No YouTube? No Problem!

You've scoured the internet for an instructional video, and you have found one that's perfect! Unfortunately, the video is on YouTube, which cannot be accessed from the classroom. You could always convert the YouTube video using a site such as Zamzar, but all you really want to be able to do is click and play! Explore these free alternatives to YouTube which provide safe, classroom friendly,  instant access to the video lessons you desire.

School Tube was created specifically for teachers and students to upload, view and share videos. Teachers and students can also create their own classroom channel, too!  Most educational YouTube videos can usually be found on School Tube with a simple search. If the YouTube video isn't on School Tube, no worries! As long as you have the YouTube URL, you can import it into SchoolTube.

 By the end of the year, WatchKnowLearn will have over 50,000 educational videos.The search directory is categorized by title, description, subject and age level, all teacher-guided.

Explore features over 250 original films and 30,000 photo slide shows from around the world with accompanying lesson plans which are written for use in the K – 12 classroom and are connected to grade level national standards. The films and lessons profile the following: environment, education, human rights, public health, philosophy, animal welfare, and also documents world leaders and individuals who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. This site is similiar to Discovery Streaming. Teachers can share, embed, and download these videos.

For a complete list of 47 additional YouTube alternatives, click here.

Website of the Week

 Symbaloo is one of  my favorite social bookmarking sites! It allows teachers to create a page of resources, all in one place, for instant access. Student's don't have to copy mulitple URL's. But wait! There's more! Symbaloo is social. There are Twitter, Facebook and YouTube widgets available which allow you to not only post to those sites, but connect with your friends and students to see what links they are recommending! Check out my symbaloo page for Rockin' Technology!

Tip of the Week

Save any file as a PDF file in Office 2010 by going to File, Save As, then in the Save as Type drop down choose PDF.