Screencasting

Screencasting is a neologism that refers to a wide range of asynchronous presentation tools, most commonly videos, built to push content that needs to be directly stated, but doesn't have to be in person. Below you will find sub-sections on:

-Example Screencasts- -Tool Recommendations- -Important Considerations- -Outside Sources- -Building in Accountability-

Recorded PD: Making Screencasts Count from BOLTS

What are Screencasts?

Why Screencast?

Screecast Concerns

Tools and How-tos

-Example Screencasts-

-The Single Most Important PSA on Screencasting-

-Example Talking Head Screencast-

Why pick this: if you think your face would add either comfort or authenticity to your delivery this is a great way to go. This is helpful for how-tos, take home experiments, and more. Some apps combine this with a whiteboard.

-Example voice over presentation-

Why pick this: if you'd like to present something like a power point with a voice over but feel having your face is unnecessary, go this way. Great for delivery of factual content (definitions, dates, maps, and the like).

-Example Digital White Board -

Why pick this: this is the way to go if your presentation works best when you can hand-write, draw, and manipulate images. Great for math, languages with unique alphabets, cartooning, etc. Some apps combine DWB with talking-head!

-How Can I Try It Out: Tool Recommendations-

-Digital Whiteboard-

  • Explain Everything (Really the industry standard, inexpensive, great free features)
  • Educreations (iPad exclusive, VERY user friendly, you'll need the pro account)
  • Oh so many more (Show me, Lensoo, I mean...who knows how many are out there)

Most of the digital whiteboard apps are free, but more features and storage are available with pro accounts, which can be reimbursed.

Talking Head/Voice Over:

  • Screencast-O-Matic (Non-tablet computer, very affordable, not a ton of features)
  • Camtasia (Non-tablet computer, excellent, not inexpensive)
  • Explain Everything (Better on a tablet but works on a laptop)
  • Mac quicktime player (click "file" menu, select "New Screen Recording)
  • Mac OS X Mojave: Shift+Cmnd+5

-Important Things to Consider-

Hey, so....where are you storing these videos? For many the answer is as unlisted videos on YouTube (here's how to do that!), which allows for some cool post-production options that boost your screencasts' efficacy. Other apps seamlessly post your work without any upload process, which streamlines workflow but can limit post-production options.

How long should they be? I try extremely hard to make them inside 5 minutes. If I have something really long to talk about I chunk it out. It took me a while to accept that making them short is a "need," but it is a need, not a preference.

How do I know they're doing it? For that...there are many answers, but some good ones are just below.

-Do I have to make them myself?-

You certainly do not have to! A great way to dip your toes into flipped classroom is using others' materials. Here are a few example resources:

https://www.khanacademy.org/ https://www.mathhelp.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse

If you're trying to decide between creating and borrowing, here are some of the benefits of making them yourself:

    1. The speaker is you, and your kids connect with that. You supply both comfort and authority.
    2. You know exactly what is in those videos, and you know they are stated how you want them to be stated.
    3. We all grow in how we say things; self-made screencasts can grow with you.

-Services That Build Accountability Into Your Screencasts-

How do I make sure the kids are getting it done? Sometimes this is covered by simply looking at view counts or youtube analytics (how-to coming!), but in many cases it can be very helpful to you and your students to build in formative assessment that also pushes accountability. Here are two subtly different strategies that do more to assess student learning

1. Use a service to embed assessments into your videos 2. Embed your videos into a service that assesses learning

-In-Video Assessment-

  • Edpuzzle (Works for video files or those uploaded to youtube/equivalent)
  • Playposit (Works for video files or those uploaded to youtube/equivalent)


-Assessment with Videos Embedded-

  • "Assessments" or "quizzes" built into your lms
  • Self-paced Nearpod (Works best with saved videos or those on youtube/equivalent but still well with in-app hosted storage)
  • Google Forms: Video Explanation | Sample (works with everything with different workflows)