Video is a powerful tool to use in the classroom. Videos can be used to hook learners at the start of a lesson and help develop a student’s critical thinking skills. Video is often used when flipping lessons  and can be a part of a blended learning approach to instruction. With more and more video creation tools and how to guides available, teachers can easily shoot, edit, and publish their own instructional videos which can then be shared with students via an LMS. However as powerful as video may be, it’s easy for learners to get distracted by the clutter surrounding a YouTube video. Comments, ads, and suggested videos can get in the way of a student staying focused on the task at hand. Fortunately, there are two, simple to use tools that can quickly eliminate distractions surrounding a YouTube video allowing your students to stay focused on the important content.

View Pure

ViewPure allows a teacher eliminate every distraction around a video. Simply copy and paste the URL of a YouTube video and hit Purify and then you are done. That’s all there is to it! For even quicker access to ViewPure, you can drag the “purify” button to your bookmarks bar and the next time you are watching a YouTube video you want to purify, you simply click on the button and the video will be automatically brought into ViewPure. If you click the settings button to the left of the blue Purify button, you can also enter a custom URL, a password to protect your ViewPure video (helpful if you are in an elementary setting), as well as a start and end time. Once you have the video in ViewPure, you can copy and paste the new unique URL and share it with your students through your LMS of choice. I tested this with Google Classroom and it worked perfectly.

Quietube

Quietube works almost exactly the same as ViewPure. You will drag and drop the Quietube button into your bookmarks bar and the next time you are on a YouTube video, click on the Quietube bookmark to be taken directly to the distraction free video. The only difference between ViewPure and Quietube is that Quietube will display one banner ad at the bottom of the video. It is still a tool to try and consider for eliminating most of the unnecessary content surrounding a YouTube video.

See How Easy It Works

Below is a screencast demonstrating how simple it is to use both ViewPure and Quietube. If you have any questions or need any additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to drop by the Help Desk or send me an email.

Cover Image Credit: webtreats via Flickr