From and teacher's point of view, video can be a powerful educational tool.  And in the most recent years a huge variety of online video resources have become available.  Here's a quick review of just a few of them.

YouTube.com
You may have heard of these guys.  They were blocked at school but teachers can access the site.  Sometimes their content isn't appropriate for a "family audience" but they are the most successful video sharing website out there.  The key to their success has been the ease of use and stability of the software.  It always works, and works well.  Unfortunately many of the other video resources below are not as stable.  Here's a  History of YouTube at Wikipedia and a Video History of YouTube.

TeacherTube.com
It looks similar to YouTube but it's designed with teachers and students in mind.  The video interface isn't as stable as YouTube but it usually works.  The next time you're looking for a video try it, it might surprise you.  Here's a link to a blog entry about Using TeacherTube as an Educator's Workaround.  Examples:  ShiftHappens, School House Rock - Conjunction Junction, Mr. Duey - Fractions Rap, Factoring.

UnitedStreaming
This website and service comes to us from the Bucks County Intermediate Unit and it offers thousands of  free videos that teachers can use in class.  Some of the videos can even be downloaded and edited as needed using software like Microsoft Movie Maker which is on all our computers.

National Geographic Video
Another great resource for short and free online video as well as pictures and current news stories.  The website has lots of different categories to explore.

Discover Channel
This site is full of useful and interesting information for educators.  Plenty of videos and even access to some complete episodes.  Examples:  Myth Buster Quizzes, Strength - Street Gymnast, Skin Pigmentation, Destroyed in Seconds.

Teachers.tv
A great free resource for online educational video that's based out of the United Kingdom.  It boasts having "thousands of educational programmes" and as long as you don't mind the accent this can be a great free resource for teachers and students.  Examples:  Design & Technology Curriculum, Food Technology, Mixed Ability Group Work, Analysing an Advert, American Civil War.

BrainPop.com
This website offers cartoon based tutorials for a variety of age groups.  There is a free trial available and they offer some free videos too but eventually you'll have to pay these people to access all their resources.

Technology Entertainment Design
Though you might find some useful classroom videos here this, website can also be a source for your own professional and personal inspiration.  It features "Inspired talks by the world's leading thinkers and doers."  Examples:  One Laptop Per Child in Columbia, Benjamin Zander on Music & Passion, Goodbye Textbooks; Open Source Learning, Theme: How We Learn, Sixth Sense Computing.

Here's a list of video sharing websites to help you research other possible online resources for internet video.  And here's a Wikipedia entry about video sharing websites:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_sharing_websites

Finally, a short video from YouTube about how to
Insert a Video into a PowerPoint Presentation:

 

NEXT:  Online Video - Webcams