Screencasting

As I have been creating resources for the media center, I find myself using screencasting tools more and more. If you are not familiar with this term, here is a quick definition (from wikipedia.org). 

Screencasting: A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as video screen capture, often containing audio narration.

The screencapture tool that I have found very easy to use is ScreencastOMatic. You can record directly from the ScreencastOMatic website with no registration. You do have the option of downloading the free software and/or creating an account. Screencasting can be used for:

• Creating tutorials
• Showing students how to access software or web resources
• Discussing any resource that you can open on your computer or device – websites, documents, spreadsheets, images, etc.

The videos can then be linked on your website so that students can review them as needed.

Students can also use screencasting for projects, for example, demonstrating their understanding of a resource, concept or image.

Kathy Shrock has a comprehensive web page of screencasting resources:

Kathy Shrock’s Guide to Everything – Screencasting in the classroom.

In her blog, Kathy's Katch - Screencasting for ecducators, she also gives some practical advice on getting started.

One recommendation I have is to start small. I found that breaking information into multiple screencasts worked best for me. Otherwise I found myself fumbling sentences and saying some very strange things…