Personalized homemade videos that are easy to create, upload and access??? It seems like a dream, right? Well, we do live in a dream world. There are several options out there to use and it is possible to create, upload, and use your own homemade screencasts in a variety of ways.
Screencasts have many uses in education. They are shots of your computer screen with your own personal audio overlaid. It allows for anyone to see what you are doing on the computer screen. My professors have shown me that they are invaluable for giving directions with examples. Inspired by them, I have plans to create screencasts this summer to explain class procedures and different instructional topics for my students next year. In case I can't be there in person, they can have the video me, which is almost as good. Screencasts are a way to make the vast online world feel close, personal and helpful.
How do you make a screencast, you might wonder. To start, you find a tool that is cheap, easy, and flexible to your needs. I was told Screenr and Screencastomatic are the places to go to find what I was looking for.
My first attempt with a Screenr was a resounding FAIL! I could never get it to find the right Java elements to run. It sounds like a 21st century cop out, I know. But I literally tried 4 different machines and they all were not able to use the program. I installed, reinstalled, Googled fixes, sought tech help from those much more techy than I, and finally gave up. Screenr might be amazing, but I will never know. I am a fan of coffee of all kinds, but this Java thing was my nemesis for this activity.
I did a little research and saw that screenr only allows 5 min videos. There is no need to create an account, though, so it might work with students. Assuming you can get it to load in the first place.
Luckily, Screenr is not the only screencasting tool that is online. Screencastomatic is a winner all the way around. It's easy to learn, easy to use, and doesn't have some ill fated love affair with a random version of Java. Check out my screencast on teaching the research process in public schools.
You have 15 minutes of recording time, which is the most of any of the casters I looked into. But really, unless it's a blockbuster movie or Netflix series, no one watches stuff for more than 15 minutes anyway. Students would love the ease of use and simple embedding and sharing options.
I also created a Jing account. It was fast and easy. The elements were similar to Screencastomatic, and it was easy to record and save to my computer as a .swf file. Jing automatically saves the link and has it ready for pasting. It will allow the user tocreate a button that allows for an embed code that would send it directly to the webpage, but it was a little complicated for a novice blogger like myself. The fact that that option has to be created is a turn off for this user. For the sake of ease, I just included the link today.
http://screencast.com/t/6Zx9HIKAilF
This is a super short screencast to show visitors to the school webpage how to find teacher websites. According to the TechSmith (makers of Jing) website, Jing will do up to 5 minutes of recording. I don't see students using this in a school setting due to the need for an account.
Screencasting is a great tool that librarians would be wise to learn. Whatever tool is used, the ability to leave video instructions, lessons, information, or anything you can imagine allows for users to access information anytime and from any computer. Ease of information access is the key to the future.
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