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Explore tools for creating quizzes from YouTube videos in seconds. Save time, collect assessment data, and differentiate with ease!
Artificial IntelligenceAssessment

Create AI-Powered YouTube Quizzes in Seconds

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

In today’s digital age, videos grab the interest and attention of our students. One way teachers can significantly enhance the learning experience is by incorporating educational YouTube videos into lessons. Including interactive quizzes in these videos adds an interactive element to lessons and promotes active learning to boost student engagement. But creating quizzes on YouTube doesn’t have to be time-consuming! What if you could create quiz questions automatically from these videos?

AI-Powered YouTube Quiz Generators

Below are some tools to create quizzes from YouTube videos effortlessly.

Quizizz AI

Quizizz offers an AI-powered feature that can transform any YouTube video with captions into an interactive quiz. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Log in to Quizizz. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one.
  2. Under the Create with Quizizz AI section, click the ‘Upload Link’ button in the ‘Create with YouTube’ box.
  3. Paste the YouTube URL, and select the grade, subject, and number of questions.
  4. You can enable the option to allow your students to watch the video while answering the questions if you want to.
  5. Click Generate Questions (with Video).
Quizziz offers a tool to teachers that will auto-generate quiz questions to go along with a YouTube video!
Screenshot by Diana Benner | Quizizz AI Published Quiz and YouTube Video

MagicSchool AI

MagicSchool AI offers the YouTube Video Question Generator. The tool aligns guiding questions with video content. Here’s how it works:

  1. Log in to MagicSchool AI. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one.
  2. Click on YouTube Video Questions.
  3. Enter grade level, number of questions, and question type.
  4. Then, paste the YouTube URL.
  5. Click Generate. The AI analyzes the video transcript and generates questions.
MagicSchoolAI offers a tool to teachers that will auto-generate quiz questions from a YouTube video!
Screenshot by Diana Benner | MagicSchool’s Magic Tools Page

QuestionWell

Question Well is another AI tool that generates questions based on YouTube videos. In addition, you can create an interactive video puzzle based on a YouTube video. Here’s how:

  1. Log in to QuestionWell. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one.
  2. Click on the YouTube tab.
  3. Select Choose under Question Set or Interactive Video, depending on which you want to create.
  4. Enter the URL to the YouTube video and click Search.
  5. Click Generate Question Set
QuestionWell is an AI tool that provides teachers the chance to generate questions from a YouTube video.
Screenshot by Diana Benner | QuestionWell’s Create Set Page

 Quiz Wizard

Quiz Wizard is another AI question generator platform. The process is straightforward for creating questions from a YouTube video. Here’s how:

  1. Log in to Quiz Wizard. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one.
  2. Under ‘From which source would you like to create to generate questions?,’ click on YouTube.
  3. Enter the URL of the YouTube video and click Continue.
  4. Select Multiple Choice Questions and enter the number of questions you want. Note that you can also create open-ended questions or flashcards.
  5. Click Generate Content.
Quiz Wizard is an AI tool that lets teachers create quiz questions from audio/video.
Screenshot by Diana Benner | Quiz Wizard’s Create Content Page

Three Ways to Use Video Quizzes

There are several ways to use video quizzes in the classroom. Let’s take a look at a few.

1. Introduce New Content

Video quizzes work well when you’re introducing new content in class. They can be used for any grade level or subject area. A video is a great way to introduce students to a new topic they’ll be studying and pique their interest from the start.

2. Gauge Student Understanding

Video quizzes can be used for formative assessment. They can provide you with detailed insight into what your students have already learned and what they still need more help with. If you are looking for more formative assessment strategies, here is some additional reading you may find useful.

3. Differentiate Instruction

If one or a few students need additional support during a lesson, assign a video that reviews a concept. Students can watch the video over and over while answering the questions if they need to. It allows them to revisit concepts and content at their own pace.

Creating YouTube quizzes with Quizziz, Magicschool, and Quiz Wizard’s AI tools enhances learning, saves time, and boosts engagement. These tools empower you to create interactive assessments effortlessly. So, go ahead! Turn those educational videos into engaging quizzes and elevate the learning experience!

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Content AreasCurricular StandardsEducational TrendsGood Teaching

The Best YouTube Channels for Teachers

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

There are numerous educational YouTube channels available for teachers. These videos and channels cover a range of subjects, from the Cold War to Ancient Egypt. There is a new video posted almost daily! There are plenty of topics and videos to choose from, so to help you decide which videos to watch, we’ve listed some of our favorite channels below.

Common Sense Education

Common Sense Education on YouTube is an excellent choice if you’re looking for educational videos to show in the classroom. This channel offers digital literacy content for students in grades K-12, including lessons on boundary-setting, online pressures, personal versus private information, and internet safety. There’s also a channel called Learn Bright that provides educational videos on basic subjects, best suited for students in grades 1-4.

TEDEd

If you’re looking for free educational videos, TEDEd is a good place to start. The channel uses incredible visuals and animation to demonstrate lessons for every subject and age group. There are over 1,000 videos available, including lesson ideas, professional development tools, and video series organized by theme. Each video is short, easy to follow, and provides enough information to incorporate into your existing lesson plans. TEDEd is great for bringing TED’s mission to life for educators.

Big Think

If you’re looking for a good education video, you’ve come to the right place. The Big Think YouTube channel has been supporting educators since 2006. It features interviews with top scientists, former presidents, and celebrities, and tackles big topics like robot-proofing jobs and fame as an illusion. Thought-provoking videos are available on the channel, and it engages with its 12 million subscribers and active community. Educators can take advantage of this resource to educate students in any subject.

Richard Byrne

Richard Byrne’s YouTube channel is a good place to start if you’re an educator looking to learn more about the latest educational technology. This writer and educator, who has over 14,000 subscribers, offers free directions and tips on using popular education websites and apps. His vlogs are also great for personal learning and professional development, so you’ll likely find something of interest there.

Socratica Kids

There are several different educational YouTube channels, but Socratica Kids stands out among them. This channel makes high-quality videos that cover a variety of subjects, including history, science, languages, and the arts. The videos range from basic explanations of concepts to demonstrations of complex ideas. And there are new videos released every day! Socratica Kids is a great place to start if you’re looking for high-quality videos for your students.

Homeschool Pop

For elementary school-aged children, Homeschool Pop, features videos about earth science, animals, history, and math. The channel is divided into playlists for each grade level, including preschool, first, and second grade. Many of these channels also have curriculum for younger children. While the content may not be aligned with the national curriculum, it is a great resource for those whose primary goal is to get their children interested in learning.

Your Chance to Give a Shout Out!

And here is your chance to give a shout out to your favorite YouTube channel for educators! Drop a comment below with a link to their channel so that others can explore it and find it as valuable as you do.

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Web 2.0 Tool

How to Play YouTube Videos without Ads in Wakelet

by Emily Horn
written by Emily Horn

We all dislike those pesky ads on YouTube videos. (Sorry, not sorry YouTube!) Our students don’t need to sit through 30 seconds of Vrbo or Grammarly commercials before getting to the video we want them to watch, right? Ok. Glad we agree on this. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a way to silence the ads without editing the YouTube link. And my good friend Miguel introduced me to a way to do this with Wakelet. It works just fantastically, and I can’t wait to share this tip with you today.

Step 1: Log in to Wakelet and create a new collection.

Once you’ve logged in, click on the green circle to create a new collection.

For sharing purposes, it’s important to note before you begin that the link or QR code that is generated when you share the Wakelet collection will take the viewer to the entire collection. It’s not possible to just share one item from a collection. Why is this important? If you’d like students to view or access only one video at a time, you will need to create a separate collection for each video. If you want students, for example, to access numerous videos so they can choose what to watch, put all the videos into one collection to share. It’s best to decide now. Ok, moving on!

Step 2: Name your collection and write a description (if you’d like).

Type directly into the text box, and Wakelet will autosave your title and description.

Step 3: Copy/paste the link from the YouTube video into the “Paste any web address” box.

Head to YouTube to copy the video’s link.

Once you paste the link to the video into the “Paste any web address” box, the video will automatically pop up for you below. As you can see, I pasted one of EducatorAlexander’s videos (about Wakelet!) into my collection, and it appeared immediately.

Access the Video

Step 4: Click the blue Share button in the top right corner.

Step 5: Choose your Wakelet collection’s privacy settings.

If you’d like your collection to be private, it will only be viewable to you. A public collection is accessible to anyone. An unlisted collection is accessible only to those who have a link or QR code to that collection.

Step 6: Choose how you’d like to share your collection.

Wakelet offers several sharing options to make it super easy for educators to share with each other, students, and families in the way that’s easiest/best for them. Take your pick!

If you follow these six steps, you’ll be watching ad-free YouTube videos in no time.

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learn about other countries
Social Studies

How to Learn about Other Countries with YouTube

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Over the years, YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing site, has become a hub for more than just prank videos or cuddly creatures. Nowadays, there’s plenty of informative, documentary, and educational content. These videos range from tutorials on how to install a garbage disposal to in-depth history documentaries to primary sources like old films and newsreels.

Of course, any space on the internet that allows anyone to post means users should practice good digital literacy and have a sense of the creator of the video. And naturally, educators will always want to review and vet videos before sharing with their students.

With those considerations in mind, let’s explore how YouTube can help teachers and students understand countries outside of the United States, including daily life, historical information, cultural arts, and more.

Greetings (こんにちは) from Japan

North Americans living overseas can be a great video source, as many of the videos are in English and targeted at sharing foreign cultures with an American or Canadian audience.

The YouTube channel Paolo from Tokyo shares many videos about life and culture in Japan. The popular Day in the Life videos offer brief, entertaining insights on daily life in Japan.

Also from Japan, Life Where I’m From explores how kids and adults live, work, play, and eat, always working to share with the world by posing the question: What’s life like where you’re from?

Kids Teaching Kids

Young people love seeing how other kids experience the world; it’s one of the ways we grow as people. After a bit of digging and review, you can find useful videos on YouTube that feature children sharing their experience and culture with each other.

The Hiho Kids channel features the Show and Tell series, allowing kids to share their traditions and culture with each other. Above, students share their family’s heritage. Below, they share cultural traditions.

You can also look into the How Other Kids Live series from the channel Origins, which digs into questions like “How Easy Is It for Kids to Make Friends?”

Food Facts

Another great way to connect kids with their counterparts overseas? Food! An easy, engaging start would be exploring what school lunch is like in various countries. How does your cafeteria lunch stack up?

In this video from the UK’s Channel 4, kids sit down with a multicultural family for a meal, one of the best ways to connect with people.

What videos, shows, or other multimedia tools do you learn to share world cultures with your students? Let us know in the comments! And then think about how your students can share their culture with the world on You Tube!

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virtual reality
Content AreasEducational TrendsGood Teaching

Free Virtual Reality Resources in YouTube

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

Virtual reality is becoming more useful and relevant in education today as the technology becomes easier to use. A lot of VR, however, can be pricey, which often doesn’t meet the needs of strapped districts. But there is a wealth of free virtual reality resources available in, of all places, YouTube. Let’s see how you can find them and what some of the best ones are.

What Is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is “the experience that has been created by the computer to generate a new environment” (source). It can take us to places that we realistically cannot go like Mars or the human stomach or running with a cheetah and it’s a fabulous tool for the classroom. These will allow you to view content in 360°. You can learn more about augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality from Jamie Donally, the ed tech AR/VR/MR guru.

A Few Caveats

While YouTube has some amazing educational resources, there is also, if we are honest, a lot of trash to be found there, as well as material that is not appropriate for students of any age. So I recommend that you, the teacher, find and select the content that you want students to use and not send them out on a search for it.

Once you’ve found a video you want your students to see, copy the URL and then place it into ViewPure. ViewPure is a free tool that will remove all distracting comments and side-bar related videos, just showing the content that you want. You should know that some ads may still be played during your video; there’s no way to prevent that unfortunately. But ViewPure does cut out a lot of the clutter. The site is free and does not require registration. But they also offer a premium version for teachers and schools. To see the difference with ViewPure, look at the two videos below. The first one is directly from YouTube and the second one is with ViewPure.

virtual reality

virtual reality

The second caveat is that virtual reality can make some people a little “seasick.” So keep an eye on your students while they are watching the videos to make sure everyone is doing okay.

Maneuvering Inside a VR Video

It may take a minute or two for you to become accustomed to maneuvering around inside the virtual reality video. Each one will be a little bit different, but they all can be stopped and started by simply clicking somewhere inside the video itself. You can also click and drag around inside the video to look at different parts. Your students will master this much faster than you will!

Educational Virtual Reality Videos

To find the VR gems in YouTube, you can start by simply searching the site. Use “360 video” to begin with; that will show you both the good and the bad available. You can then refine your search by using the same search you previously used plus the terms of your needed content. So I did a search for VR about the human digestive system with “360 video human digestive system” and found 12 good videos for students to watch and learn from. While 12 may not seem like a lot, that is enough for my needs. If you just want to see a sampling of what’s available, try the search “360 video education.” This will give you lots of good videos to play and learn with.

Here are a few 360° videos that I recommend:

More virtual reality videos are posted every day on YouTube, so the content will continue to grow and develop.

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iPads
iOS Tips and TricksLeadershipLibrariesSTEM/STEAM

How to Stream Morning Announcements

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

 I need help. Our elementary school wants to live stream the morning announcements. Is a private YouTube channel the best option? They do not want to use Zoom. I remember purchasing software at a TCEA conference years ago. It allowed you to create a broadcast type newscast with a green screen using your PC webcam. It had teleprompter software you could use. I want something that the kids can grow into but that starts out easy. Thanks for any help in advance.

Thanks,

Susan

Dear Susan:

Thanks for writing. I bet there are a lot of educators doing something similar. I hope they will take a moment to leave a comment so we can glean some insight from their efforts. In the meantime, please allow me to share my thoughts. Several solutions come to mind. Let’s go over them.

Solution #1: OBS Studio

This solution is pretty powerful and is especially great if you are combining lots of camera inputs. For example, one of them could be a camera pointing at a green screen. Another input source could be a video feed from Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.

OBS is my go-to screencasting and recording, live streaming tool. You can watch my short video and see my resources on it online.  I used it to live stream my daughter’s dissertation proposal defense. The setup was straightforward, and my resources walk you through some of it.

This solution is 100% free and open source, no cost. And it works with Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux, but not with tablets or Chromebooks.

Solution #2: StreamYard

This solution is easy to use. I was streaming in minutes. As you might guess though, it costs money, about $240 a year. StreamYard works well on all devices. This video will walk you through its main features and is well worth the time.

Solution #3: TouchCast Studio

This solution works on iPads only. You will want to visit their website to see their K-12 set of case studies. They even have a free Education Guide. Here’s one example:

You will want to watch this tutorial for TouchCast Studio for morning announcements. It can do green screen effects, but I prefer DoInk’s GreenScreen app (iPad only) over that. Learn more about green screen solutions online. Also, be sure to read TCEA TechNotes blog entries.

Wrap-Up

In summary, use OBS Studio if you want a free solution and aren’t afraid of getting your hands dirty. Use TouchCast Studio if you only have iPads. If you have money, check out StreamYard. It works like OBS Studio, but is browser based and drop-dead simple.

Stream and Teleprompter Solutions

Susan had two other questions. The first was, is YouTube Live the way to go? I found it to be well-supported in the streaming software. You can stream to Facebook, Twitch, and other video outlets as well.

If you are looking for teleprompter tools, try one of these and be sure to watch the video shown above. Here’s a list of free website teleprompter tools:

A few iOS apps that meet this need include:

You can find quite a few teleprompter (a.k.a. autocue) solutions out there. These iOS apps are free, albeit with in-app purchases.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share these ideas with you.

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Zigazoo
AndroidiOS Tips and TricksWeb 2.0 Tool

Zigazoo: Classroom Safe Video Learning and Creation

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

zigazooWhen I first started working with video, I remember the joy of the old Flip camera. It was so easy to record a video and then save it to a computer. Prior to that, video recording was so difficult as to be impractical. But that didn’t stop enterprising educators from making student-created videos available. Now, video creation tools abound, but the question has become one of, “Now that we can record videos and share them, should we?” Student safety has become a critical consideration. A new tool promises to close the gap between student-created videos and student safety.

Did You Know?

TikTok has one billion monthly active users, has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times worldwide, and enjoys 100 million active users in the United States where 32.5% of users are 10 to 19 years old. See the chart below for other age groups (source: Wallroom Media).

Zigazoo

Introducing Zigazoo

Zigazoo, available at no-cost for both Android and iOS devices, encourages “short-form video” creations from children. Billed as the “Tik Tok for kids,” Zigazoo offers a variety of creative options and enables children to create video responses to educational content in a safe environment.

Zigazoo

Hailed as “a smarter screen-time activity” by TechCrunch and lauded by children’s media advocacy organizations for its safety, Zigazoo enables kids to share video responses to challenges built by leading museums, zoos, educators, and media stars. (source: Zigazoo).

According to Protect Young Eyes, the Zigazoo creation process is straightforward and includes three types of activities:

  • You can select learning prompts and then respond with videos up to thirty seconds in length
  • Share videos with friends (and only with friends you have approved)
  • Watch videos your friends and favorite characters have created

Since child safety is a priority for Zigazoo, the video response platform includes several protocols.

Ensuring Student Safety

One of the ways that Zigazoo safeguards student video creations is through a verified and secure sign-up process. They rely on single sign-on through verified Facebook, Google, or Apple accounts.

To create an account, you must be over 18 years of age. Furthermore, Zigazoo has eliminated private messaging, commenting, and negative emojis. This means that creators and viewers only see videos that survive a “stringent human moderation process.” All videos must undergo content review and be aligned to Zigazoo’s video review policy:

  • On topic: users must respond to the prompt and not be off-topic
  • No personal information: no last names, addresses, birth dates, or personal identifiers
  • Positive, school-friendly behavior: no shoving, throwing, anger, yelling, sarcasm, or sulking
  • Classroom-safe language: no swears or “potty” talk
  • Classroom-safe clothing: every person in the video needs school-appropriate clothes on, including shirts
  • Clear sound and visuals: we want to make sure we can hear and see you clearly

That moderation process makes sure all videos are relevant to the prompt (from museums, zoos, educators, etc.) and that language and visual media is kid friendly. Personally identifiable information (PII) is also locked out. Some of the restrictions Zigazoo has in place include:

  • Only your friends on Zigazoo can see your videos, and friends have to be approved prior.
  • You create videos in response to a question you select.
  • Children must make videos with an “adult presence,” so you avoid the issues (that pop up in YouTube and Tik Tok) that you have with unauthorized individuals viewing child-created videos.

Some of the videos you will see come from Bings & Potts, which will leave you laughing and learning like this one on Gobble Like a Turkey:

There are many other content providers you can assign content from in Zigazoo, as you can see from the photo slideshow below:

Zigazoo

Zigazoo also offers a classroom component known as Zigazoo Classrooms. Let’s take a closer look at that.

In the Classroom

With Zigazoo Classrooms, teachers can create their own private classroom communities that gives them content moderation authority. You can watch a video about Zigazoo Classroom.

Zigazoo

Once you get the app, you can choose to create a classroom or pod, registering as a teacher. This process will give you a code you can share with students.

You’ll be prompted to create a welcome video or explore existing projects that you can assign to students. Of course, you have the option to create on your own.

Zigazoo

Here is a seven-minute walkthrough of Zigazoo and projects available from LaShundra Wigfall:

Creating with the App

You can start your students creating with Zigazoo easily as a teacher. Simply find and assign a challenge that is relevant. The interface is straightforward and you can use the HOME or DISCOVER buttons in the app to find challenges. You can see what that looks like below:

Zigazoo

Give it a try. Here’s another example, this one from Laura Steinbrink, “Can you say hello and goodbye in Spanish?”

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author.

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video converters
Google Tips and TricksMicrosoft Tips and TricksTechnology ApplicationsWeb 2.0 Tool

Five Free Video Converters

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Given how much you work online recording screencasts and presentations, you may have a need for video conversion tools. A web search often will pull up expensive video editors and converters, but who wants to pay for that on a teacher’s income? In this blog entry, you will get a chance to explore my favorite video converters. You will also get access to an infographic and a video tutorial.

video converters

View the PDF with clickable links or get a copy of the infographic for your own use.

Tool #1: VLC Media Player

video converters

Underestimated and forgotten, VLC Media Player offers many powerful features in the world of video converters. If you could only pick one tool to keep from this list, it should be the one. It works on all computer platforms (e.g. Mac/Windows), as well as on Android. Its feature set is quite comprehensive, but you don’t need to know everything. Let’s say that VLC Media Player supports most video and audio codecs available, making it a multimedia Swiss Army knife.

Get it online.

Tool #2: HandBrake

An oldy but goody, HandBrake offers a rich feature set. Not only can you convert videos from any format, but you can convert to a multitude of device-specific settings. This means that, if your video is intended to play on a Playstation or FireTV, HandBrake has the optimal settings you can use. HandBrake works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

One powerful aspect of HandBrake is how it can shrink videos. When you record a screencast, then save it on your computer, it’s possible to end up with video file sizes.

video converters

In the example below, you can see that the original video appears as 384 megabytes. After running that video through HandBrake, the TargetVideo appears as approximately 23 megabytes.

This is a significant size savings, especially if you’re uploading them to the Canvas LMS or some other storage space (e.g. Google Drive) where saving space is important. You would think you would see a loss in video quality, but that’s not the case. Although displayed in two separate video players, you can see the video quality for the Original Video and the Target Video is not noticeable:

From this, you may take away a simple bit of advice: “Use HandBrake to shrink your videos without loss of quality.”

Wondering about what settings to use on Handbrake? Here are two that get me great savings with minimal impact to quality:

Get it online.

Tool #3: Online Video Converter

This is a popular video converter that works in your browser. Not only can you convert from and to popular video and audio formatted files on your computer, you can select them from Google Drive or Dropbox. This makes it the perfect tool for short videos on Chromebooks in the classroom.

video converters

Try it online.

Tool #4: Shotcut

In the spotlight as a powerful, no-cost video editor that works on Mac, Windows, and GNU/Linux computers, Shotcut also converts. You can convert to many different video and audio formats with Shotcut. Although its powerful interface may put you off at first, take your time and learn how you can do so much more with Shotcut.

video converters

Give it a spin.

Tool #5: ATube Catcher

The bad boy in this toolkit, ATube Catcher makes grabbing videos from online sources easy. Not only that, you can use this Windows-only program to clip/trim, as well as convert videos to audio or any variety of video formats. All without watermarks.

Like HandBrake, you can convert videos to fit a wide variety of devices. ATube Catcher also comes with screen and audio recorders, making it a one-stop shop for these services on Windows computers.

This collection of tools is quite impressive, including its ability to convert video to MP3 audio format (as well as a plethora of other video formats WITHOUT watermarks of any kind). Be careful, though, when you install ATube Catcher. You will want to decline its enticements to install additional software. While not malware, the software offered may be more than you want (e.g. McAfee’s antivirus software). So pay attention during the install.

Embrace the dark side.

Video Tutorial

video converters

This twenty-minute video tutorial walks you through each of the tools listed above. Feel free to skip ahead to your favorite tool. I convert some fifteen- to twenty-year-old digital stories from WMV and MOV formats to MP4 and MP3 using each set of tools.
View video via Dropbox

Bonus: FlexClip Free Video Converter

screenshot
FlexClip How to Convert a Video

From the makers of FlexClip:

FlexClip Video Converter is an intuitive online tool that allows users to effortlessly convert videos into various formats without any hassle. With a user-friendly interface, it supports a wide range of file types, ensuring compatibility for all your video needs.
Whether you’re looking to convert videos for social media, presentations, or personal use, FlexClip Video Converter makes the process quick and efficient, all while maintaining high-quality output. Plus, being free to use, it’s an excellent choice for anyone needing a reliable video conversion solution.

Feature Image Source

Photo by Matthew Kwong on Unsplash

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Google Tips and TricksTechnical Support

Translate YouTube Captions and Audio

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Do you need to peruse foreign language videos on YouTube for class? Perhaps you want to demonstrate how easy technology has made audio and closed captioning for videos. YouTube offers a host of wonderful features such as the built-in editor that makes it easy to trim video. What’s more, you can add attribution and copyright-free audio to enchant the ears. One feature I missed? Closed captioning of audio in videos I had put into YouTube. There’s nothing quite so delightful as to hear your words spoken in a foreign tongue and see your closed captions in another language. In this blog entry, we explore several Chrome extensions that make translating YouTube videos easy.

A Quick Review of Tools

Microsoft’s Immersive Reader has taken digital tools to the next level. With it, you can divide words into syllables, have web pages read aloud. You can even translate the pages into other languages then have them read to you. Find Immersive Reader in popular tools, such as the following:

  1. Buncee
  2. Flipgrid
  3. Nearpod
  4. ThingLink
  5. Wakelet

This integration astounds any educator who had to translate the hard way, one word or phrase at a time.

Source: Explore MS Accessibility for Remote Learning

G Suite EDU is no slouch either when it comes to translating because you can translate documents using Google Docs. Here’s a screenshot showing a handful of languages Google Docs can translate:

translate

You can get to the feature easily enough. Simply go to Tools when in Google Docs, and then click on Translate document. It will generate a separate document with the translated copy.

translate

But what about videos on YouTube? How do you translate the audio found there? Let’s take a look at three Chrome extensions sure to dazzle the eye and ear.

Extension #1: Auto Translate Captions for YouTube

YouTube, as mentioned before, can be quite powerful, but sometimes, those powerful features are unavailable. The Auto Translate Captions for YouTube Chrome extension turns on translation.

You can see it in action via this screenshot. My video is in English, but the subtitles appear in Spanish:

translate

According to their website, it will do the following:

This extension will activate the auto-translate feature of YouTube. It does this even if the feature is not in the menu. The extension activates the feature using a chosen language. This occurs each time you activate the closed captions.

Other solutions exist that allow you to take advantage of subtitle dubbing as well. Here’s a short list of Chrome extensions that I found worked well.

Extension #2: Subtitles Player

Subtitles player Chrome extension allows for reading and translating subtitles. It offers these features:

  • Instant translation from any foreign language
  • Score subtitles when watching foreign video files
  • Choose your favorite voice for voice acting
  • View lectures with translation
  • Video picture synchronization and voice track tempo

Although this extension comes close to real time audio translation, it falls short. Listening to it in Spanish, for example, is tough. It is like listening to an English speaker read Spanish with an English pronunciation.

Extension #3: Caption Speaker

Wow, this version of a subtitle translator and player is fantastic. Caption Speaker astonished me with its high quality. I do recommend this particular one above all others for use with foreign languages.

translate

As you can see from the screenshot, the options for the Chrome extension are simple. I would not bother with testing the speech sample text. It is nowhere near the quality you will experience when listening to a video with this feature turned on.

Here’s a quick video of Caption Speaker in action with two videos. In the first example, Mariah Carey’s Hero (one of my favorite songs for ed tech campus tech specialists), you’ll note that the captions are in another language. That language reflects the video uploader’s language preference. Mariah’s words do get translated into Spanish, the language I set in Caption Speaker. In the second example in the video, Food of the Gods, I have to refresh the page for Caption Speaker to kick in. Watch me go through this below:

Auto translating a YouTube video is something I have long wished for. Anyone who speaks more than one language, or would like to, will find one of these extensions useful.

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Google Tips and TricksWeb 2.0 Tool

Make Audio More Accessible with YouTube Playback Tools

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“How can I speed up playback of this YouTube video?” I asked myself while watching a video tutorial. Like many others, I want to listen at twice the speed of normal playback. Being able to speed up video playback can be an accessibility issue, too. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a few Chrome extensions that accelerate video playback.

Before we do that, let’s learn about how hearing works faster than our other senses.

Learning at the Speed of Sound

“I love Voxer. I speed up playback and I can listen to my VoxerChat fast,” said a friend of mine. If you follow a Voxer chat, speeding up is a must. That’s because it’s analogous to a Twitter chat. Voxer is an audio-based asynchronous chat. Our brains recognize sound in 0.05 seconds. In less than millionth of a second, our brain senses changes of sound (source).

When our brains learn a new word, they begin a two-step process. This process allows us to build on previous learned content and that prior knowledge makes it easier to learn new information (source). The process includes the following steps:

  1. Learn how a sound corresponds to a new word
  2. Understand different versions of the word (e.g. accents, pronunciations) mean the same

In the second step, human brains learn to categorize sound together. This makes it possible for our brains to process people speaking at a rate of three words a second.

playback

Learn more and listen to examples at Virtual Speech

A final point to keep in mind:

The faster the stimulus reaches the brain, the faster it processes the signal. Researchers have confirmed that reaction to sound is faster than reaction to light. Most people speak at a speed of 150 words per minute.

Speed Up (or Slow Down) YouTube Playback

As a Voxer user, I kept looking for a way to speed up YouTube video tutorials. Sure enough, there are various Chrome browser extensions that will do the job. These can save you time. Often, listening to video can be more effective than watching it.

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You haven’t heard your favorite music video until you speed up playback. This can be a boon when listening to webinars, lectures, and online content (e.g. TED Talks).

playback

Pitch Shifter works like a charm. The slider makes it easy to adjust to your preferred speed.

Here are several Chrome extensions that can speed up video playback. I tried a few and these are the ones that worked well for me.

Each of these works in a different way, but are accessible via your Chrome extensions. Of the three, Pitch Shifter and Playback are my favorites, with YouTube Speeder a close third. The reason why is that Pitch Shifter and Playback offer a slide bar you can adjust on the fly.

playback

Let’s take a look at my two favorites in action via this video. By the way — you may want to get one prior to listening to my long, rambling video (5 minutes, 26 seconds) on the subject.

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