What is ChatTube?
YouTube videos have long been utilized in the language classroom and serve as a go-to learning tool for instructors and students alike. YouTube videos enhance foreign language learning by exposing students to regional accents, creating encounters with the target culture, and facilitating listening comprehension skills.
Now, an artificial intelligence (AI) development is available which encourages instructors or students to ask questions about YouTube videos, simply by chatting back and forth with the tool about the YouTube video of your choice. Introducing ChatTube – an AI tool which can create summaries, generate discussion questions, and pull out key video details. This can be leveraged at length for anyone teaching or learning a foreign language. Let’s talk about how!
Like ChatGPT or other similar AI chatbots, ChatTube contains a text field where you, as the user, will type your questions or prompts. ChatTube will then respond to your comments, and it will tailor its response specifically to the context of the video you have selected.
Can I talk to ChatTube in my native language/target language?
Yes, in many cases. Try it out in your language.
How can I use ChatTube as an instructor?
When you find a YouTube video you want to use with a student, first paste the link into ChatTube (if using the website) or find where to text back and forth with the chatbot (if using the Chrome extension).
Questions or prompts you might write could be,
- What background information is needed for students to understand this video?
- Write three discussion questions about this video.
- Write four multiple choice questions about this video, and give me the correct answers. Provide the timestamps in the video where these answers can be found.
- Explain how to use (a certain grammar structure).
DLS has curated a list of prompts for instructors to use with ChatTube, specifically for designing tasks for students to do before, during, or after watching the video. Click here for the ChatTube Prompts Template.
Be sure to review ChatTube’s response carefully and make any edits as needed.
Then, use the ChatTube-generated content for speaking or listening activities with your student in class.
This works extremely well in a flipped learning context, where you assign a video to the student to watch before the next class. Then, using ChatTube, you can prepare activities based on the video to do the next time you teach the student.
How can I use ChatTube as a student?
ChatTube is not just for teachers. Below are examples of prompts you could use to generate a response from ChatTube related to the video you are watching. To get the tool to respond in the target language, you can either (a) Write your prompt in the target language, or (b) Specifically request that ChatTube respond in the target language. You may need to select ChatTube’s source language from the drop-down menu at the top of the page to ensure it responds in your preferred language.
- Summarize the video by stating the main idea and listing key details in bullet proof format.
- Identify examples of (select a grammar structure) used in this video and provide the timestamps of when they were said in the video.
- Give me a list of key vocabulary words used in this video. Include their definitions.
How can I get started?
Access ChatTube on its own website or as a Chrome extension:
- Official ChatTube Website: https://chattube.io/
- ChatTube Chrome extension link
New users can chat with up to three videos per day using ChatTube. Each video conversation is limited to 15 questions.
The lowest paid version, the Essential plan, costs $4.99 per month as of this writing. Users can get a free one-month trial of the Essential plan. After that, it costs $4.99 per month, as of this writing. To sign up or view more pricing options, visit https://chattube.io/.
