Screencasting – Short Form Educational Video

For Module 4, I explored the topic of screencasts as a short educational video. I had never used Screencast-O-Matic but quickly learned how to manipulate the free software to showcase the tutorial I was looking to teach. There are many screencast programs available some paid and others have free and pro models with differing capabilities.

Screencasts are recordings of both the audio and visual of what occurred on a computer screen throughout the recording. This can include the instructor switching between tabs as well as the possibility of recording a webcam image or possible cursor highlights or indicators

Screencasting has many powerful implications for the educational world. The major concept of the “Flipped Classroom” thrives on the ability for teachers to create and record videos teaching a particular concept or topic. Teachers can record themselves teaching with whiteboard apps or powerpoint slides as a possible way to create these videos. Flipped classroom videos allow students to “move at their own pace” (Ruffini, 2012). With videos, including screencasts, students can pause, rewind, fast forward all with the purpose of enabling students to control their understanding and increase their learning and comprehension. Michael Ruffini (2012), with EDUCAUSE Review Online, suggests also embedding Google Forms below screencast videos on classroom blogs for students to turn in answers to questions or write reflections based on the video. This reminded me of our Media Literacy lessons where we embedded videos into our Google Form itself – as this has been an upgrade since 2012.

Screencasts can also be a way for teachers to record themselves leaving feedback as they reflect on digital student work. Imagine a teacher recording a video as they score or revise a student’s paper. That student can watch the video of their own teacher editing their work for better insights into the feedback being delivered. This method will allow for much more feedback through audio rather than a teacher trying to write or type everything.

A third way that screencasts can be meaningful for students is if they themselves are creating videos. Apps like Educreations and Showme easily allow students to do this. I also encourage my teachers to use their SMART boards as a center and teach kids to create a screencast (using SMART record) to teach a concept to the class. Sometimes these videos are shared with parents, played for the whole class or shared with a small group. This is very motivation for students and allows them to practice many language skills.

These are just three of the many ways screencasts can be used in the K12 classroom. Have you tried integrating screencasts into your work? Have you had any successes you would like to share?

Student Screen Cast Sample

Resource:

Ruffini, M. F. (2012). Screencasting to engage learning. EDUCAUSE Review Online. Retrieved fromhttp://er.educause.edu/articles/2012/11/screencasting-to-engage-learning

EdTech 543 – Final Reflection

Reflecting back on the last 7-weeks, I have grown more than I had anticipated. Prior to taking the course I believed I would learn a little bit about using social media with students, but I wasn’t prepared for the way this course would change my professional connections. I believe building on and seeking purposeful members to my own PLN has changed my position as an educator for the better. I firmly believe this should be taught to teacher candidates in undergrad. It is amazing how motivated I am to work and learn with my PLN now and to think I didn’t have these supports as strongly in place just seven short weeks ago. This course exceeded all expectations.

As a technology instructional coach, I am responsible for delivering a lot of PD to my school site and district. I appreciated that we were able to tailor our projects to what we wanted to learn and develop for our own role. Not only that, I will never give a PD session again without curating some of the best resources I have found. I think that curating through Scoop.it, Storify, or others allows for differentiation for teachers as well. As teachers are at all different levels, if I am teaching a particular topic and a teacher already knows this, they can look through the curated topics to learn on their own. This is so powerful, to give the teachers your own curated list, not to mention than to encourage them curate and have their students curate also!

I was surprised by how much I took to Twitter and Webinars. I had been using a Twitter account sparingly, but now I understand the true purpose for educators. My only worry is that lack of time will limit my participation in Twitter chats. My goal is to set time in my weekly schedule for both curating, Twitter chats and participating in the Google+ communities that have been beneficial so far. I hope to find and participate in Webinars during my lunch period as much as possible. Not only that, as a coach, I will also be finding and recommending topic-specific Webinars and Twitter chats to teachers with whom I work. This course has changed me and my motivations about working with a PLN and social media in the professional and school setting.

Finally, reflecting on my blog itself, I am proud of the documenting and reflecting I have done for this course. I thoughtfully approached all entries and worked to apply them to my professional setting to make the most meaning. If there is one thing I would strive to do differently would be to engage in conversation with classmates more through our blogs. Especially with respect to the culture of social networks, I could do a better job of responding and commenting to others’ posts. However, we were able to do some of this in our class Facebook group as well.  With this being said, I would give myself about 95% (72/75).