Module 8: Screencasts
“How to Check Out a Book Online”
What is a screencast?
A screencast is a digital
recording of a screen, computer usually, that allows you to speak while
simultaneously maneuvering your way through the website. All in all, a
screencast is teaching by recording. If a student is not there for a lesson,
they can pull up a screencast and have the full lesson there.
The idea itself reminds me of video
recorded classes from college. In this day and age, I think screencasts are
some of the most forward thinking apps created for education.
For more information, check out the
following link: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/what-is-screencasting/
Application One:
ScreenCast-O-Matic
I absolutely love this program, and
I was happy to start with this one over any other screencast applications. I am
familiar with this application because my district has had a few professional
development opportunities over it, specifically at my home campus. We have a
few trained teachers who have an additional off period and will come in to
train others on new digital technology tools.
The program is easy. As soon as you
load up the website, you are given the choice of a free membership or a paid
membership. As for the paid memberships, you can choose a “solo deluxe” program
for $1.50/month or a “solo premier” program for $4.00/month. Either way, they
are both extremely affordable for what you can do with them. I chose to stick
with the free version, though I may buy the solo deluxe version when the school
year starts up.
The biggest difference between the
free and paid version is that the paid versions allow you to add in additional
editing factors such as text, highlighting, clip art, etc., create captions
with speech to text, and allows for longer recordings with no watermark. Other than
the captions aspect, the free version worked just fine for what needed to be
done for this project in specific.
The
only issue I found with this app was when I was trying to save my first video.
After I recorded my video, I went to save it and it suddenly disappeared when I
tried to save it to the database. After I recorded the video two or three more
times, thanks to a stutter or two that I didn’t want to add in, I finally saved
it to my desktop and then uploaded it to Youtube, to be extra careful.
The captions with speech to text is
a great addition for numerous reasons. If a student does not have headphones
available, they have the closed caption option, but it still allows them to see
what needs to be done, without missing out on the verbiage and directions.
Another reason this is so great is for anyone with hearing disabilities, the
text at the bottom of the screen offers another perk for them to know what is
going on.
My school is in the process of
getting rid of phones and headphones in the classrooms and hallways, during the
school year, but students still need these technology pieces at times. This
application is useful because it allows students to see first hand what the
teacher is saying, where they are going, and hearing their voice as if it is an
actual lesson.
My Screencast:
I chose
to do a screencast over how to check out/reserve a book online, through the
library website. As an ELA teacher, I constantly see students asking the
librarian the same questions over and over again because we only get to go
bi-weekly. Therefore, I thought it would be a great idea to post a screencast
of a short introduction of the library’s website and the process of checking a
book or putting it on hold.
The
only thing I would change is being able to add text and clip art to the screen
as I spoke. I feel as though circling a link with a mouse is not always as
efficient as using a bright color or something that stands out a bit more.
Or click this link: Youtube Upload
Application Two: Screen
Recorder
I had
no clue which screencast to choose next. I had seen all sorts of reviews and
given tons of recommendations, so I was a bit overwhelmed. A few of my options
consisted of (1) Techsmith’s SnagIt (2) ScreenFlow (3) Screen Recorder (4) Jing
or (5) Adobe Spark.
I chose
not to go the Adobe Spark path because of the fact that it is an iPad app, and
I wanted to keep everything cohesive on the computer. Jing and Screen Recorder
both required downloads, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary with those two. ScreenFlow
required downloading and, if I liked it, it would charge me $129 to use it, so
I skipped that one as well. Techsmith’s Snagit required a download with only a
fifteen day free trial, so that was out of the question. I am not a huge fan of
having to purchase apps just because it gives me one or two perks, one of which
being the removal of a water mark.
Long
story short, I chose Screen Recorder. The application was free to download and,
like all others, offered the choice to upgrade to a pro version. The pro
version is a one-time fee of $29.95, or you have the chance of purchasing a
$49.50 set with six in one apps. I liked how the price was affordable and only
a one-time deal. I also liked how the download was available for Windows, Mac,
and Android products. The download was quick and easy and I was allowed to do
about the same things I could do on Screencast-O-Matic.
Sadly,
because I had to download this program, I had to do it on my personal computer
as opposed to my usual computer of use, my work one. My work computer does not
allow me to download anything on to it without approval from multiple people on
campus, therefore, I would not be able to download this on the computer I would
need it on most. Instead, I could produce a screencast on my personal computer
and sent it to myself, but that is quite a bit of work and could potentially
have me missing information that would have been readily available on my work
computer.
While both allowed me to select an
area to record, record with audio, set video quality, use a webcam, annotate or
add text, my favorite, hands down, screencast program was Screencast-O-Matic. I
attribute this to the fact that nothing has to be downloaded and I was already
somewhat familiar with the program.
Benefits in the
classroom:
- Absent students who need the lesson because of a lengthy absence
- Students who need to hear a lesson more than once
- Being prepared ahead of time for a substitute and having the lesson ready to go
- Uploading the lesson to the computer database/internet to let students review
- Student ownership takes place when a student has to access the video from home or during a tutorial session
- Most importantly, if done well, it can be used for many years to come!
Uses in the
classroom:
- If a student comes in late and missed part of the lesson, they can pull it up while you finish the lesson, then answer any questions at the end
- Student engagement as you work together to create a screencast
- Student ownership of watching the lesson and completing the work while you/teacher tend to other things (example: one student who needs additional help is not singled out because the others are involved in the video lesson)
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