to access here, necessarily.

Cons: There have been some significant updates to student accounts that have led to a number of cons with respect to using YouTube. Our biggest advice: don’t make this the only place that you store videos, because students under 13 are blocked from YouTube entirely, and under 18 years can’t necessarily view playlists.

Here are all of the changes that have occurred for education accounts.

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A couple of cons that we have observed so far:

  • Students are unable to embed a YouTube video in Google Slides. They can go onto YouTube and find a video, however they can’t embed that video. One workaround is to have them insert the link, and then have the teacher go back in and embed it using that link.
  • Students also can’t upload videos on YouTube.

A workaround for playlists is to embed the playlist to a Google Site, or even to your LMS and have students watch from there. There are a few questions we have about about whether or not this will work for sure, or if students will have access issues, but we are pretty sure that this should work.

All of these changes are just for Google for Education Workspace accounts, so their personal accounts do not have these same limits.

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle is an excellent option for curating videos and sharing them out with students.

Pros: This tool has many pros to consider.

  • It gives you the option of adding interactive questions to check for students understanding. Don’t feel like you have to use this feature though, just because you are considering EdPuzzle.
  • You can also search YouTube to add videos to EdPuzzle. So if you are choosing to curate your videos on YouTube, it’s an easy way to now make those videos accessible to your students.
  • You can upload your own videos from your Drive
  • You can create your own videos right from EdPuzzle! We didn’t mention this last week, however this is a tool that can also be used to create your instructional videos as well as curate.
  • Direct connection to Screencastify! If you are using Screencastify to create your videos, then there is an easy-to-use connection to get your videos shared to EdPuzzle
  • Does not require students accounts in order to view or interact with videos. From the video itself, go into preview mode and share that link out. It seems weird because it calls it a teacher preview, but it isn’t.
  • Ability to assign it to an open class to be able to track progress. For detailed instructions on how to create an open class, check out Episode 029! This is a great way to curate videos. Consider creating a different open class for each week, unit, etc. – a whole course would be too chaotic!

Cons: EdPuzzle is a freemium tool. You get 20 videos worth of storage for a free account. That being said, you can always share your refer code with a friend or colleague, and if they sign up using that link you both get 3 additional free videos to your accounts – here are the referral links for Katie and Rachel!

Wakelet

Wakelet is another great way to curate videos! We have previously dedicated a whole episode to Wakelet, so be sure to check that out here!

Pros: So many pros, so let’s list them out for you.

  • It is easy for students and teachers to access.
  • You can add all of your links here – docs, slides, websites, videos, etc.
  • Videos embedded on Wakelet are distraction free – no ads, no recommended videos – just the video itself.
  • Great tool for creating hyperdocs – so many great features to access here.

Cons: The organization of lessons can be tricky! Consider using the spaces feature, creating a space for each unit. You can also embed wakes within wakes to streamline and organize it.

Google Slides & Google Docs

Sometimes the simplest tools or apps can be the best fit for your purpose. While Google Slides and Docs may seem a bit basic, there are ways to really take advantage of these tools to curate your instructional videos and materials.

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Pros: Where to begin?

  • Slides make it easy to embed video, links, etc. and share out with students
  • With the new smart chips, you can even use Google Docs. When you insert a YouTube video link in a doc, you will see a prompt that tells you to hit ‘tab’ to insert the smart chip for you. If you click on the smart chip, you can then watch it from a preview window within that doc, or you can open it in a new tab.

Genial.ly

Genial.ly is an interactive presentation tool that allows you to click on different things; it has pop out windows, or if you hover over something an information box will appear, or you can send students off to a link. It’s similar to ThingLink.

Pros:

  • It makes images or presentations interactive, which is key to making lessons engaging
  • You can embed YouTube videos within your Genial.ly presentation, along with any other links or activities you want students to complete.
  • Free templates for you to use
  • You can get embed codes once you have published your genial.ly – so it’s easy to embed in your LMS, such as Brightspace.

Cons:

  • It is a freemium tool; that being said there are lots of options available in the free account
  • Everything you create is posted publicly for others to view and/or use – you need a paid account to make these private.

Learning Management System (LMS)

Your LMS is potentially the perfect solution for curating videos you have created for your courses. You don’t necessarily need a third party app to curate your instructional videos.

Pros:

  • It’s a tool that you have to use, so why not take advantage of it?! Students will feel comfortable accessing it since it is the tool that they are supposed to be using anyhow.
  • One of the benefits of curating videos on your LMS is that you can embed videos directly into your LMS, and they look great!

Cons:

  • Screencastify videos don’t always embed properly in some LMS (like Brightspace), so videos won’t always play for students. Instead, consider posting to YouTube, and embedding that YouTube video in the LMS.
  • Google Sites do not embed into most LMS platforms

Google Sites

Google Sites is another solution. You can easily post and curate videos on a Google Site, and direct students to that site from your LMS.

Pros:

  • Google Sites is logical, well set up and easy to use for students and teachers
  • Can easily organize and embed videos into various lessons on a site.

Cons:

  • The biggest downside to Google Sites is that it doesn’t embed into most LMS platforms. You could still share a url that students could click on to access the site, but not as idea as embedding cleanly.

Google Drive

Perhaps we should have started with this one! It is certainly the most obvious choice for curating videos. Depending on the volume of videos you are creating, Drive could be the perfect solution.

Pros:

  • Drive is a tool that teachers and students use on a regular basis.
  • Can create nested folders, using a consistent naming convention to keep videos organized (00, 01, etc.)
  • You can take the videos from Screencastify, and have shortcuts of each of the videos organized within a different folder for students to access. You can also have subfolders for the individual skills as needed.
  • You could also create a Google Docs and link in the videos as a table of contents. It helps you to visualize what has been completed, and what still needs to be created.

Cons:

  • Storage! I know we’ve already spoken about it, but sometimes storage is a big deal!

Google Forms

Google Forms may not seem like the most likely choice at first, but there are definitely some benefits to considering this tool for curating videos with questions for students to answer. The best part? no real cons to discuss!

Pros:

  • Each lesson can be a separate Google Form, with videos directly embedded along with a few questions for understanding and/or reflection
  • Forms can be easily embedded in sites or LMS platforms.
  • Google Forms now autosaves so that students don’t lose work.

At the end of the day, you don’t want too many tools or apps for students to use in order to complete your lessons. Keep it simple, and always go back to your purpose and what you are looking to accomplish. Once you have determined your purpose, find the tool that works for you, and stick with it!

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