We will open our class with a student updates on their progress on our critical thinking design project and agree to some firm due dates. Then we will turn our attention to a new skill – screencasting.
Screencasting / Slidecasting
Edtech guru, Kathy Schrock defines screencasting as “the capture of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating. Screencasts can be made with many tools and are often used to create a tutorial or showcase student content mastery.” A related practice is slidecasting (creating a slideshow and then screencasting your narration of it as it plays on the screen). Kathy’s screencasting resources.
I make use of many edtech tools in my classes and workshops. Rather than teaching an edtech tool to everyone in a whole class setting, I think it is more efficient to make a short screencast and post it to my YouTube collection. That creates many flexible learning “tutorials” that I can use as part of flipped or blended lessons.
Here’s a few tips for screencasting:
- I favor taking complex instructions and turning them into multiple shorter videos covering specific aspects of the task. Some students know one thing and not another. Why make them sit through a long how-to.
- I use a plug in mic (just a standard iPhone earbud mic) rather than the microphone built into my Mac. (The built-in mic on my desktop sounds distant and echoes because of it’s placement in a corner of my office.) I check the volume level and mic position first to get sound level right and make sure I’m not “popping” when I say my “Ps.”
- I first practice the skill a few times to find efficient ways to demonstrate and describe what I am doing.
- If I will be entering much text as part of the task, I create a text document first so I can copy/paste text into the app I’m demonstrating ( I hate watching videos of people typing.)
- I make sure any images, websites or other content I will use in the video are readily available.
- I try and do the screencasts in one take. I don’t worry too much about flubbing words – hey, it’s only a screencast.
I typically use Quicktime Player, which is built into the Mac OS. It’s easy to use and quickly uploads to my YouTube account. Here’s a screencast I made on how to use Quicktime Player to make a screencast. (very meta)
Screencasting with CaptureSpace
This week we’ll explore how to screencast / slidecast using the CaptureSpace tool that’s built into UP’s MediaSpace. It’s a robust app that opens up a few more options for capture and editing that using Quicktime Player. It also provides a place – MediaSpace – where student’s can upload the finished product.
Note you might also want to check out video tutorials on Microphone setup and how to Edit Your Screencast Before Upload
Assignment
Student’s will use class time to design and record a screencast (or slidecast) using CaptureSpace. If they use Quicktime Player, they should plan to load it up to there YouTube account. It could be related to our critical thinking design project, an upcoming lesson they hope to use in their placement, or just some content or skills they would like to describe.
After creating and uploading the video to UP MediaSpace, students should write and upload a blog post that describes what they hoped to accomplish with the video and what they see as the challenges and opportunities of screencasting / slidecasting. They should use the MediaShare “Share” function to create an embed code so they can include to their screencast in the blog post.
Here’s a how-to video explaining how to do that (made with QuickTime)