Using Video Clips

Sometimes a video is just too long.  Or, maybe only part of the video is really applicable to a lesson.  I recently ran across a couple of options that can help you when you need something short, but powerful, to show your class.

The first option is called, “Class Hook.”  Unfortunately, this site may be blocked in your district. (It is blocked in mine.)  If it isn’t, then you may want to search the site by topic for short clips from all kinds of videos that might make the statement you need.  The library seems to be fairly large.  You can search by subject, show, subject, or grade level. When you choose a clip, it will list Common Core connections.  As always, preview videos before showing them to your class to be certain they are appropriate for the students you teach.

The second option will take a bit more time, but works well for videos you have already found on YouTube if you are using them in Google Slides.  You can copy the YouTube link for the original video, then go to Insert-Video in Google Slides.  Once the video is on a slide, you can then click on “Video Options” to choose the part that you would like to show in your presentation. (If you don’t see “Video Options in your toolbar, click on “More” to display it.)

If you are not using Google Slides, or it doesn’t seem to be cooperating with you, there is a third option.  One of my students wanted to show part of a TED video for his Genius Hour presentation, and Google Slides would not embed the short clip we kept inserting from YouTube. (When you click on “Share” in YouTube, you can choose an option for where the video should start, but the link generated did not work in Google Slides for us.)  There are, of course, many options for downloading YouTube videos to edit – but quite a few are unreliable, costly, or unsafe for your computer.  I was frustrated with how to help my student – and then I remembered EdPuzzle.

EdPuzzle is a free tool for creating “interactive” videos.  You can assign video clips with questions, record over the video, and keep track of student progress.  You can learn more about EdPuzzle’s features in this nice presentation from Travis K. Wood.  The option that saved a couple of Genius Hour presentations for us this year, though, is that videos can be “cropped.”  You can choose a specific ending and beginning of the video that you have imported, and then share the link of that newly cropped video.  Although Google Slides does not allow for us to actually embed the cropped video into a slide, we can include the link and go directly to the video that imparts the relevant information.

Let me know if you are aware of any other easy way to find and/or create video clips for class!