Thing #20 "Tube"ing the Info..."shZAMZAR!"

I have been using YouTube and to a lesser extent TeacherTube seems like FOREVER...and probably in 2.0 terms it has pretty much been that long! Not sure where I would place the "tubes" on my scale of greatest thing since sliced bread, but it would be close to the top...guess you could say it is all a part of the broader resource videostreaming. Which IS very close to the top.
YES...I know videostreaming can be a pain inside our district, but the "concept" is fantastic and the experience will become that once again when the district gets all its little ducks in a row...

And YES, YouTube is blocked...mostly because there are blockheads out there that upload junk that wouldn't be good for schools to have popping up. But as much as I want things open...it really doesn't concern me too much at this point about YouTube...
#1 because educators have now discovered TeacherTube and are uploading much of their material there instead of the broader based YouTube.
#2 the little handy-dandy little gem of a tool called ZamZar that will take your YouTube video and convert it to something that will play in the district.


As with many things technology, I worked around the YouTube issue with a conversion program that required a player. Worked pretty well, once you got all the pieces in the right place, but then my colleague LP found this nifty little conversion program that converts a YouTube video into a format that will use a video player that already exits on your computer.

You submit the video to the site, they convert it and email you the results! It is so simple...YES it still has to be done at home because you initially have to access the video from YouTube. And that's a good thing. Means that you have to preview the material before using it!

It's free...you do not need to register unless you want some special additions. You do have to claim your conversion withing 24 hours of its arrival in you email. And the conversion can come fairly quickly...I have gotten mine from a few minutes to a couple of hours later. They were relatively short videos.

They have extended their conversion services beyond just YouTube. From the ZamZar blog site, they list the following video sources that they can convert:
Youtube
Google Video
Myspace
Revver
PutFile
Break.com
Apple Trailers
Dailymotion
Metacafe
IFilm
Grouper
Blip.tv
Just copy the link from the video site and paste it into the "Add URL" box on our URL file conversion page

So I hope blocked video sites and the ease of conversion will give you more freedom in using these useful tools and resources in your lessons, for you patrons, and for fun...when appropriate!

For the purpose of this Thing, I selected this video that Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis created and uploaded to TeacherTube.

If you STILL need to be convinced about 21st learning & teaching and the NEED for technology to be a apart of this change, maybe her message will help you. It's pretty simple & straightforward to me. But I have to admit...my cheese has been moved. I do still worry about the guppies in my pond!

Not much left now...will touch base with you again soon!

Froggy