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5 YouTube Features Every Teacher Should Know How to Use

Are you making some this summer or helping others make and publish videos this summer? If so, here are some YouTube settings that you should know and or pass along to your colleagues.

Privacy and Comments Settings

You can publish your videos and not allow comments to be posted under them. I use that setting all the time. You can also make your videos completely unlisted so that they don’t appear in search results. You’ll find both of those settings under the “more options” menu when you upload a video to YouTube. Speaking of which, uploading and setting privacy options are demonstrated in this video.

Blur Faces and Objects in Your Videos

Many people aren’t aware that YouTube includes some handy video editing tools within your account. Those tools include the ability to blur faces and objects within your videos. I use this feature when I want to blur things like my email address or students’ names when publishing a screencast video. It’s also great for blurring the faces of students whose parents don’t want them to appear in a video. You’ll find the blurring tool by selecting a video in your YouTube account then clicking on the “editor” option on the left-hand side of your screen. A demonstration is included in this video.

Adjust Captions and Create Video Transcripts

YouTube does offer automatic captioning for most videos. However, those captions aren’t always accurate. You can override the automatic captions and insert your own. You’ll find that option by selecting a video in your YouTube account then choosing “subtitles” on the left-hand side of your screen. While we’re on the topic of captions, it VidReader is a service that will quickly create a hyperlinked and printable transcript of any YouTube video that is in English. Here’s a demo of how it works.

Add Hyperlinked Timestamps to Your Videos

If you upload a video that is longer than about five or six minutes, you might want to consider adding some hyperlinked timestamps to the description of the video. Doing that will let viewers quickly click to jump to a section of your video. Adding hyperlinked timestamps is as easy as typing the time. For example, typing 4:01 in the description of your video will let viewers click on that timestamp and jump directly to the 4 minute and 1 second mark in your video. Check out this demo to see how you can add hyperlinked timestamps to your videos.

Enable Collaboration on Your YouTube Channel

Do you work on a teaching team or co-teach a class? If so, you might consider enabling collaboration on your YouTube channel. Doing this will allow you to invite other teachers to upload videos and create playlists on your YouTube channel. You’ll find the option to enable collaboration in your YouTube account settings under “permissions.” This video shows you exactly the steps to take to enable collaboration on your YouTube channel.

Learn more…

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