Benderconverter.com

I enjoyed today’s assignment and I know it will be very useful for teaching and fun.  The program I downloaded was Benderconverter.com (Bender RealPlayer) which is a free video downloader and MP3 converter.  This program is useful because it allows the user to download a video from the internet for example a YouTube video.  To download a video first open RealPlayer and search for the YouTube video it the “Search for Video” bar located on the top right corner of the screen.  Once you have found your video select it and as it is playing move your curser over the video and click the “Download this Video” box that appears.  The video will automatically be downloaded into RealPlayer.  To locate the video go to the RealPlayer “Library” and look under the “Videos” tab.  The video can now be converted to another file extension such as .mp3 or .wmv using RealPlayer.  This is done by right clicking once on your video in RealPlayer then clicking “Convert to…” on the left side of the screen.  You can select your new file extension in the RealPlayer Converter box that pops up then click “Start” to convert the file.  This file converting process is useful for inserting a video into a PowerPoint slideshow, which only accepts certain file formats such as .wmv, or playing the video without internet access. 

The second part of the assignment was to create a one slide Google Docs presentation including a YouTube video.  This is done by going to Google Docs, clicking the “Create new” tab on the left side of the screen then selecting “Presentation.”  The presentation will open in a new tab where it can be edited and created.  In order to insert a video click the “Insert” tab, “Video…,” find, and select your YouTube video and click “Select video.”  The video is automatically inserted but can be moved and resized.  When the presentation is finished and ready to be shared, save the video and click the down arrow beside the “Share” button on the top right corner of the screen.  Select “Publish/embed” and follow the directions to share your presentation.  My presentation contains a cute introduction to chemistry YouTube video by They Might be Giants.

This assignment follows NETS for Teachers standard three.  The use of YouTube videos in classroom assignments is modeling digital-age work and learning.  For example the use of the video I chose is educational and fun.  The students would enjoy the song and graphics while learning something new.