Common Craft Blog

Common Craft videos are used by educators in a variety of situations. A popular option is sharing videos in online meetings using a service like Google Meet. Here's how use Google Meet to share videos from our website:

 

Step-by-Step Instructions

The information below is the same as in the video above.

 

1. Go to the video library CommonCraft.com and find the video you'd like to share and open it in a browser tab. Google Meet works best on the Chrome browser.

 

2. Go to Google Meet in a separate browser tab to join the meeting or start presenting.

 

3. Once you arrive in the meeting, look for the "Present Now" button on the bottom right and click it.

 

4. A menu will appear with multiple options. Select the "A Tab" option:

 

5. A new window will appear with tabs that are open in your browser. Select the tab for the video you'd like to share and be sure the "Share audio" box is checked.

 

6. When you click "Share" you will be taken to the tab you selected and the audience will see anything in the browser's tab. In this case, it's the Common Craft video. The browser will appear in a blue box and you'll see a message that you are sharing and a "stop" button.

 

6.  Common Craft members can display the video full screen and/or use a version of the video with captions in English. The audience should be able to hear the voice-over of the video as it plays. To share another video, you can navigate to it in the browser.

 

7. To stop sharing, click the blue "Stop" button on the screen and you will be automatically returned to the Google Meeting.

 

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If you need more help using videos with Google Meet, check out the help articles on the Google Meet website.

Video Library Compare Membership Plans

Common Craft Classics are videos from the early days of Common Craft that we're making available to the public.

Social Bookmarking was a big deal in the mid-2000s. Services like Delicious were widely adopted and people were enjoying the ability to organize and share bookmarked links. Over time, social bookmarking evovled and became less relevant as new services like Digg and Reddit gained huge audiences.

The video below was originally published in 2007 and was a part of our series of videos with the subtitle "In Plain English" and part of the "Social Media Six Pack".

 

While this video is now a classic, we've our video library has continues to grow and today have over 100 titles.

Visit the Video Library   Learn About Membership

Common Craft videos are used by educators in a variety of situations. A popular option is sharing videos in online meetings using a service like Zoom. Here's how use Zoom to share videos from our website:

This video is also available on YouTube.

Step-by-Step Instructions

The information below is the same as in the video above.

1. Go to the video library CommonCraft.com and find the videos you'd like to share and open them in separate browser tabs. Leave open the tab for the video you want to share.

 

2. Go back to the Zoom interface and click "Share Screen" at the bottom. A new window will appear with the windows that are open on your computer.

 

3. Select the option that contains the Common Craft video you want to share. Be sure to add check marks to the options for "Share Sound" and "Optimize for Video Clip"

 

5. Click "Share" to share the web page with your audience. When sharing begins, you'll see the indicator below on the screen. Anything you do in the browser window will be visible to the audience.

 

6.  Common Craft members can display the video full screen and/or use a version of the video with captions in English. The audience should be able to hear the voice-over of the video as it plays. To share another video, you can navigate to it in the browser, or open a new tab.

 

7. To stop sharing, click the red "Stop Sharing" button on the screen and you will be automatically returned to the Zoom meeting.

 

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If you need more help using videos with Zoom, check out the help articles on the Zoom website.

Video Library Compare Membership Plans

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge, which is a science explainer video competition for people 13-17, recently declared a winner for 2020.

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global science video competition, aiming to develop and demonstrate young people’s knowledge of science and scientific principles; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices; and engage the imagination and interest of the public in key concepts of fundamental science.

Students age 13 to 18 from countries across the globe are invited to create and submit original videos (3:00 minutes maximum) that bring to life a concept or theory in the life sciences, physics or mathematics. The submissions are judged on the student’s ability to communicate complex scientific ideas in engaging, illuminating, and imaginative ways.

The Challenge was founded in 2015 by Yuri and Julia Milner.

Needless to say, we're big fans of the competition. One of the biggest problems we face is making science more understandable for the general public. By asking young people to create these videos, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge is not only educating the public, but teaching essential media creation skills. Explainer videos, when focused on education, can play a transformational role in helping people become engaged in science and feel confident about their knowledge.

The winner of the challenge was Maryam Tsegaye of Canada, who explained Quantum Tunneling.

Watch videos by all the finalists.

This video, 115th title, is now available for embedding, downloading, or displaying in the Common Craft video library. It's part of our Internet Safety Series and meant to help build aware awareness of the issue of harassment.

Watch it in full for a limited time

What it Teaches:

This video follows the story of a person being harassed online. The trouble starts with mild language in a discussion forum and then escalates to more serious behavior over time. It teaches:

• How to recognize online harassment
• Common tactics of harassers
• What to do if you’re being harassed
• Why it’s important to save messages from harassers
• Whom to contact

Watch the Video

 

Video Preview:

We created this short video explain the intent of this video and how to use it:

 

Note: Each Common Craft video comes with a lesson plan that makes teaching easier. Curious? Download the lesson plan for the video above (PDF).

In 2008, we took on the challenge of explaining the Electoral College in a way that was apolitical and easy to understand.

To be effective, it had to be timeless and use visuals to make the process clear. Today, twelve years later, the video remains one of our favorites and continues to earn attention. The only change we've made is to update the years we show at the beginning of the video.

Please feel free to share the video via YouTube.