Getting YouTube Videos

In many schools, YouTube is blocked by filters due to concerns with inappropriate content being on the site that kids could access. However, there are a lot of fabulous video resources that could be used in an educational context that are also being blocked. Still, if you have access to YouTube at home, there are ways to download the videos to your laptop to be played in class. This also solves problems with slow streaming speed (videos stopping and starting as they load).

Step One - Downloading
Downloading the video using a Firefox Extension
If you have Firefox (or Flock) as your web browser, there is a very handy Add-on that you can install for free into Firefox that will allow you to download videos from YouTube and other similar sites. It is called Download Helper. When it is installed and you are on a page with a specific video, you will see a group of coloured balls rotating next to the URL address. Click on the down arrow next to the balls and you will see the flv file for that video that you can then click on to download.

Downloading the Video Using Online Services
This site asks you to paste in the web address of your video and then it will download it. It also offers a free FLV player to download to view videos.

Zamzar is another site for getting videos but it has the added advantage of letting you choose what format you would like the video. It converts the video and then sends you an email with a link to download it.


Downloading the video using Mac software Tube TV
If you have a Mac, you have another option if you download a free application called TubeTV. You open up the application and then use the search within the program to locate a video that you want. Then you can click on the black download arrow. This program also has additional features such as automatically converting the video to other formats from flv which makes it easy to play back.

Step Two - Playing Back Movie
If you don't use TubeTV to convert the file, you will have an flv file which won't play in either Quicktime or Windows Media Player. I will quickly cover options for fixing this for both Mac and PC users.

Perian Plugin for Quicktime on a Mac
First, go to the Perian website and download this plugin and follow installation instructions. Perian will now be added to the bottom section of your System Preferences window. Open your downloaded video in Quicktime and the flv file will now play. VLC player can also be downloaded for Macs but Perian means that you can still stay within Quicktime rather than have to use a different player.

VLC Player on a PC
This is freeware software that you can download and install. If you open up your downloaded video file in VLC, it will play without any problems. If you still want to play your video within a popular player such as Windows Media Player, there are other applications and plugins that you can install. Check out this website to get instructions.