Here’s an easy solution from Jeff Giddens at http://segatech.us/archives/2283 for downloading YouTube videos so you can watch them on a computer without access to YouTube.

One of the things I do in my work is teach educators how to integrate multimedia resources into their instruction. Doing so often makes the learning process more engaging and understandable for pupils. I remind teachers that there are many reputable sources of educational material (for example, the video clips available at Annenberg’s Learner.org, the Library of Congress, TeacherTube, and Unitedstreaming). Sometimes, however, educators want to use instructional video from a site that cannot be accessed at school, a site like Youtube. We all know that, since the site is open to just about any and everyone, all manner of video material is present there–the shocking bad and the wonderfully good. That said, many clips on the site are perfectly safe and useful for instructional purposes.

So, what are educators to do when they want to use a Youtube video but can’t do so at school? There’s a simple way to address this problem. Be aware that the video will need to be downloaded at home or outside of school. This is a prudent move anyway, given that an “oops” experience at home is much easier to deal with than it would be in front of stunned students.

Step #1–Get Firefox.
Download and install Firefox. Yes, you can use Internet Explorer to download video but this tutorial isn’t taking that route. Firefox is a program that, like Internet Explorer, allows users to see web pages. It’s free and won’t mess up your PC. You’ll need Firefox to download videos as described here. You can get Firefox here if you need to download it–> http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Step #2–Get Riva FLV player.
The videos you are downloading will probably be saved to your computer as an .flv video file. You’ll need an flv viewer ( a program that lets you watch .flv video files). Don’t worry there’s a great flv viewer called Riva FLV Player that’s free. You can get that program from this site:
http://tinyurl.com/22qzk5

Download and install Riva FLV player. It’ll be ready to play the videos you download when you begin downloading them. You also want to make sure that you have the .flv player installed on your machine at school

Step #3 Get DownloadHelper.
Download and install DownloadHelper. It’s an extension for Firefox that allows you to save videos from popular websites like Myspace, YouTube, Google, and others. Go to the site below and click on the green INSTALL NOW button.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006

You’ll be prompted to restart Firefox. After doing that, the Downloadhelper icon will be visible in the upper right hand corner of your Firefox browser (near the Google search box). If everything was properly installed your browser may even take you the Downloadhelper website where you’ll see this message:

“You just installed DownloadHelper Firefox extension.”

Step #4 Give it a whirl.
Go to Youtube or another site where video is available. You should see that the Downloadhelper icon is animated. If you click on the the little arrow to the right of the Downloadhelper icon, it’ll show you the name of the video you’re about to download. Click on that name and a window will appear. You can rename the video if you wish to do so. After you’ve downloaded the file you should be able to play it.

Step #5 Enjoy!
Save the .flv file on a jumpdrive, take it to school, and watch it.