Welcome to the eighth step in our free self-paced course to help you set up your own personal or professional educator blog!

The aim of this step is to:

  • Share some free tools for creating videos online
  • Explain some different methods for creating videos offline
  • Explain the copyright implications of using videos
  • Provide an overview of different video hosting websites
  • Teach you how to embed videos into your blog posts and pages


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Why Use Video?

Traditionally, blog posts were all about text and images. However, videos can really bring your blog alive and make the visitor experience more engaging and interactive.

Below is an overview of some tools you can use to create your own videos, along with examples and tutorials. We also offer guidance on using videos created by others.

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Online Video Creation

Making your own videos is easier than ever! There are online options that are:

  • free/paid
  • simple/complex
  • for editing/creating
  • for all ages/restricted to over 13 or 18
  • designed for video footage/images/animation

Here are a few options for creating different sorts of videos using online tools. Feel free to share your own ideas too!

Screencasting (Loom)

Screencasting is where you narrate a video recording of your computer screen. Sometimes it’s just audio and sometimes you can see your face in the video as well.

One free tool that you may find particularly useful is Loom. Check out this blog post about Loom by Kathleen Morris if you want to learn more.

For a very simple example, you could narrate a Google Slide presentation as per the example below made for our Better Blogging With Students course.

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Make Your Post Into A Video (Lumen5)

This promo video for our Better Blogging With Students course was made with a free online tool called Lumen5.

It’s a simple way to make a slideshow type video.

It can even “automagically” make your blog post into a video (for best results you’ll need to edit it slightly).

Lumen5 contains a library of Creative Commons Zero images and music so you don’t need to search for content either (although you can use your own pictures and video).

You can’t embed your video directly onto your blog currently. So you have to put it on social media or YouTube first and then get the embed code from there. Or you could download the video and upload it directly into your post/page.
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Animation (PowToon or Biteable)

There are a number of ways you can create simple animations online. Two free tools you might be interested in exploring with your students include PowToon and Biteable.

Both of these tools have free plans and can be used by students under 13, however, they do require students to sign up via email. I contacted both companies to confirm the age restrictions. PowToon recommended supervision or using a paid classroom account (obviously, supervision is always a good idea!)

One benefit of PowToon over Biteable is that you can download your finished product as a PowerPoint or PDF file. You can only download your Biteable creation with a paid plan.

You can embed both tools into your blog posts or pages.

PowToon Example

This is a video a student made for the Student Blogging Challenge about quality commenting.


Biteable Example

Another student taking part in the challenge created this Biteable about YAPPY.

What is YAPPY? on Biteable.

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Offline Video Creation

You can make videos in the traditional way too. You don’t need any fancy equipment either — a phone, tablet, or webcam can work just fine!

Here are three ideas that might work for your blog posts.

Piece To Camera

I know, I know… who likes getting in front of a camera? Most teachers would avoid it at all costs! But it is really a great way to connect with your readers.

Here is an example Linda Yollis made to welcome her new students to the classroom.

Get creative with a green screen!

Check out this video from Tony Vincent who made a welcome back video for his students. Tony used green screen technology to make the clever background!

Want to learn more about green screens?

10 Filming Tips

There are a few things you can do to enhance the quality of your piece to camera.

  • Lighting: This is really important! Sit near a window if you can or add lamps etc. Aim for even natural light. Don’t have a window behind you.
  • Audio: Your phone or computer will record video just fine (in good lighting) but the audio quality won’t be great. Add an external microphone if possible.
  • Tripod: If you’re using a phone, it needs to be steady. Many discount stores now sell basic phone tripods. You can elevate these on furniture as needed.
  • Location: Keep your background simple and film in a quiet location (easier said than done at school?).
  • Clean your lens: Especially if you’re filming on your phone, wipe that dirty lens.
  • Horizontal: If you’re using a phone, turn it on its side. If you want to know why your video should be horizontal, you might enjoy this very funny video.
  • Raise your device: If you’re using a laptop to film, you might want to raise it so you’re at eye level. Same with a phone or tablet.
  • Front facing camera: If you’re alone, switch the camera so you can see where you are in the frame (consider positioning yourself slightly off center in the frame).
  • Look at the lens: Find the tiny hole and try to make eye contact with it. Smile!
  • Record: Whether or not you want to actually script what you want to say is up to you. A more natural approach may be to create a few notes or an outline, rather than scripting or reading. Pace yourself and enjoy!

Want to share these tips with your students or colleagues? Download the PDF.

10 Tips For Filming A Piece To Camera | Video tips from Edublogs | The Edublogger

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Film Your Lesson

Have you ever thought about recording your lessons and publishing them, not just for your own class, but for anyone who wants to watch and learn?

Eddie Woo is a Sydney maths teacher who has done just that.

Eddie’s award winning work has earned him a huge following with students from across the world.

Eddie has a YouTube channel and houses his videos on his blog too.

Here is an example

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As you can see, it’s nothing fancy but it works!

Of course, students can “be the teacher” too and record tutorials for other students.

A Note On Editing Software

Most people know how to record a video. It can be as simple as opening the camera function on your phone and hitting record.

But then what do you do with your raw video?

It’s not always essential, but you’ll generally want to do some basic editing. This can include things like:

  • Adding text titles or captions
  • Adding music
  • Chopping out certain parts of the video
  • Mixing together video and images

If you use a Mac computer, the go-to program is generally iMovie. You can also use the iMovie app on your iPhone or iPad if you have one.

It’s a little more complicated on a Windows computer. Windows Movie Maker used to be a popular choice for simple editing but it has been discontinued now.

If you are not a complete beginner with video editing, you might want to check out a free program called Shotcut. This tutorial video by Teacher’s Tech shows you how to get started.

Let us know your choice of video editor in a comment!

Copyright And Videos

Video is more confusing than images because you see a lot of remixed videos online or videos using commercial music, especially on YouTube.

You are free to embed any video from YouTube, Vimeo, BlipTV, WatchKnowLearn, etc. on your blog or website as long as it gives you the embed option.

That being said, you can’t necessarily use parts from videos on YouTube (or other sources) to make mashups or as part of another video.

If you use any video that you are cutting, making changes to, or adding to a project, or adding audio, it is better to:

  • use Creative Commons content, or
  • use free or public domain content, or
  • request permission from the copyright holder

You can read more about Creative Commons and free or public domain content here. Refer to The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons for comprehensive information on the use of images, curriculum docs, text and quotes, music, videos.

Watch this video on Creative Commons for a simple explanation.


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YouTube Copyright Basics

If you do use copyright content on YouTube this is what might happen:

  1. The video and/or audio is pulled because of a DMCA complaint, copyright infringement, or content ID match.
  2. No action is taken but they might add an advertisement to your video that says ‘Buy this song’.

The following videos are good for explaining video copyright to younger students.

  1. YouTube Copyright school video
  2. YouTube Copyright Basics



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Video hosting websites

Videos from video hosting websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Media Core, SchoolTube, and Google Drive can be easily embedded into posts or pages.

This is handy when you:

  • have large video files you want to add to your blog posts
  • want to play your video within an embedded player, or
  • want to embed a video created by someone else into your posts.

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YouTube

YouTube is the most popular video sharing and viewing website. It has over one billion users which is around one-third of all people on the internet.

While some schools block YouTube, there are lots of educators who use YouTube to share videos they or their students have created. Teachers also use YouTube to source video resources to use in the classroom or for their professional practice.

We recommend you set up a class or teacher YouTube account if you plan to upload videos or create YouTube Playlists because this helps separate your work videos from your personal videos.

YouTube Playlists are a fantastic way of compiling a list, or group, of videos that play in order to share with students. When one video finishes playing the next video starts. Using YouTube playlists, you can control the start and finish times of each video — this is handy if you want students to watch specific parts of videos.

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to create YouTube Playlists.


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Vimeo

Vimeo is another popular video sharing and viewing website. Fewer videos are hosted on Vimeo compared to YouTube. Vimeo is less likely to be blocked in schools compared to YouTube which is why it’s a popular video hosting website for uploading videos for class and for finding videos to use in class.

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Google Drive

Google Drive allows you upload video files up to 10 GB in size on your desktop computer or using the Google Drive app on your mobile device. You can then share them with select people or embed them into posts and websites.

Google Drive is a popular video hosting option for schools using Google Apps for education. Many of our Google Apps for education schools upload their videos to Google Drive and use the embed code to add to their posts.

Once you’ve uploaded your video to Google Drive you need to:

1.  Click on the video or photo you want to embed and then click on the More icon and select Share.

Click on Share

2.  Click on Advanced option in Share window.

Click on Advanced option

3.  Click on Change next to Private.

Click on Change

4.  Click on On – Anyone with a link or On – Public on the web and then click on Save.

Change sharing

5.  Click on Done to close the Share window.

6.  Click on the More icon and then Open in new window link.

Open in new window

7.  Click on the More icon in the new window and select Embed item.

Click on Embed Item

8.  Copy the embed code.

Copy the embed code

9.  Paste the embed code into your post using Insert Embed in the Add Media Window and then click Insert into Post.

Paste the embed code

10.  Once your post is published you’ll see your photo or video embedded.


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Embedding videos into posts

Videos from video sharing websites can be embedded into posts or pages by either using:

  1. Their video URL
  2. Their embed code

(Note: embed code is not allowed on Edublogs free blogs due to misuse by spammers).

Using the Video URL

Edublogs allows you to quickly embed videos, images and other content such as Tweets and Scribd into a post or page using their URL.

Websites that you can embed using their URL are:

  1. blip.tv
  2. DailyMotion
  3. Flickr – videos and images
  4. Photobucket
  5. Qik
  6. Scribd
  7. Twitter
  8. Viddler
  9. Vimeo
  10. YouTube – public videos only
  11. WordPress.tv

You embed a video using the URL as follows:

1. Copy the video’s URL from your web browser’s address bar while viewing the video.

  • For YouTube videos, you need to use the video URL listed in Share this video.

Copy video URL

2. Go to Posts > Add New or Pages > Add New or open an existing post or page in editing mode.

3. Paste the URL on a line by itself in your post/page editor.

Paste the video URL

Important URL Embed Tips

The link must be on its own line without any characters or white spaces before or after the URL. It must not be hyperlinked otherwise it won’t embed.

You can tell if a URL is hyperlinked by clicking on the link. If the hyperlink button in the toolbar highlights and a link box with the option to edit appears (like in the screenshot below), it means your link is hyperlinked.

Click on Remove link icon to remove the hyperlink.

Remove link


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Using Embed Code

You can also embed videos using their embed code if you have an Edublogs Pro or CampusPress blog.

This is handy when you want to change the size of the video embed, remove related videos when embedding YouTube videos, or are embedding from a video sharing websites where you can’t use the video URL (e.g. TED Talks, SchoolTube or TeacherTube).

Here is how you remove suggested videos in YouTube using embed code:

1.  Click on Share underneath the YouTube video you want to embed.

2.  Click on Embed and then on Show More.

3.  Deselect Show suggested videos when the video finishes.

4.  Copy the embed code.

Youtube options

5.  Go to Posts > Add New or Pages > Add New.

6.  Place your cursor where you want the video to appear and then click on the Add Media button.

Click on Add Media

7.  In the Add Media window click on the Insert Embed Code tab.

Click on Insert Embed Code

8.  Paste the video embed code into the embed code field.

Paste embed code

9.  Click on Insert into Post.

10.  Your Add Media window will close and the embed will appear in the visual editor as shown below.

Embedded video

11.  When you view your published post you will see your video.


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Your Task

We’d like you to add your voice and ideas to our ongoing conversation about blogging by undertaking one or more of these challenges:

  1. Share a video: Find a video on a site like YouTube or Vimeo that you would like to share and embed it into a blog post. If you have a free blog, use the URL method that was explained in the post. Then leave a comment with your blog URL so we can take a look.
  2. Try a tool: Choose one or more of the video creation tools mentioned and try using the tool yourself (or with your students). Leave a comment with a link to where you’ve embedded the video so we can check out how you went.
  3. Be brave! Make a short piece to camera and embed it in a blog post (or upload it to a site like YouTube and share the link with us).
  4. Other tool suggestions: Leave a comment with a description of some other tools you’ve come across to create or edit videos. Tell us how you’ve used video in the classroom before, or how you use video as part of your professional practice.

Also feel free to leave any questions you are having (or tips/advice) as well.


How to leave a comment: Scroll down to find the comment box. Write your comment, then enter your name and email address (email addresses are not published). Enter the anti-spam word. Press submit and we will moderate your comment ASAP.

114 thoughts on “Step 8: Creating And Using Video

  1. Loom is one of my favorite video recording and sharing sites to use. I used to pay for Screencastify, but Loom can do most of the same things for free. I’ve created several videos for my students going over notes. Most recently, I was out for four days due to sickness, so I made videos for my students to watch each day. You can require them to sign in so you know who viewed it or you can keep it anonymous. You can also allow students to react to parts of your videos with emojis.

  2. I’ve used several of these for assignment instructions, even though making videos is not my favorite thing to do. Wondering what topics I might include a video for on my blog.

  3. With Premiere Pro you can create a video, and edit it to your preference for short films, television, and the world wide web.

  4. YouTube is such a great tool for entertaining and educating a classroom, but it is also such a valuable tool for research. I’ve used YouTube many times when creating lessons as a way to collect more information and cross-reference it with other lectures.

  5. I have used videos as brain breaks in the classroom. I have also used videos in homework assignments for students to use as a guide in case they get lost.

  6. Hello, (anti-spam)
    (haileypalella@gmail.com)
    The video that I included in my blog is a YouTube video about test taking tips.
    The tool that I used was YouTube to make videos. I made a short video of myself doing sign language on Youtube. I have really only used Youtube to create videos. Youtube is very easy to use and always works the best.

    Here is the link to my blog with using Youtube and embeding a video to my blog: https://testtakingtipsforstudents.edublogs.org/2021/11/05/test-anxiety-tips/

    Here is the link to my blog with the video of myself signing “Hello, Nice to meet you”:
    https://testtakingtipsforstudents.edublogs.org/2021/11/05/hello-nice-to-meet-you/

  7. Screencastify is one of my favorite video tools to use for instruction, especially with remote students. It allows me to model directions and give clear visuals while still showing my face. It’s also easy to add these videos to your Google drive.

  8. Oh, I can use Screencastify to discuss information about how to find diverse books. Or, I can create my own video. I admit, this is a bit daunting to me. I’m older and technology and I are not exactly compatible, but I am willing to learn. Great resources here.

  9. I added a video I made using Screencastify explaining to teachers how to set up Study Island classes so students can continue reaching their learning targets.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H8N5mIXTgvpnqNqeux1hdzvpQZPk9R-y/view?usp=sharing
    I also really like to use Loom, as you aren’t limited on time. I have never thought about using a green screen, but wow – that seems really neat! I would really like to be more confident in my skill base to where I could do more advanced videos. I still need to look back at the tutorial on how to include a You Tube video so these steps will be very useful for me in the future!

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