What is a Screencast?
Screencasts can be described as the “digital video-recordings of a computer’s on-screen activities” (Séror, 2012). These recordings are often accompanied by narration which can be captured during the recording session or added to the recording thereafter.
Screencasting enables
a learner-centred approach to learning
an effective channel of feedback (Anson et al., 2016)
critical thinking and meaningful educational experiences (Meyer, 2003; Garrison and Kanuka, 2004)
Benefits of Screencasting
Tools for Creating Screencasts
Video Tutorials for Screencasting
Loom
Loom is an online tool and Chrome extension which can be used to create screencasts and to narrate over existing teacher resources. The pro-version of Loom is now free for educators forever.
Screencast-o-Matic
Screencast-o-Matic can be used to create screencasts and narrate over existing teacher resources such as Google Slides or Powerpoints.
Screencastify
Screencastify is an online tool and Chrome extension that can also be used to create screencast. The video tutorial on the left demonstrates how Screencastify can be used to provide feedback to learners on work submitted. Teachers can include closed captions to make the screencast more accessible.
Seesaw's Drawing Tool
The video on the left showcases how Seesaw's Drawing Tool can be used by a teacher to record a screencast or video demonstration to scaffold pupils' learning.
Case Studies
Case Study A
A small rural primary school is using a video recording tool called ‘Loom’ to create screencasts and provide meaningful verbal feedback to 5th and 6th class pupils who have submitted English creative writing stories via their online digital platform. Once the pupils have listened to the feedback they can then re-edit their work, based on the individualised guidance provided by the teacher.
Case Study B
A 2nd class teacher in an urban primary school uses screencasting to create short 'explainer' videos for pupils 'as Gaeilge'. The pupils (and their parents) find it very useful if she screencasts herself reading sections of the stories from their Irish book for example, as she traces the words with her finger as she progresses. The pupils can listen back to the recording a number of times to practise their own pronunciation. Parents who did not learn Irish in school are more able to support their children's learning. She uses the video recording tool, ‘Screencast-O-Matic’, to create the videos and shares them with her pupils via the school's online digital platform.