3 Alternatives to YouTube

As a secondary teacher, I used YouTube as a teaching tool on a regular basis. Although it has improved over time, questionable content sometimes appeared in the suggested videos section. Since my move into the elementary level as a Learning Technologies Specialist, I have began to search for alternatives to YouTube. Here are 3 alternatives to YouTube:

# 1 - NicerTube

I just came across NicerTube in searching for YouTube alternatives. It is very easy to use. You simply copy and paste the URL of a YouTube video, choose a creative background, and NicerTube creates your video.

Want to see an example? Check out my video tutorial from a previous post. I love the fact that this tool is free, easy-to-use, and allows you to make as many videos as you would like; however, it does contain advertisements.


# 2 - SafeShare.TV

SafeShare.TV is extremely easy to use and customize to the needs of your students. You simply copy and paste the URL of any YouTube or Vimeo video and SafeShare.TV generates a new URL. You can customize when your video starts, the title of your video, the description, or whether you want to hide buttons to control the video. Once your video generates a unique SafeShare.TV URL, your video is protected and students will no longer see previews to other videos.

What I don't like is that you have to have an account to create a video; however, you can easily use your Google or Facebook account to link to SafeShare.TV. The free version also limits you to 20 videos per month. Check out pricing information for more.


# 3 - Google Drive

If you are creating your own videos, you may want to consider using Google Drive as a place to house and share your videos too. If you are a G Suite school, then you realize that you have unlimited storage space. This strategy limits what students are exposed to because they will only see your video in a preview window.

How does this work? 

Simply upload your video to Google Drive, which may take a few minutes to upload and encode.

After your video is ready, click on the 3 vertical dots (right-side of your screen) and choose share.

Click on "Get Shareable Link" icon and select "Anyone with Link Can View."

Copy the URL and share away! 


Conclusion:

Do you have other alternatives to YouTube? I would love to hear your ideas. Feel free to leave a comment below.