I also tell my colleagues that, even if they cannot get to YouTube at school in order to grab the URL for Zamzar or its cousins, a simple Google search for "youtube keyword keyword" (sans quotes) will produce results that include the direct YouTube URL listed under each result in green. They can simply copy and paste this URL directly from a Google search into Zamzar or its cousins.

First the kids find ways around, now the teachers are sharing. I LOVE it! (Can you hear the tech directors screaming?!)

Bravo! (no sarcasm intended, honest. Love it!)

I've been looking for these ideas. I use Zamzar, but not always as convenient as I would like. Thanks for sharing!

Joyce,

Great information. I've posted about your post in my blog...

Larry

Thanks, Larry and Ernie and Dave and Darcy. I don't think this "go around" is disrespectful or classifies as true hacking. In fact I suspect the powers that be never intended to block the good stuff and are happy that we can get to it.

Great info, Dr. V! I, too, love Zamzar and VLC but will try the new ones. I hope many will try this and not just give up on using great content.

#9: Miro - educationaltechnology.ca/couros/643

#10: Freedom Sticks - educationaltechnology.ca/couros/656

Thanks for this Joyce, great list!

when oh when will districts differentiate between teachers, kindergartners, middle school, highs school students,etc
Mind blowing!

Another great site is vixy.net ...it's another FLV converter and will bring the YouTube vid straight to your desktop or USB drive...

Whoah! I was at a library conference and the speaker said this is not legal. When you read Youtube's user agreement, it states Youtube can only be viewed as it is and not downloaded into another format. I haven't checked this out, but does anyone know this?

What to do when UTUBE is blocked? Duh. Read a book

This is a good time to discuss the downloading of YouTube via third party applications. I agree with "Bob" about the YouTube agreement. Here is a portion of the Terms of Use:
4. General Use of Website-Permission and Restrictions
C. You agree not to access User Submissions (defined below) or YouTube Content through any technology or means other than the video playback pages of the Website itself, the YouTube Embeddable Player, or other explicitly authorized means YouTube may designate.

So, is the use of the sites above legal or not? I will leave that to you folks to decide.

Before I say "no" to this, I will try to contact the YouTube folks after the holiday. (No email, just phone number.)

In another statement, they advise: "Our community guidelines and clear messaging on the site make it clear that users must own or have permission from copyright holders to *post* any videos.
We take copyright issues very seriously. We prohibit users from *uploading* infringing material and we cooperate with copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content."
(My asterisks)

My question is, is it fair use if you don't post and simply use the file temporarily in a classroom? Are we okay if we do contact the creator of the video?

As a person that is involved in the tech side of things, but also values YouTube, please understand that streaming video is extremely bandwidth intensive, and a group of kids streaming YouTube content is problematic for all other users. It's easy to bash the tech department, but there are some legitimate issues for blocking streaming content. While there can be many explanations for blocking a site like YouTube, your school may not simply have enough bandwidth to support this use.

Joyce,
Please understand I too am just asking a question. I have been one that has used 3rd party tools to download YouTube videos for classroom use. However, after being involved in some discussions on Twitter and Plurk I felt that as a person that wears the hat of IT and integration that I better follow my own advice as being a "digital citizen" and chose to stop using 3rd party applications. I too try to work with teachers and help them integrate YouTube videos when appropriate but have to answer to everyone in the district when it eats up our bandwidth.....just as David Jakes addressed. The gentleman I work with along with myself have 12+ years in the classroom and see the importance of several YouTube videos but also have to answer to CIPA and COPPA as a result of E-Rate funding. Therefore, we do at times feel handcuffed when it comes to providing availability to different educational resources.

I use aTube Catcher. It's free and you can download the videos in several formats.

I prefer .avi, that way I can play them in the computer or in a DVD player that reads avi files.

Thanks for the resources and especially the conversation about the legal issues. We've been promoting tools like Zamzar and keepvid for these purposes for a while now, but I'm curious to hear what you learn regarding capturing YouTube and Fair Use.

Everyone (and Dean),
I've written to the YouTube folks and await an answer re Fair Use. I am trying hard to be a good digital citizen too. But what if we ask the creator's permission? What if we use the file in our classrooms and do not upload and repost? That seems like Fair Use to me. I'll keep you posted as soon as I get clarification.

Dave, I don't think anyone in this thread was trying to blame the tech admin. Most of us get both sides of this story. We get the potential for abuse. But as for bandwidth, this may be the time to rethink it. We need to plan for the reality that valuable information now comes in larger containers, containers we didn't originally plan for. What are the next steps for districts? How do we justify blocking YouTube and leaving so many other streaming sites open? It's like blocking Google. (I know, I know, some districts do!) We are all struggling with new realities.

I use mediaconverter.org and download an .avi file to a jump drive. Then teachers can load the video an watch it in class. We only use ones that have educational value and they are erased afterwards.

Two other thoughts to this debate, that I have yet to see. Why is Google not developing a 'Educational' YouTube? They know schools filter, and will continue to filter, so let's have a YouTube, and YouTube Lite that is monitored. They would draw more revenue from advertising, so it is a win-win. Then on that note--besides copyright violations and bandwidth concerns, what about existing advertisements and what will surely increase with Google over YouTube? When do we say enough to exposing our students to that? NC State and the Friday Institute are developing a safe, ad free video hosting site for school systems (The Fizz Environment) that I think should be a model for all.

Our Tech people trust the librarians enough to give us the network filter passwords. This enables us to use our discretion as to WHEN a student has a legitimate need for YouTube videos. We are not allowed to share that password with ANYONE, including teachers. It works pretty well.

Great Information,

You could also download RealPlayer and it will allow you to download any flash video on the web. You will notice once you go over a video with your mouse download not bar will pop up.

I use that and I love it, because I can automatically put it in my SmartBoard file.

Darko

My role in school crosses the tech/teacher interface so I hope I'm able to see both sides of the argument. Whilst I recognise the issues which might cause YouTube to be blocked, I'd suggest we ought to be looking for ways of addressing those issues, rather than looking for 'workarounds.' Downloading the video only shifts the problem elsewhere - instead of bandwidth, it becomes one of storage capacity.

Would be right in thinking this is more to do with <b>inappropriate</b> use of an Internet service i.e. YouTube? Maybe we ought to be looking for solutions which help (cajole?) people with their behaviour rather than technical solutions?

I absolutely agree, Ian. Great points! I think that many of us are lobbying for policy shifts and advocating for the need for increased bandwidth and guiding learners toward appropriate use. I suppose the need for the workarounds stems from so many of so excited about the stuff we discover that we might use with learners in our classrooms tomorrow. Some things just won't wait.

I absolutely despise bloody doo gooders who have to "write to YouTube" to ask if its ok to use their videos. Get over it. Every shared video on YT has an embed code so you can share it. People who write in because they are scared of their own shadow make life difficult for us all. Effing Box ticking do rights!!

I am an assistant media specialist in a high school where blocking YouTube has become an important issue. There are many videos that our teachers would like to use in their curriculum but, with increasing security, it is blocked. It used to be that teachers could have a special access code to show a particular video but as of last year, they are not permitted to have one. The administration feels it would still be compromised. I agree with those who feel we should be teaching appropriate useage.

Joyce, Sorry for the late post. We are struggling with the You Tube Terms of Use. Did you ever get a response from them? I was ok with showing people tools like Zamzar and keepVid, but due to issues with streaming videos from the You Tube site where sometimes questionable images appear on the sidelines from so-called "similar content", our district wants to make it a policy that teachers never live stream from UTube, they must preview and download the video using one of these tools. Before we put that in writing, I want to make sure that it is legal! Any light you can shed on this would be helpful! Thanks!

Why not a sophisticated centralized collection point similar to archive.org, that provide rankings and state standards correlation, etc., requiring a school email address for access? Just as tv stations are required to provide educational programming, host sites should be required to offer up educational programs. The understanding could be added to their user policy. Thanks for bringing this conversation upfront! I've linked this to the "Technology in Education" twine at twine.com.

If your school computer lets you acess C: Drive and only blocks youtube.com through firewall, you can try to acess "

TOUTUBE

You totaly forgot the main one here:

youtube-downloads.110mb.com

It knows all native YouTube video formats: HD, MP4, FLV, 3GP videos, multiple simultaneous downloads, preview video, auto start download, skip already downloaded files, clipboard monitoring, drag & drop from IE / Firefox, proxy support, etc. Program size only 39Kb!!

I use it a lot!

Or you could use a web proxy like youtubemusic.info to bypass filters and directly access youtube.

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really great sites, thank you,

I want to say thanks!,

Best Wishes,

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What?,

What?,

None of this works sadly... My computer is so tight it can't even go into the C:/ drive or the control panel...

if it doesnt allow u to access ur harddrive then if there r icons on ur desktop(shortcuts) then right click 1 and click find target and it will open up the program files.
Hope i helped

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