12 Great Ways to Download and Convert YouTube Videos for Your Classroom

by on March 9, 2011

There are many ways to download YouTube videos to your computer.

Why would you want to download YouTube videos?

YouTube may be blocked at your school or your school may not have the available bandwidth to steam the videos without constant buffering of the video.

Warning: According to the YouTube Terms of Service, downloading videos is not allowed.  However, check with your school to find out their policy.  My personal policy is that if it makes teaching better and that is your prime motivation, then downloading a YouTube video for presentations is ok.

Whether you use a Mac or a PC, here are 12 ways to download and convert YouTube videos for your classroom.

Web-Based Options

My Top Choice:

 

Clipped from: www.clipconverter.cc (share this clip)

 

ClipConverter works very well and takes care of downloading and converting with a minimum of effort!

Client-Based (Desktop) Alternatives

My Top Choice:

 

Clipped from: www.any-video-converter.com (share this clip)

 

Clipped from: www.any-video-converter.com (share this clip)

 

Any Video Converter does many things, but it also allows you to download and convert YouTube videos quickly and easily.

Browser Extensions

Whether you use Chrome, Firefox or Safari (Mac or Win), here are the best ways to make downloading YouTube videos a painless process.

Clipped from: www.chromeextensions.org (share this clip)

Clipped from: jonathanboom.tumblr.com (share this clip)

 

 

Clipped from: addons.mozilla.org (share this clip)
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Tagged as: Browser, Clients, Firefox, Uploading and downloading, Video, Video production, YouTube

  • Craig Nansen

    How do you deal with the fact that this violates YouTube and Google TOS (Terms of Service) that states: “You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content.”

    This article in Edutopia has a good discussion about this in the comments -
    Use Online Video in Your Classroom – Edutopia
    http://www.edutopia.org/youtube-educational-videos-classroom

    • Anonymous

      As I mentioned in the post each individual should be aware of YouTube’s TOS. I am aware of all the pros and cons of the discussion you mentioned.

      I also stated that if your use of the downloaded video is primarily for education and your school blocks YouTube or bandwidth is poor then I personally would make the video available for students.

      Teachers have for a long time broken copyright rules for the good of their students. I don’t know how many times in my 30+ years I have seen books being reprinted, worksheets being copied, etc.

      My view is if this is the worst thing I ever do for my students I’ll probably be okay.

      • Anonymous

        You’re teaching kids it’s okay to take short cuts and break the rules. That’s not okay. Ever. Teaching good digital citizenship should be part of your teaching. If you see a video you want to use in a class – ask the publisher for a link to do so. There is NO justification.

        • Anonymous

          That’s your opinion and you are entitled to it. Let me ask you one question–when was the last time you went over the speed limit? There is NO justification.

          Finally, you are taking one isolated incident and judging my ability as a teacher. There is no justification for that either!

          • Anonymous

            I didn’t say you were a bad teacher. I said you should be teaching good digital citizenship. Teaching good citizenship happens by example (as with other types of citizenship) – and violating YouTube’s terms of service is NOT teaching by example. It’s not okay to teach kids that what you’re doing is justifiable.

            Casting about for what someone who disagrees with you might or might not be doing an irrelevant situation is an interesting way to shore up your stance that what you’re doing in yours is acceptable. It is a poor way to debate an idea. I hope you’d mark your students down for it in a debate or in a paper.

          • Anonymous

            Well then, I’m sorry I disappointed you with my debate skills. Let’s see if these examples are better.

            As I mentioned in my post, possible reasons for violating the YouTube TOS would be that a school is blocking YouTube even for teachers.

            Let me ask you then, which party is committing the larger injustice–the school that refuses to open YouTube for teachers and live in the last century or the teacher that finds great educational value in a video and would like the students to see it.

            Secondly, the same argument can be advanced for those schools that do not have sufficient bandwidth to effectively stream YouTube videos. Which party is committing the larger injustice in this case.

            I could go on an on–schools having hardware that cannot even stream YouTube correctly, etc.

            So I guess what I’m saying is that if educational institutions would do their job correctly, teachers would not even have to make this decision.

            You certainly don’t give kids enough credit. They are fully aware of education’s lack of technology expertise. They know the poor equipment they are using and the poor connections they are subjected to using.

            So I say it’s not okay for schools to continue to subject teachers and students to this environment. I don’t expect any of this to change your mind. I’m just wondering why you’re taking this much time to comment on a post that many teachers out there have found very valuable.

          • Anonymous

            Hi Jeff

            I agree with you about the schools blocking valuable resources. I do NOT agree with you feeling justified to do as you please because of it.

            Regarding the value of your post, I think you are doing more harm than good in perpetuating bad habits, a disregard for good digital citizenship and a scarcity mindset that needs to be discarded.

            You are someone others look up to – your students, your clients and the teachers who read your blog. You have a responsibility to them to use technology positively.

            If you come at things with the abundance mind-set of the knowledge age, you will really enrich their learning experience – and yours.

            Can’t get YouTube in your school? Bandwidth an issue? Build a rich network of friends and colleagues online. Here is how:

            Find videos you want to use and contact the publisher/rights owner. Tell him or her how valuable you feel their work is. Explain that your students will get real value from it. Ask where and how you could download the video without violating terms of service. Exchange details and build an online friendship based on trust and respect.

            See images you like that are Creative Commons licensed? Ensure you know how to attribute them correctly (title of work, author, license type, link back to license type and image). Leave a comment praising the work. Use the work. Thank the person.

            See images you like that aren’t openly licensed for use? Ask permission. See a video outside of YouTube, a piece of music you might like to use, etc? Ask permission, leave feedback, thank people.

            Right now or soon your students will be creating multimedia projects for school that they may want to use in e-portfolios or for the sheer joy of it.

            If you teach them by doing all of the above, they will have the know-how to build their own networks of trusted sources and creative thinkers. Because they will have seen that you do it and value it. You will have repeated the pattern of ask, recieve, thank, connect enough to normalise it.

            The teachers who read your blog will also see what it can do for them and might repeat the behaviour and model it for their students and mentees.

            If we want to open up knowledge and resources, share and enjoy all that’s available on the great big web we’re all part of – then we have to respect and support the people and services that make it all possible. I feel quite passionately about it, don’t you?

            You obviously have a fire for for your work and are frustrated with bureaucracy. Which is why I’ve taken this much time to respond. We’re all learning together. We all want change for the better. There are people out there sharing and services that make it possible. By supporting and respecting them, we’re going to nurture the change we want to make happen.

            Cheers

            KerryJ

          • Sundansane

            Kerry, I’m just wondering, have you ever copied a worksheet from a book for your students to use? Many are copyrighted and say do not copy. How about making a copy of a book because you have fallen short of books compared to students in your class? Would you really leave the one or two students with no work because you refuse to copy something that is copyrighted? Yes, they can share but what if it is questions that they need to answer or something that needs to be taken home are you going to make the one or two students write everything down when everyone else has the questions right in front of them?

          • Anonymous

            Thanks for your comment–I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with my comments. I also thought of another example–showing movies in class. According to the letter of the law that is also illegal.

    • killer

      try download youtube using http://www.tubekeeper.com/ , just click and save the video….easiest way!

      • Anonymous

        Checked it out and although it works I am not thrilled with the apps that must be installed!

  • Pingback: MacX iPad DVD Video Converter Pack Giveaway — Tech the Plunge

  • Marius38
  • dc2

    there is an alternative online tool: http://www.tubekeeper.com/
    just copy and paste Youtube URL there and click download button will do…..

  • http://www.wantyoutube.com/ Andy

    Thanks for sharing.
    It is also recommended to try http://www.wantyoutube.com/
    It’s totally free and easy to use.
    Or you can just add “want” in youtube URL to get videos!
    For example, “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=…” change this URL to “http://www.wantyoutube.com/watch?v=…”

    • http://www.coachjeffreythomas.com Jeffrey Thomas

      Thanks for the tip–I’ll be sure to check it out!

  • Aida

    I agree; unforutnately, there is a lesser of two evils issue at work due to the fact that many school systems are backwater for poor technology. I’m a student; my dad is a director in a school district for technology use. He is also frustrated with the way his school district works with technology. There are several issues at work which I would love to bring up and discuss, but unfortunately, right now, I’m at school and need to go to class but what I would like to bring up is also, there is tooble: http://tooble.tv/

    Works great! Look for my comments on the discussion above later! ;)

  • Lotusvery

    It’s very cool to have so many nice choices.

  • http://www.kvisoft.com/flipbook-maker/ Kvisoft

    Thanks for your share, I’ll try them later to find the best one.

  • http://www.getaudiofromvideo.com/ Convert Youtube

    Embed YouTube Video in Flash” Tool automatically generates special Web display files out of your videos by compressing and converting them to Flash-Video .

  • century21realtor

    nice insight..dont forget to include easy youtube video downloader and Ezvid http://ezvid.com for upping videos on YouTube – works perfectly for this task

  • Leah

    Related to your topic, I found this of interest and thought I’d share the resource http://www.real.com/resources/youtube-to-mp3-converter Apparently, google has shut down several converter sites due to copyright violations. There are still plenty of legal video to mp3 converters available but best to do thorough research in advance. Thanks for the post..informative.

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