Screencast-O-Matic Walk-Through

Last year I created a 5 Minute Guide to Screencasting video for educators interested in using screencast-o-matic.com.  Since then I have realized that many people prefer a text & screenshot tutorial as opposed to a video tutorial.  In many cases, I too prefer this type of walk-through, particularly if I am short on time and can scan through one of these more quickly than a video.

I have therefore created an updated walk-through with accompanying screenshots below.  (Google Doc Version Available Here)

1. Go to screencast-o-matic.com and click “Start Recording.”

*** I also suggest creating an account and logging in if this will be your screencasting program of choice (archives videos for you.)

2. When starting up, you may have to accept prompts to allow or install the Java plugin.

3. Recording Window Will Appear With Options

4.  Select Your Microphone

5. Select Recording Area

6. Select Webcam

7. Click Record (Countdown Will Appear)

8.  Choose Restart or Done When Complete

9.  Preview Window Will Appear

10. Publish Your Video  (3 OPTIONS)

Screencast-O-Matic  (Must Be Logged In)	YouTube	Video File

Screencasting With the Snagit Chrome App (Updated 4.25.14)

*** Snagit's screencasting capability recently came out of Beta and is now an "official" feature of their Chrome App.   Below is an updated walk-through with the new (and more streamlined) interface. 

Google Doc Version of Snagit Walk-through

1. Install both the Snagit App & Snagit Extension.

2. Open Snagit App

3. Create New Screen Recording (Upper Left)

4. Select Recording Area

5. Click “Stop Sharing” when complete.

6. Preview Video & Share

*** Video is automatically added to the TechSmith folder in your Google Drive.

To Share Via YouTube, click Share (Lower Right) then enter video details.

Video tutorial also available here courtesy of Jonathan Wylie.

New "Technology for Educators" Courses

I recently developed two (free) online courses titled Technology for Educators.  The goal of these courses is to help educators effectively leverage modern instructional technologies to improve student learning.  Although designed as a set of introductory courses, tips and strategies are also included for more experienced educators. 

Topics covered in Tech for Educators Part 1 include: 

- Course & Student Management 
- Sharing Resources
- Communicating with Students

Topics covered in Tech for Educators Part 2 include: 

- Creating Instructional Videos  (Quick Tips, Planning, Recording, Editing, & Publishing)
- Sharing Instructional Videos  (Hosting & Distributing)

Each course is relatively short and can be completed in just a few hours.  You can also use these courses as a resource to browse in any sequence of you choosing.  

For those of you that are very tech savvy, please consider sharing these introductory courses with teachers who are just dipping their toes into the educational technology waters.

Future courses will focus on various technologies, techniques, and practical strategies related to online assessments.  

Intro Video to the Tech for Educators Courses

Creating Instructional Videos

As the new school year approaches, many educators new to Flipped Learning will begin experimenting with screencasting and other forms of video production.  As part of a recent workshop, I put together this guide to creating instructional videos.  Although much of it is curated from the vast #flipclass resources out there, I added commentary based upon my experiences both creating instructional videos as well as the knowledge I have gained over the past year teaching "Video Production."

Click Here to View My Guide to"Creating Instructional Videos"

I hope this helps, and feel free to share this document however you wish.

Student Screencasting Examples

Many educators in the flipped learning community have started experimenting with student screencasting.  I thought I would provide a few examples here from my students at PHS.

Most students used screencast-o-matic, which is both free and relatively simple.  Students who possessed more advanced tech skills, or those who were more heavily invested in their projects, were given the chance to use Camtasia Studio along with quality podcasting equipment.

Here is a screencast as part of a PHS student's 20 Time project.  He is learning how to do voice-over productions for his project, so he offered to provide narration for my "20 Time Intro Presentation."  I think he did an excellent job!

I have also compiled a playlist of students who presented their research projects via screencast video.  Here is one example but you can CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE PLAYLIST

5 Minute Guide to Screencasting

Our PHS students are currently developing screencast presentations, so I thought what better way to model this skill than by making a screencast tutorial of, you guessed it, how to make a screencast.

After presenting last week at a Flipped Learning Workshop in Braintree, MA, I also realized how useful a quick guide would be for educators.

Here I demonstrate the use of Screencast-O-Matic, a simple (and free) web-based screencasting software.  Although I develop my screencasts (including this one) with Camtasia Studio, which I highly recommend as well, Screencast-O-Matic is a great tool for students and teachers who are just starting out with screencasting.

Rethinking the Screencast

 Many of us have spent a part of this summer reflecting upon our year and racking our brains to improve in 2012-2013.  Although we all know its not just about the videos, one of the many areas I would like to improve next year is the quality of my screencasts.  I made about 12 during the second semester last year, but after further research of flipping techniques (including Jon and Aaron’s book) and taking a course in hypermedia this summer, I realized that I was making several mistakes.  I will start with these:

• My screencasts were too long.  Some ran about 20 minutes, a lot to ask regarding the attention span of the “YouTube generation."
• Each slide contained too much information and too many visuals.  Students (actually any learners), can only process so much as once.  Including 5-8 lines of text, 3-4 visuals, and audio narration put too much strain on what theorists call “cognitive load."
• The videos were not interactive in any way. They were primarily a digital version of the same passive lecture style that we have all come to accept but deep down despise.

Here are some of the changes I am making for this year’s screencasts, thanks in part to the new and improved Camtasia Studio 8.

• Shorter videos that are overviews of one topic. For instance, instead of one 25-30 minute video on Ancient Greece, I am creating three separate 8-10 minute videos.
• Switching from PowerPoint to Prezi, each slide will only include one line of text and one visual.  There will be more slides overall, but each will have a primary focus regarding content.  I also think this will add better “flow” to the presentation since each slide is only up for about 30-45 seconds.
• Videos will be interactive using Camtasia 8’s quizzing and hotspot features.  Students will be prompted for their name and email before starting the quiz.  There will then be 5-6 questions embedded at different times in the video, and responses will be sent to me via a spreadsheet.  Not only will the scores be reported, but also the percentage of the video actually being viewed by the student.  Hotspots will be included that will be “clickable” links in the video to online resources relevant to the material covered in the video.

Here is the link to my first video using these methods (and Camtasia Studio 8):  

http://www.screencast.com/t/xnBx88EzFZ0U

I’m sure once the school year starts, I will realize that there are 10 other changes I would like to make.  If you feel this way too, that’s ok.  As Jon and Aaron say in their book, its not whether its perfect, its whether its done by Tuesday… That being said, hopefully this will help you consider how to best create your screencast videos regarding student learning in the limited time-frames we have to produce them. 

If you have any comments or questions, as always, please comment below or contact me at the following:

Thdriscoll@gmail.com

@Mr_Driscoll

*** IMPORTANT:  If students are viewing the interactive videos (hotspot / quiz) on an iPhone, make sure they download the TechSmith Smartplayer App, otherwise these features will not work correctly. 

Goal of Flipped Class Videos: Content Delivery or Skill Development?

It recently occurred to me that since I began flipping my world history course in January, each of my screencast lectures have had one overarching goal:  content delivery.    This has proven tremendously useful and the early results, considering both assessment scores and student feedback, are encouraging.     Transitioning some of my direct instruction (content delivery through lecture)  to video has helped students understand some of the major events and themes from world history, but I realized what I should shift my focus towards:  building social studies skills!

Since most of our class time is now spent working on such skills, I now have a better understanding of their ability to engage in such learning experiences.   In sum, I overestimated many of their abilities.   For example, we recently worked on evaluating the historical significance of cold war events.   Many students had little trouble telling me what happened, but few could clearly articulate the importance and global implications of these events and historical developments.  

Then, it dawned on me.   Why not model these social studies skills through screencasts in a similar way that I have been delivering content?   When I mentioned this idea to colleagues in my district, they agreed that modeling of these skills is essential before we expect them to develop them in class.     We quickly brainstormed some skills that we could begin developing screencasts for: 

•         Historical Significance
•         Evaluating Validity / Bias in Sources
•         Developing a Research Paper
•         Writing (we could go on an on here…)

We also realized that there were several other benefits to creating skills based screencasts…

1.  If each department member uses the same screencast to introduce a skill, there will be a clear expectation for students across subjects and grade levels within you department.    (For example, students will no longer be frustrated with situations where one teacher has vastly different expectations regarding writing a research paper. ) 
2. This will be a great way for teachers to start working together making screencasts. 
3.  Different departments could collaborate on screencasts.   For instance, the English and Social Studies departments could develop a common research format and show students through a model screencast.

Of course, flipping your class is not simply about the videos.  I do believe, however, that modeling skills through screencasts will improve the performance of students as they engage in often challenging in-class learning experiences.