YouTube and Blackboard

 In my last post I discussed how to add items like your syllabus to Blackboard, or how to create new menu items.  If you are wondering how to do that please see the post from earlier this year. Today I would like to talk about how to add a video to your Blackboard content.  Of course, this can be done with many types of web-based programs, but today we will talk about using YouTube videos and embedding them into Blackboard.

How about some multimedia? Would you like to post a YouTube video? YouTube has a multitude of content, much of it being less than 11 minutes long. These videos can be perfect little inserts for your class. I like to use YouTube videos in both a traditional class format and online class format.  The use of videos in the classroom is not uncommon. For a traditional class, you can use a video to demonstrate something you cannot do in the classroom. I might use a video as a HW assignment to prepare them for something for the next class or to reinforce something I have instructed. In my online class, I like to use video to create a classroom environment. You can use videos to recreate the visuals that you might demonstrate to a class if you were standing in front of them. I also might use them for the same reasons I use them in a face to face class, to reinforce something from my lecture or to demonstrate something they cannot see in a classroom. YouTube is great place to get videos because it has so many and because it is such an easy tool to use. Once you find a YouTube video, you can email a link to the video very easily, you can easily “grab” the URL or webpage address from it and post it somewhere and you can embed the video in any web based environment that you are using.  

I prefer to use the embed function because it is easier for the students just to hit play. If  I post a link they have to follow the link and then hit play, it is one more step that can be confusing. You can even embed a video into powerpoint! But today we are focusing on embedding a video into Blackboard!  You can go to www.youtube.com and you can search for a video - use simple key words. For example I can type phonemic awareness and retrieve videos based on those terms. I can also type electoral votes explained and retrieve a dozen or more videos based on those terms. You think of the topic, YouTube has a video based on it.

Once I have find a list of videos, I need to review the videos to see if they match my content and are appropriate.  The majority of the videos will be less than 10 min, if not less than 5 minutes long.  I usually perform the search with a criterion of what I am looking for, and then I view a dozen videos and pick which one works for my lesson.  I never choose a video just for the sake of choosing! It has to fit my criteria! It has to have educational value or meet the instructional goals of my class.

So you find your YouTube video - what can you do now?

• You can post a link to it
• You can embed it (my favorite)
• You can email it (least favorite

I prefer to embed it in Blackboard so let's start from the top.

1. First go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search and locate a video of interest by typing in to the search box your terms.  I have typed phonemic awareness and now will click the magnifying glass to search

2. Select a video from the list and watch it.   Remember, it needs to be a video that is worthwhile for you instruction, not just for the sake of watching a video.  In a literacy course, you might have a video of someone who is demonstrating how to use a specific assessment.  In a chemistry course you might find a great video that demonstrates good lab safety.  What is the purpose of employing a video? Is this for a face to face class and are you doing it to demonstrate something you did not get to demonstrate in class? Is this an online chemistry class and so you want them to see this demonstration because it is exactly how you would have done it?  Maybe it is an example of a marketing tool that you are teaching in class. Please make sure this fits the educational goals of your class and you are not just inserting a video for the sake of having multimedia!

 

3.  Now that you have selected a video let's figure out how to share the video. Below all YouTube videos are buttons for you to use! If you hover - that means point your mouse over the buttons, you will see what each one means. Point and click on the button that says share.

When you click on share, the following options will appear below. Now you need to click on Embed so that more options will appear.

The new options look like this: 

 The grey boxes pictured above represent the size you want the video to be when you embed it, they have numbers above them I would just leave it be for now, however you should try all the different sizes at some point so you can see which you prefer. I prefer the smaller one because they can always make the YouTube video a full screen when watching it, but I like the smaller size to display in Blackboard so that they don't have to do a lot of scrolling.

 Once you have made all your selections just highlight the text in the box. It starts with <iframe video and in my picture above it is already highlighted.  Now press the control button on your keyboard (CTRL) and while holding it down, press the C button on your keyboard.

You are now ready to go into Blackboard.

 

4.  How do you enter the YouTube content into Blackboard? Go to where you post items in Blackboard. And create an new item. In the version of Blackboard that I am using, I click on  Build Content  and Item

 5. The Create Item screen will appear.  You need to enter a title for your video and in the text box below enter any instructions you want to appear to your students.

When you are done with that you then need to "toggle into the html view".   You do that simply by pressing the button that is two brackets together. It is located with all the formatting buttons on the text box. See below.

When you click on the toggle button, the text box will change - it will still have your text - but the html coding will appear around it. Point your mouse and click at the end of the last sentence. In this case there is a <br /> so I would place my cursor there (the blinking stick is the cursor).  And then hold the Control key on your keyboard and then press the V key too! The text that you copied from YouTube will appear there.  You will see the start of the YouTube text - remember it started with <iframe  and within it it will say youtube.com

Click on the Submit Button in Blackboard and your video will now be embedded into your blackboard content page. Please see the following screencast for the same step by step directions that I gave you in this blog!