Tech Tips

Creating Content Videos

One way you can engage students during remote learning is by creating content videos that you can push out as a resource or as your lesson. There are a couple of easy to use tools that can aid you in creating videos.

One tool that I use to record videos is Screencastify. I love the ease of recording and the fact that it automatically saves to Google Drive. It also can easily be uploaded to YouTube or pushed out to Google Classroom right from the Screencastify recording interface.

Another tool that seems easy to use is Loom. Loom can be downloaded as a desktop app for Macs or PCs and there is also a Chrome extension. In addition to recording, you can share a link to your video and even password protect it.

Finally, Flipgrid recently announced an update to allow users to record their screen. They have also increased the recording time to 10 minutes. Here is information on the screen recording feature.

Here are some tips as you consider creating videos:

  • Less is more: keep your videos short and record in chunks, then add them to a playlist if necessary

  • Put your face in it: many of these tools allow you also record your face in addition to your screen and your students will love seeing you

  • Be consistent: post your videos on the same place for students to access

  • Make a plan: sketch out what you plan to say so that your video stays on course and is as succinct as possible


1. Alt + s (PC) Command + Shift + s (Mac)

Both of these commands will bring up the screen you want to share whether it is maximized or minimized


2. Sometimes you want to say who and when someone can share a screen.Zoom has conveniently added a Security button here in the toolbar. When you click on Security you can see that there's a few options here including the ability to allow or not allow participants to share their screens. If you leave it unchecked anyone who is in this meeting with you, cannot share their screen unless you come in here and select it


3. If you want to share video whether it is a youtube video or another video you have saved to your computer, make sure you click on OPTIMIZE SCREEN SHARING FOR VIDEO CLIP. This will increase the best viewing chances for your students.Your bandwidth and the participants bandwidth affects how the participant will see the video.


4. Did you know that you can share just a portion of your screen? If you click on advanced there is an option to share a portion of the screen. You will see a green rectangle and what is in the rectangle is what the participant will be able to see. If you want to show another portion, you can drag the frame around - when you do that the frame turns orange. Once you place it where you need it to be it will be green again.