Vidcaster Easily Create your Free Video Website

Vidcaster is a great web tool for educators. It is basically a platform where users can store and organize their videos. It is your first step to create a video website where you can showcase your video library. This service has both a free and pro version but the free one is already generous enough for us in education.

Vidcaste is easy to use and does require a quick registration after which you will be prompted to connect your Vidcaster account with your YouTube one.Once connected you can then start fetching videos from your YouTube and get them organized in your Vidcaster page. There is a nice collection of display templates to choose from if you want to customize the look of your page.

Some features of Vidcaster

Here is a list of the main features that Vidcaster provides to its users:

• It is easy and simple to use
• It allows users to create video websites from their YouTube uploads
• It offers a library of professionally customized themes
• Automatic syncing with your YouTube channel

Head over to Vidcaster and give it a try

Easily Showcase your Stories Using Jux

Jux is a great website. It allows its users to create awesome slideshows and impressive statements. Jux is one of the best showcase for your stories. You can embed videos and photos from your hard drive or from a URL. This service is very easy to use and does not require any advanced technological knowledge. If you know how to make a slideshow then Jux is even easier.

Jux is free to use but also has a premium version for upgraded features. As teachers and students, the free version is sufficient. Students can use Jux to showcase their projects and assignments.Currently Jux allows only one jux per user which is the only inconvenience I have remarked while reviewing this service.

Jux is like a blogging software where you can publish your posts and tag them.It also allows for HTML customization if you know how to do it. When you publish a post which can be anything ( slideshow, text, video, photos ) you will be able to share it with the rest of the world using Twitter, Facebook and Email. I wish they added the embed option too but until now those were the only three ways to advertise and share your Jux.
Head over to Jux and give it a try.

File Lab Free audio and Video Editing Software

File Lab is a cool website for educators. It provides its users with tools to edit both their video and audio files right from their browsers. If you used to work on your audio files in a softeware different from the one you use for videos then File Lab will help you use one platform for both purposes.

To start using File Lab you will first need to install the apps on your desktop which will then be connected to your browser as a plugin . This will enable you to quickly launch a video or audio file in your browser and start editing it such as adding effects, trimming the tracks and many more.

Some features of File Lab


Here is a list of the main features that File Lab offers to its users:

• It is free
• It lets you edit video and audio online
• It lets you customize your videos via actions such as : split, cut, rotate, mix, add effects, add overlays, and add texts
• It lets you save your videos and share them with others
• It allows you to rework your audio files online
• It allows you to customize your audio files
• It lets you save them in popular formats
• It also has a section for scanning, cleaning and fixing your Windows.

Head over to File Lab and give it a try

Masher Create Videos from Photos, Text and Music

Masher is a popular video service that allows its users to create videos by mixing together video clips, music tracks, and photos. You can also use text throughout your videos.The process is very simple and easy to use.Using drag and drop, your video will be ready in a matter of few minutes.
If you feel like not creating a video of your own then you can check Masher library for videos uploaded by others. Masher features a large collection of video clips from some very known services such as BBC's Motion Gabllery and Rip Curl video. It also has a large music library, and video player skins.

Some features of Masher

Here is a list of the main featuresbthat Masher offers to its users :

• It is free
• It is easy to use
• It has a user friendly interface
• It lets you create videos out of images and audio clips
• You can add music, text and special effects to your videos
• You can share your created videos with others via posting them in sites such as Facebook, MySpace, or through email

Head over to Masher and give it a try

Stupeflix An Easy Way to Create Videos

Stupeflix is a great video tool for educators. This is a service that allows its users to easily create awesome video montages using images and audio clips. Stupeflix resembles Animoto but has some different functionalities not found on the Animoto. The only thing I do not like about this new service is the limit they put on free videos. You will have only 60 seconds for each video you make for free.

Stupeflix enables its users to  add audio clips to their images to make awesome videos. Images can be uploaded right from your computer or via image hosting websites such as Flickr and Phtobucket. The same goes for the sound tracks, you can either use a pre-provided sound clipcs from Superflix library or upload your own. Once your video is ready you can then share it on Youtube or via the other social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Again Free users will only be able to share videos on Youtube and Facebook , no download  is availabel for them.

Some features of Superflix

Here is a set of the features that Superfilx offers ot its users:

• It has two plans one is free and the other is pro
• It lets users create videos out of images and audio clips
• Users can share videos on social media websites or download them into their computers
• It offers beautiful video themes
• It lets you add maps to your videos

Head over to Stupeflix and give it a try.

ActivePresenter A Free Screencasting Software

ActivePresenter is a cool web service. It is a screencasting software that allows its users to record everything that is displayed on their screens. I am adding this tool that I have just discovered to the list of Free Screen Casting Tools I have been compiling here.
Screencasting services are great tools for educators. They can be used to create awesome tutorials and presentations. I know most of these tools are not free but at least we have a bunch of free ones now in our hands that we can use to do many things. ActivePresenter has two versions one is paid with many more features and the other one is free with less features. We can content oursleves with just the free version for it is generous enough.

Some features of ActivePresenter

Here is a lis of the main features that ActivePresenter offers to its users:

• It has a free version with intersting features
• It is easy to use
• It has a user friend'y interface
• It lets you record full motion video with high quality resolution
• It lets you capture screenshots with simple mouse clicks
• It lets you generate appropriate annotations for each action
• I ha no watermark
• It lets you change, add, remove, parts of your video
• It syncs audio, video and overlays
• It lets you share your videos with other
• You can also upload your video to popular video sharing sites

Here is a sample video output to learn more about ActivePresenter






Head over to ActivePresenter and give it a shot

Tilt View Newsy Videos from Around The Web

Tilt View is a cool website. It allows users to watch the latest news report. It is more or less similar to YouTune Trends for they both stream what is currently hot on the media. Tilt View monitors news websites in real time and aggregates the breaking news to display in the form of YouTube news videos.

Tilt View is a very simple and easy to use website. It is also user friendly and does not require any kind of software download or sign up. Just head over to its main page  and you will instantly see news reports get laoded up and start playing. You can use the buttons on the site to pause a video, skip to the next or last one.

" After canceling the cable service, started watching more ofetn news online. But visiting different websites to watch news from different sources seems hard work. Choosing which videos to play and clicking on each one made me realize there should be better way to watch watch news online. Created Tilt View so that it gathers important and current news and play it without having to do any work. "

Vidique A Single Platform for Videos from Different Websites

Vidque is a video platform that aggregates all the videos from different video sources into one single page. It also serves as a  social profile for users where they can store their favourite videos, rank and rate others' videos and interact with the community members.
Vidque allows you to open your free account with them and start curating your content. You will have access to videos from the popular video websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Ted, Blip.tv.

Some features of Vidque

Here is a list of the main features that Vidque offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is easy to use
• It has a user friendly interafce
• It lets you save and tag videos you watch online
• It lets you follow video posting of a website, blog, RSS or Twitter acccount
• It allows you to watch videos posted by users and websites you follow
• It remembers which videos you have watched so you dont have to watch them again

Head over to Vidque to learn more

Magma An Awesome Video Platform and Aggregator

Magma is a great video platform. It aggregates the most popular videos from all around the web into one single page. No more going around looking for videos in various websites Magma does the job for you. Magma , like YouTube Trends, Tilt View and Newsy, depends on a wide range of resources  to enrich its content. It actually features  100 popluar internet videos from some video sharing sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo, Hulu and many more.

Magma stands out fron the pack by using some unique features such as featuring videos not only from video sharing platforms but also from popular social networks like Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Stumble Upon etc. All the videos on the homepage are neatly organized under different blocks and into easily browseable categories.

If you want to be able to create your own dashboard of videos where you can add videos and interact with other members of the community you can then sign up with them . You can also use their bookmarklet  to save videos you like.
Head over to Magma and give it a try.

Mowid A Great Video Search Engine

Mowid is a cool YouTube video discovery engine. It facilitates your video search and brings you the best results. MoWid provides a unique way of exploring new videos on the web by using a tagging system. There are a number of tags that shows up on the screen as soon as you access MoWid homepage. You can use a combination of these tags to get the videos you are looking for. This is a smart way to search for videos and it proves its usability since the first try.

To navigate for video, click on the scrolling tags to add to your filter  and get a list of videos. More videos will show up as you mix and combine more tags. The videos provided are all from YouTube .

Head over to MoWid and give it a shot

Newsy Watch the World s News in Videos Fetched from Several Channels

Newsy is a good website for people who like to keep track of the latest news events in the world. Some people do not like reading news but rather prefer watching it and Newsy can help them do just that. It aggregates news videos from multiple sources and stream then on its homepage. Among the sources Newsy depends on in fetching its news stories are : BBC, CNN, ABC News, Aljazeera and several others. You can access videos from all these channels right from a single page.

You can either watch videos at random or sort them according to the category or tags such as the most popular, the highest rated or highest commented. What is really nice of Newsy website is the fact that above each video you will find the news sources and below it user comments, and text transcript  of the video. It also allows its users to share the videos they watch either using an embeded code or via different social media websites.

YouTube Trends and TiltView are other similar tools that might interest you as well.

Head over to Newsy and give it a try.

RadBox Bookmark and Save Videos to Watch Later

Radbox is a cool tool that allows its users to save their videos and watch them later. I have already covered the tools that can help you bookmark and save webpages and tabs for later reading in an article entitled A List of The Best Web Archiving Tools, but when it comes to a webpage that you acceeded just to iquire about a video and probably save it then you can use Rabbox.

With the huge amount of videos on the web users feel unable to watch all the videos they want mostly because of time constraints. Now Using RadBox they can bookmark these videos and watch them when they have enough time to do so. The video will be saved to your RadBox account where you can watch it , share it with  your friends, delet it, mark it  as favourite or even access its  original source with a single click.

Head over to RadBox and give it a shot

dotSUB The Easiest Way to Add Subtitles to Videos

dotSUB is a great video hosting platform. It allows its users to add subtitles to videos in any language. This is a feature that is rarely offered for free in other platforms. Some of YouTube videos have already translated versions that you can access through clicking on the cc red icon that is often displayed under the timeline bar. However, not all the translations offered by YouTube are accurate that is why some users shun away from them.

The case is different in dotSUB for you can add your own subtitles to videos you upload by yourself and then share them with your friends and colleagues. Teachers and educators can use this service to share interesting content made primarily in other languages.
You can also browse the directory of videos already available in dotSUB. Most of the popular videos in this website are already translated into different languages. Just select the language you want and there you go.

Here is an example of a video made by dotSubt

Zeodia Turn Static Pictures into Dynamic Videos

Zeodia is a great web tool. It allows its users to create video stories with a timeline, location and content. The tool is very easy to use and does not require any advanced tech wizardry. Teachers would love to work on Zeodia, they can use it in storytelling to create stunning video stories out of selected pictures. They can also encourage students to use it in the same way to enhance their sense of creativity and imagination.

Some features of Zeodia

Here are some of the features that Zeodia offers to its users:

It is free
It is easy to use
It has a student friendly interface
It does not require any software instalation
It is fast and secure
It turns static pictures into dynamic videos
It requires a free registration.

I do recommend this tool for my fellow teachers. Head over to Zeodia and register for an account.

Nine Free Video Editing Tools You Need to Know

I have been receiving several emails from teachers and educators who are faithful readers of my articles in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.They all ask me to provide them with video tools that would enable them to edit and customize video clips to be included in their lessons. There are many out there but it would take some time to go around looking especially with the growing spam content  many websites offer to its surfers.

I have already covered some video tools in my previous articles and all these tools can be found under the label Free Video Tools. If you look to the right side you see a widget called Categories, scroll down and you will find this label. Anyway today I decided to assemble the maximum possible of these tools in one article. So I will not be covering the tools I already talked about in the past articles but will particularly include new video tools. Using these tools you would be able to edit your videos the way you want. You can for example cut off certain scenes, add background music, integrate animations and many more. Well not all the these tools offer the same features but the basic functionalities like uploading , editing, and sharing are present in all of them. All the tools covered here are free.

Here is the list:

1- Magisto

Magisto is a cloud based video editing tool that allows its users to :

• Edit videos without the need for any advanced editing skills
• Tag people in videos
• Share videos in different social networking websites
• It is free and easy to use

2- WeVideo

WeVideo is another video editing tool that enables its users to :

• Edit videos online
• Share edited videos with friends in social networks
• It offers 1 GB storage space

3-  CellSea

CellSea is a free video editor and converter that does a number of things:

• It lets you add videos from your computer or from anywhere online
• It allows you to download  edited videos in 3GP, AVI, MOV, MP4, and FLV
• It is free and easy to use
• It has a very user friendly interface
• It requires a registration

4- Stroome

Stroome is an online  collaborative video editing tool. It offers several features :

• It lets you connect to a community of online video editors
• You can search and find clips created by the community members and use it in your own projects.
• Real time video editing either alone or with friends
• You can tag clips for archiving

5-  Kaltura

Kaltura is a " Wikipedia of video, audio and animation". It offers its users :

• The ability to create easy to use platforms for video projects
• Users can create their own personalized video pages and invite others to add or edit it
• Users can embed their collaborative projects anywhere online.

6- VideoToolBox

VideoToolBox is a video editing program. It allows its users to :

• Upload videos and edit them the way they want
• You  can mix videos, add or  change audio tracks
• You can also add watermarks, paints and text notes etc
• You can convert,  cut , crop, demux, and merge several video files into
• It is free and easy to use.

7- PhotoBucket

PhotoBucket is a very famous video platform. It allows its users to :

• Upload videos from the web or from their computers
• It offers several editing options such as adding text, titles, music to the background
• It also lets you cut and crop videos and add transitions effects
• It allows you to embed and share videos on video sharing sites and social networks

8- Overstream

Overstream is a great video editing tool. It allows users to :

• Add subtitles and comments in any language  to videos
• Easily create and synchronize subtitles to any video
• Store the edited videos on Overstream server and send the link to your friends to see it
• It supports most of the video providers

9- Lightworks

Lightworks project offers a lightweight, free and open source video editing software that offers the same features other pro softwares offer such as CutPro. Adobe Premiere, Avid Video Premiere.











As I said before There are many other important video tools that I have covered previously in this blog. I invite you to check the category labelled Free Video Tools to learn more about other tools.

A List of Some of The Best Free Screencasting Tools to Record your Screen and Make Awesome Tutorials

Have you ever wondered how video tutorials are made ? You might be wrong and think it needs advanced technology knowledge to do them. It is in fact way easier than you have ever thought. The tools below will enable you to make your screencast and broadcast it to the world to see it. Screencasting is all about sharing your screen with others, not in real time ,of course, but in a short or long recorded videos.

Educators will find these tools very useful , for they can now create their own `how to` videos and share them with their colleagues and students. As I said earlier, the procedure is very simple and , in most of the time , all it takes is a moderetally high internet broadband and a registration. You will need to open accounts in some of  these websites so that you can store the tutorials you make and share them using links. The registration is free and takes only a couple of minutes.
Since this blog targets educators then these tools are for educational purposes but others in different sectors can also use them if what they do entails a screencast.
Ok here is the list:

1- Screencast-O-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic is my favourite screencasting tool of them all. It is free and easy to use . With one click you can start recording your screen and right from your browser on Windows, Mac, Linux and does not require any software installation. it is all online.

Watch this video to learn more





2- CamStudio

Camstudio is also a great screencasting tool. It allows its users to screen record and  ceate awesome video tutorials and share them through a generated link with others online. It is also easy to use and the only thing you need to do is download it for free into your computer.






Watch this video to learn more about Camstudio:





3- Copernicus

This is another free recording software that works with Mac. It enables its users to :

• Take screenshots and save them
• Record video and save it directly to RAM
• Use the movie feature to create how to movies
• It is free and weights 4.9 MB

4-Jing

Jing allows its users to create images and videos of what they see on their screen and share them with the world instantly and easily. Just to let you know that Jing has two versions one is free and the other is premium. So the free Jing offers just : five minutes of screen recording and some mark up tools for images but the pro version offers way more. However, educators might make do just with the free Jingle.


5- Wink

Wink is a tutorial and presentation creation software that lets its users :
 Capture screenshots, add explanations, boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users.
Record voice while making a tutorial
It is free and easy to use
It requires a download
It is compatible with several operating systems , you just need to choose you OS when trying to download it



The above five tools are the main FREE screencasting  tools available online. As I said before, educators can contend themselves with just one of them especially Screencast-O-Matic but if it happens that you want more developed screen recording tools and sotwares then here are some names that you can keep in mind when trying to purchase one:

1.  Adobe Captivate ( costs $700   )
2.  AllCapture ( costs between €169 and €249  )
3. Hypercam ( costs $39.95 )
4. iShowU ( costs $20 USD )
5. ScreenRecord ( costs $ 19.95)

All thanks and gratitude go to Sean P Aune who has labored and  gathered this list of screencasting tools .

Viewbix Easily Add Captions and Titles to Your Videos

Today I am introducing a very practical video tool that you can use with your students in your classrooms. The tool is called Viewbix. It allows its users to add interactive buttons or apps to their videos in order to engage viewers and call for action. It works just with YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook videos which is for us in education  pretty much enough.

"The apps overlay dynamic content on top of your YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook videos to create a rich viewing experience that can be shared across the web, social and mobile platforms."

  Viewbix  also allows its users  to add descriptions and photos that others can view when they click on the buttons shown on the screen. In addition, when you finish customizing your video in Viewbix you can then share it with the world through a unique URL or through a generated HTML code embeddable in websites, blogs and websites.


Teachers can use use Viewbix to create video tutorials where they can include call for action buttons for students to click on. It is a highly effective tool in education and I do invite educators to give it a try and see by themselves.


To start using Viewbix , you need to head over to their main page and open your free account. Once logged then just provide the URL of the video you want to work on from Facebook, Vimeo or YouTube then choose the buttons you want to include and give them a title and a link and there you go. Yes it is as easy as it sounds.

Some features of Viewbix


Here is a list of the main features that Viewbix offers to its users :


It is free
It is easy to use
It has a user friendly interface
It allows users to customize their videos with titles , descriptions, links and many more
You can share your videos via a unique link or through an HTML code
You can save your videos to your Viewbix account and edit them anytime you want
It allows you to include photo feeds, coupons, Google maps, RSS feeds, QR codes and more .


Viewbix can be a great educational tool if used appropriately and I do invite you to give it a try.

QuickScreenShare A Great Screen Sharing Tool

QuickScreemShare is a great web tool. It allows its users to share their computer screens with friends and colleagues. The service does not require any registration and is above all very easy to use, a fact which makes out of QuickScreemShare one of the best screen sharing tools online.

This service which is a side project from the creators of Screencast-O-Matic.com is still in beta which means that bugs might appear from time to time. What I really like about QuickScreemShare is its simplicity, for example when you want to share your screen with a friend of yours who is just a beginner in technology then you do not need to worry if he will be able to run it appropriately for all he has to do is click on a link that you will send to him and that's it.


Some features of QuickScreemShare ?

Here is a list of some of the best features that this screen sharing tool offers to its users :

• It is free
• It does not require any registration or software installation
• It has a user friendly interface
• It does need Java to be installed on your computer which I think all of us have 
• It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux
• It allows you to share your computer screen with your colleagues
• It even lets you control mouse and keyboard

How can i get started using QuickScreemShare ?

To get started using this screen sharing tool you need to watch this short video tutorial

Applications of QuickScreenShare in Education

QuickScreenShare is a great screen sharing tool that educators need to be using. Teachers can use it with their students to guide them through the hardest steps in a certain learnt procedure. They can also use it to explain to them a how to tutorial. Students can use it to share information and materials between each other especially when working on a class project. It will definitely help them learn how to work collaboratively , a skill which every 21st century learner need to have.

The Best Free Video Tools

This a list of the best video tools of this year. They are all explianed an easy step by step tutorial . Just make sure you share the links zith your colleagues.

I : Video Tools

• snisnip : shorten , crop and share videos
• Zentation ; Combine Videos and Slides into present...
• Voice threads;video and audio multimedia slideshow...
• Vixy ; Download and Convert Video Files for Free
• Movavi : convert your videos easily
• Vcasmo : easy way to master multimedia
• viddix :The Easiest Way to Create Interactive Web Videos
•  vuvox : a great multimedia slideshows creation tool
• AlarmTube and SchoolTube in education
• SafeShare.TV: the educative way to share Youtube videos...
• Voki : a fun and free animated avatar tool for educators...
• Kerpoof : enhance students’ creativity
•  EmbedPlus : The educative way to use Youtube videos...
• 5min videopedia : video tips in education
• TubeChop : The Educative Use of Youtube
• Youtube Safety Mode : Irrelevant content blocker functionality...
• Kimkast : share your videos privately
•  Silentube :an educative environment for your videos...
• Viewpure :how to make educative videos
• Quietube : Bringing Youtube Closer to Students
• vusafe : The best video platform for your students... 
•   KidsTube : free educative video resources for your students...

OrbitDownloader – downoload whatever you want for free

OrbitDownloader is a powerful web2.0 tool. It allows its users to download any piece of media instantly and easily. It is like iDesktop, the other downloader tool i covered earlier, but with a slight difference in that Orbit removes all the the download barriers and limitations from almost all popular social media websites such as :YouTube, Dailymotion, Pandora, Rapidshare and many others. Once installed on your computer then you can start downloading any kind of media be it videos , music, and audio.

Some features of OrbitDownloader

Here are the main features that Orbit Dowloader offers to its users:

• It is free


• It is easy to use


• It has intuitive interface


• It allows you to download videos and music from many social websites


• It requires a quick installation


• It can now download WebM Video and otherHTML5 video from YouTube.com


• It lets you manage your download files easily


• It supports all popular browsers including Firefox3


• It lets you download email and forum attachments with great speed


• It supports most of the file-sharing service websites, including megaupload, badongo, sendspace, , yourfilehost, uploading, filefront, 4shared, turboupload, depositfiles, filefactory, and more.

How can i get started using Orbit Downloader ?

Here is a short video tutorial to show you how to use this handy web2.0 tool ( the video features a 20 seconds pub in the beginning )

Applications of OrbitDownloader in education

I do recommend OrbitDownloader for educators and teachers. They will need it to run their own custom downloads and organize their downloaded videos into lists to share with their students. And since it can pull videos from different social websites then students tool can use it to collect their favorite videos and share them with each other.