zamzar – Technology in the Classroom

Zamzar and YouTube – no more :(

June 27, 2012July 2, 2012 Patrick Cauley1 Comment

Many educators (myself included) have enjoyed using www.zamzar.com to download and convert YouTube videos for our classes. It was easy, reliable and it didn’t matter what browser or platform you were using. In other words, it was a great way for teachers to get a hold of YouTube videos for offline viewing. Well kiss that service good-bye. YouTube has officially asked Zamzar to stop allowing people to download YouTube videos as it violates YouTube’s terms of service and so on. This is by no means killing Zamzar. They still offer the ability to upload and convert files online for free, so it will be around for that use. You can read more about this decision on their blog here. Your service will be missed.

In the meantime I suggest teachers to download Firefox and install the Video DownloadHelper add-on. This will allow you to do what Zamzar was offering. It is pretty easy and allows some choices as far as quality and format conversion. It was just a lot easier with Zamzar. If you know of some quality services, programs, or add-ons/extensions be sure to leave them in the comments.

Podcast Episode 13 – November 30

November 30, 2011 Patrick CauleyLeave a comment

Another good week and another great podcast episode. Here is what we talk about this week and for the record, Omar is not seeking help with his ZamZar addiction. Listen to find out what I’m talking about.

Congrats to the UAE 40 years and still growing!
LifeHacker’s article “How to Identify and Learn from Your Mistakes” and how it relates to education and teachers in particular.
My post about ZamZar an online video converter
Tony DePrato’s post about the IT budget and how it should cover any open source or free services (a great read people!)
The relationship between Tom Whitby’s latest post “Many Lenses, But Little Focus” and Scott McCelod’s post “How NOT to reform American education“
What the best tablet for schools might be inspired by a comment from my post “The Kindle Fire for your school?“

As always you can subscribe to our podcast in iTunes by following this link here, or listen by clicking on the play button below.

ZamZar that video!

November 27, 2011November 29, 2011 Patrick CauleyLeave a comment

Have you ever wanted to take a YouTube video off the Internet and put it on your computer? You probably have and you’ve probably already found a way to do it. There are a ton of add-ons, browser extensions/apps and programs that will help you, but I prefer to use ZamZar.

First because it’s a lot of fun to say. I mean seriously, ZamZar is pretty darn catchy. Don’t believe me, start dropping it into random conversations and see how people react. At any rate, it’s very simple to use (as you’ll see) and you don’t have to keep the site open while you’re waiting. So sit back watch the video and if you have a service, program or extension you like better, then leave it in the comments. Omar and I go cuckoo-cuckoo for them.

Check it out at www.zamzar.com