Save YouTube Videos and Website Screenshots

At our school, as it probably is at many schools, YouTube is blocked.  So what do you do if you want to show a video that you found on YouTube in class?  Well, there are lots of options, but the most straighforward is to save that video to a file on your computer so you can watch it any time (or anywhere) you want.  Even more generally, what if you want to show a webpage that you can’t access at school, or embed a picture of that webpage into a Powerpoint?  Again, you can save a screenshot of that webpage to a file on your computer.  But how?

This is where my handy dandy bookmarklets come into play.  A bookmarklet is like a regular web bookmark, except that it has a little program written into it (in the web programming language called JavaScript) to do various tasks.  You don’t need to install anything.  Here are the two bookmarklets:

Download YouTube Video

Save Webpage Screenshot

Remember, these are not ordinary bookmarks, they are little programs written in a language that your web browser understands.  Here’s how to use them:

1. Click the above links, and find the bookmarklets (update: sorry, WordPress prevents me from posting the bookmarklets directly)
2. Use your mouse to drag the bookmarklet links to your web browser’s bookmarks.
3. Go to the YouTube page that has the video you want.
4. Click on the “Download YouTube Video” bookmarklet in your browser’s bookmarks.
5. A small link is created in the user’s profile box called “Download as MP4″.
6. Click that link to save the video!

The “Save Webpage Screenshot” is similar, except it takes you to another website (called Aviary) that captures a screenshot of the website you’re currently on and allows you to do some simple editing before you save it to your desktop computer.

By the way, the YouTube video that you save will be in a particular video format (called H.264 MP4).  This is pretty much the standard computer video format these days.  It’s compatible with iPods, PSPs, and more.  If you’re on a Mac, Quicktime should be able to play these video files.  If you’re on a PC, either install Quicktime or the awesome VLC video player in order to play them.

Embed Frequently-Accessed Info on Your Wallpaper

All of the useful things that people do with their real desktops are still useful on your computer’s desktop.  For example, some people use a desk calendar so they can quickly check dates.  Personally, I’m always checking my calendar to plan due dates for student projects or to adjust my unit plans for re-teaching of concepts.  Also, teachers often post the bell schedule on their classroom walls (I also kept a copy taped to my desk), but you’re not always in your classroom.  Something that you use so frequently should really be easily and quickly accessible.

So, why not add the calendar and bell schedule to your computer’s desktop wallpaper?  There are a lot of programs that you can download (desktop widgets) that will embed calendars on your desktop, but they use up computer memory and are often not as customizable as you’d like.  (Of these, I personally like the very customizable Rainmeter)

Let’s make this a lot simpler, though.  Just use an image editor and overlay text on top of your favorite wallpaper with the bell schedule.  Save the file and set it as your background.

For the calendar (which changes every month), you want to be able to update it monthly.  I found this website, Big Huge Labs, that will add a calendar to your image and let you save the resulting image.

After you’ve set the image as your desktop wallpaper, whenever you want to quickly check the calendar or bell schedule, just show your desktop (on Windows, use the keyboard shortcut: Windows-key + D) and there it is!  Here’s my current wallpaper:

My desktop wallpaper on my school computer has the schedule and calendar embedded

Do Everything Online

As we know, teachers are not the most highly-paid professionals.  So, getting stuff for free is good.  Teachers also don’t have a lot of time to install and try out every computer program they might need.  So, using stuff you don’t have to set up yourself is even better.  The good: Free programs have been around for a long time, and the Internet has made them easy to get.  The better: In the last few years, a lot of alternatives have been popping up online.  You don’t even have to install them, they run right from your web browser.  This means you can use these on school computers, where the installation of random programs is usually restricted (and you often have to go through a lot of red tape to get something you want installed).  You can also recommend these to students who otherwise would pirate software because they can’t afford it either.  Here are a few suggestions:

Instead of Photoshop

• Sumo Paint.  Sumo Paint looks almost exactly like Photoshop, and requires no sign-up.
• Photoshop Express.  Photoshop Express is also by Adobe, and offers all of the basic photo-fixing features that most users need, including 2Gb of free online storage.

Instead of Word, Excel, Powerpoint

• Google Docs has most of the basic features of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, plus even more, including collaboration.  You can save your docs online, pull them up on any computer, and even publish them as web pages… all for free.  I’m planning on a whole post on Google Docs, but let’s just say it’s awesome for now and leave it at that.

Instead of Inspiration

• Mindmeister.  Mind mapping software Inspiration is awesome, but in addition to being free and install-less, these online versions have one big advantage: online collaboration.
• Mind42.  This is of course the answer to everything (42).

Instead of Adobe Premiere, FinalCut, Movie Maker, iMovie

• JayCut.  Believe it or not, you can even edit and create videos online.  JayCut has all the basics of full video editing.
• Animoto.  Animoto can turn a bunch of photos into a 30-second music video.  Its not a full video editor, but is a cool way to document a school event if you only have pictures.

Instead of a Thumbdrive

• SkyDrive.  Are you always e-mailing your files to yourself just so you can have a copy that you can access from anywhere?  There are now a lot of online storage alternatives.  Microsoft’s own Windows Live SkyDrive allows you to store 25Gb of you files, photos, and etc., online for free.  You can then access them from anywhere and even share them with others.  This is also great for students who don’t have thumbdrives.
• DropBox is super easy to use, but is limited to 2Gb online storage and has an installed utility (for Windows, Mac, and Linux).  I’ll describe DropBox in a future post because it’s just that good.

Instead of Paperbacks

• Project Gutenberg.   Many times in English class, you’re reading the classics, which have long since been out of copyright.  That means they are free, as in free speech.  Project Gutenberg and Google have also made these works free, as in free beer.  You can download electronic copies of Huckleberry Finn, Hamlet, the Odyssey, and many, many more.  Even if you don’t want to use these to replace physical novels for your students, it saves you the trouble of transcribing or scanning if you want to include a passage on a test or quiz.
• Google Book Search.  Similar to Project Gutenberg, but also allows online viewing directly in your web browser, and has the original scanned pages.

Instead of Textbooks

• Wikibooks, These may not really replace actual textbooks completely, but they do provide great supplemental references that are easily searchable.  You can link topics on a web page and assign it as homework reading, for example.  In addition, some publishers provide online-accessible versions of some of their out-of-print books; check the publisher’s website.
• Wikiversity.  Similar to WikiBooks, but presented in a different manner.