Tech2Go

I found out about a great site from Joyce Valenza today! Although I’ve used some nice applications to convert video, or capture video from web pages, each has been a commercial package or shareware.

Zamzar does the conversion for free and emails the resulting file directly to you as an attachment. The 100MB file limit is more than reasonable, and the conversion options are plentiful - including .mov and .wmv options for video files.

The site will convert all sorts of media files, but the feature that really piqued my interest was the news that Zamzar will convert YouTube movies! I suspect your district is like mine - YouTube, MySpace, Google Images, etc. are all blocked. The tension between safety and teaching students how to use these resources responsibly is a topic for another post.

But for now Zamzar will allow you to login from home, choose the video you need, and email the converted file to your account. I think it will be a popular tool. Don’t forget to cite your sources when you use the videos during your lessons!