Adding Video to @Edmodo - 4 Simple Approaches

Recently, a high school teacher sent me the following question via Edmodo:

Hey Miguel :) Can you tell me where to look to share a Youtube clip with my Lang &GovEco edmodo students? I found one I'd like to post for the first week. Thanks for all you are doing to help us utilize technology more effectively.

 At first, I thought the response might be pretty easy but then realized there were several ways to get this done. This blog entry illustrates 4 of those approaches on how to add video to Edmodo.

Pick the one that works best for your workflow. A caveat: In many school districts--including East Central ISD--Approaches 1-3 will probably only work for faculty and staff, not students. Using Edmodo to link or embed content does NOT bypass school district content filtering. However, cloud storage solutions (e.g. YouTube, Dropbox, Box.net) may be appropriate for faculty and staff professional learning situations.

Approach #4 will work with students, especially if using the ECISD GoogleApps for Education.

Approach #1 - Drop the Video into YouTube
This solution involves you uploading the video to YouTube, or similar video hosting provider (e.g. Vimeo, SchoolTube, etc) and is fairly straightforward. Then, all you have to do is copy the embed code and paste it into the LINK box in an Edmodo assignment or quiz.

Here's how:

a) Get the Video Embed Code from YouTube (click the Share button under the video):

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #2 - Drop the Video into Box.net
One of the new, similar to Dropbox cloud storage providers is Box.net. One of the neat features that Box.net features--that Dropbox--does not have is embed code for videos. If you have a video that's under 100 megabytes in size (Box.net's file size limit for any file is 100 megs for their FREE), you can upload it and get the embed code for that video. Then, you paste that embed code into the LINK box in an Edmodo assignment or quiz.

This does not constitute an endorsement

I like Box.net because I have 50 gigs of free space that they were giving away some time ago. You get about 5gigs of free space to start with now, which is considerable.

Here's what getting a video into Edmodo via Box.net would look like:

a) Get the Video Embed Code from YouTube (click the Share button under the video):

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #3 - Drop the Video into Dropbox.com
Are you a Dropbox fan? Certainly, quite a few people--including educators--prefer Dropbox. Videos hosted on Dropbox have a public link that you can share. The process is pretty easy given the embed code approaches featured earlier in this blog entry.

a) Right-click the file hosted on Dropbox and then select COPY PUBLIC LINK:

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #4 - GoogleDocs/Drive Hosted Video
If you're like me, you probably have a chunk of videos in your GoogleDocs. It's so easy to add them to Edmodo directly from GoogleDocs/GoogleDrive/GoogleApps for Education (sheesh, all the names for the same thing can be confusing!).

Here's how:

a) Go to the Edmodo Library (link at the top of the page) and you'll see this when you click on GoogleDocs:

b) Click on CONNECT with GoogleDocs button. You will see a screen like the one below...if you have only one account, you won't see two like I do. Click on the account you want to connect to Edmodo.

c) Select the video you've uploaded most recently to GoogleDocs/Drive and it will be linked in your Library:

d) In your new assignment/quiz, select Library and then click the link:

and then select the video from GoogleDocs and click ATTACH:

Here's what the posting in Edmodo looks like:

 e) After that, the video will appear when you (or your students) click on Open in GoogleDocs as follows:

CONCLUSION
So, there you have it--4 simple approaches to linking to videos. Is there a solution that you have used successfully?