The YouTube video editor was always a popular tool for teachers. Whether you were editing digital stories or trimming a screencast, the YouTube Editor let you create and edit videos quickly and easily. It also worked great with Chromebooks. However, it was retired by Google in September 2017, and there was really no sign of a resurrection...until now. A brand new video editor is returning to YouTube, and you can try it out today!

First, a word of caution. This is not a finished product. It's (currently) missing a lot of the features from the original editor, and it's buried deep inside of YouTube where they don't make it very easy to find. However, the signs of life are good. The first time you go there, you will be greeted with a splash screen that says,

"We're still adding features, so you can expect to see more appearing in the coming months."

So, where will you find it? Here are some instructions on how to find the new YouTube editor so that you too can jump in and try it out.

1. Log in to YouTube
2. Click your profile icon in the top right-hand corner
3. Click Creator Studio
   
4. Click the blue YouTube Studio Beta link in the top left-hand corner
   
5. Click Videos from the left-hand sidebar to see your videos
   
6. Click on one of your videos
7. Click Editor in the left-hand sidebar to launch the editor
   

 
Like I said, it's not the easiest thing to find right now, but that will probably change over time. Personally I always liked the youtube.com/editor URL that you could use with the old editor, but at the moment that just redirects you to a YouTube support page. Maybe that will also return soon.

Perhaps the best way to see what the new editor is capable of is to see it in action. So, take a look at the video from Flipped Classroom Tutorials below. It will show you how to find the editor and take you through some of the basic functionality of what you can do with it in its current state. At the moment, all you can really do is split and trim clips, or add an end screen, but the promise of more features has me optimistic about what the future holds .

So, are you excited about the new YouTube editor? What features are you hoping to see next, and how will this impact the work you do in your classrooms? Leave a comment below with your hopes and dreams! :)

Thanks to Arcadia Parson for tipping us off about the new editor!

Jonathan Wylie | @jonathanwylie
Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

YouTube is a fantastic resource for teachers. However, there are certain things that we sometimes wish were not visible for our students. Comments are a prefect example. They are frequently unmoderated and contain all kinds of language that we would rather avoid exposing students to. The suggested videos on the sidebar or at the end of a video are another case in point. Then there are the ads. Waiting 30 seconds to view a video is an eternity for some teachers and exposes your students to commercial products you may not want to endorse. So, is there any hope? Indeed there is! Take a look at this list of tools that are guaranteed to give you a distraction free YouTube viewing experience for your classroom.

If you visit viewpure.com and paste in the link to the video you want to watch or share with students, you will instantly be greeted with a clean view that strips out the comments, sidebar and more. You also get a link that you can use to share that specific view with students on Google Classroom, an LMS or by email. If you click the gear for advanced options you can choose the start and end time for your video as well as the option to create a custom URL. They even have a nice bookmarklet you can add to your browser toolbar so that you can clean up videos in one click - no copy and pasting required. Oh, and you get all this for free!

This Chrome extension was built by a teacher, for teachers. It modifies a YouTube URL so that when clicked, you automatically get taken to a full screen version of your video. No sidebar or comments are visible and you get a nice big video player to view your content. As a bonus, you will notice that when you use this extension, the tic tac toe board of videos that you normally see at the end of your video, is also gone. Once the extension is installed, all you do is click it when viewing the video you want to use inside of YouTube. A drop-down menu reveals the modified link for you to copy or preview. Easy, right? The video below has more information. Download the YT Full Fill Chrome extension here.

Watchkin is similar to ViewPure. In fact it does many of the same things so this could come down to a matter of preference. However, it does include a dark theme and full-width option that you don't get in ViewPure. They also have an auto-redirect browser add-on that will automatically redirect any YouTube link you click on to a cleaned up Watchkin version. It takes a little bit of setting up, but could be a worthwhile option. Otherwise, they do have a bookmarklet you can drag to your toolbar, and copying and pasting YouTube URLs also works. 

Installing an adblocker on your browser will often remove all pre-roll ads from YouTube videos. It is a quick and easy solution and is something you basically set and forget. There are adblockers for every modern browser, and several to choose from. Adblock Plus, Adblock and Ublock Origin are some of the better known ones. 

However, be aware that adblockers do more than just block ads on YouTube. They will block ads on every website you visit. Sounds awesome, right?! Well, yes...and no. The internet that we know and love is mostly free for a reason. Ads pay for a lot of the sites that we use on a daily basis. If everyone installed an adblocker, the way we get content from the internet would likely change very quickly. In short, we would have to pay for a lot more of it.

Is it illegal to install an adblocker? No. Does it hurt sites that rely on ad revenue to stay afloat? Yes. I like to think that as educators in the classroom we get a pass on this, however, what you do at home with your personal devices is up to you. Many adblockers let you "whitelist" sites you want to allow ads to be shown on. This could be a good compromise in the free vs paid debate, but regardless of where you stand on this issue, adblockers will block pre-roll ads on YouTube.

Ever wish you could trim a little off the beginning or end of a video? Well, you can. Tubechop.com was created for just that purpose. Simply paste in the URL of your video, drag the sliders to include the content you need, and then click CHOP IT to lose the parts that you don't need. The resulting video is shareable by a link, and can be embedded with an HTML embed code. You also get a pretty good distraction free viewing experience. Try it for yourself at tubechop.com.

~Jonathan Wylie, Technology Consultant, Grant Wood AEA (@jonathanwylie)

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