The following is a list of considerations to make when entering the planning phase of developing a screencast. Like an effective lesson, planning is crucial to ensure student learning and engagement.

• LESS IS MORE! - Yes, I know we've said this. We'll say it again! This is one of the most difficult issues to overcome when developing a screencast. Research shows (see below) that the ideal length should be under 6 minutes

• Chunking - 6 minutes?!?!? An effective way to break up large topics is to chunk the material into small portions. There are some topics that are complicated but by breaking those topics into their components it makes the content easier to understand and also makes it easier to find when students want to re-watch a screencast.

• Interactivity - There are a number of techniques that educators use to interact with their students when they are in a face-to-face classroom. Many of these techniques work in screecasts. Consider:

  • • • Guided Notes - Notes where students need to fill in portions can be effective when used purposefully. When students can focus on writing down key portions of a lesson recall is improved. A number of educators create short guided notes that can be downloaded and printed via a class website or Google Classroom.

      • 'Pause & Try' - Rather than demonstrating an entire problem invite your students to pause the video then try it themselves. Once finished, students can scrub to the solution to see if they got it correct. If they didn't, they can investigate where they may have gone of course.

      • Continuity - Seamlessly connecting a screencast to a face-to-face lesson or digital meeting like Zoom can be very effective. For instance, start a Zoom meeting by having students recap the major points of the screencast, or begin by addressing questions or misconceptions.

      • 'Pair 'em up' - Pairing students up to watch videos together can be incredibly beneficial. Students can pause the video and ask questions of one another, collaborative making thinking visible routines can be incorporated like See-Think-Wonder or Connect-Extend-Challenge, or students can break up videos where they can explain portions to one another similar to a jigsaw routine.

      • Quizzes, Exit-Tickets & Reflections - At the end of a screencast a great way to get a sense of what students learned is for them to share their takeaways. This could be a formative assessment quiz via Google Forms, an exit-ticket via a Padlet, or a summary of what they learned and still arer having trouble with via Flipgrid.

• Bring in other content - Utilizing other content like websites, YouTube videos, and articles prior, during, or after your lesson is a great way to create engagement and mix medias. Educators who create screencasts will often invite student to pause and watch a video or to read and article during a screencast. This can help build in some real-world connections and break up the screencast.

• Razzle Dazzle - While not always necessary, a few minor additions can go along way in the making of your videos.

  • Intro video - An opening 5 second video with a little jingle brand your videos and brings professionalism to them. Tools like Camtasia, which we'll explore in the next section, makes this easy.

  • Minimize Text - If you want your students to read something, consider just asking them to read it. Make text, slides, pictures and graphics purposeful. If it is on the screen, it needs to matter!

  • Webcam - You may not want to see yourself, but your students do. Research has shown adding your webcam to your screencasts helps engage students.

• Planning Templates - Similar to the planning templates you might use for lessons or units, planning templates are also helpful for screencasts. What are the learning objectives of the screencast? How will you hook your students interests? How will you engage them? What interactivity might you build into your lesson? How will you know what they know? HERE is a Google Doc screencast planning template that can be edited and used as you see fit!