When I started exploring screencasting, I wasn't quite sure how useful it was. I look back to my first time with Jing and realize that I wasn't utilizing its full potential. I wasn't utilizing my full potential either! I simply took a snapshot of something I was viewing online, but it wasn't that much different from or better than providing a link. Then, I started reading more about screencasting and looking at some examples. I've discovered that screencasting is much more useful when it's used to as a "how to" tool.
Koval (2009) asks us to, "...just think about everything you’re constantly re-teaching students and staff to do" (p. 35). For me, I am thinking ahead. I recently created a livebinder called Mesopotamia for a grade 7 class. In my livebinder, I added a link to Museum Box. Museum Box is new to me, new to the classroom teacher, and, most likely, new to the students. Students must create a login name and password before they can save their work. In addition, their accounts must be registered with their school. In order to make sure everyone "is on the same page," I created a screencast to walk them through the registration process. I've added these instructions as a sub-tab to the main tab, Museum Box, in my livebinder. You can view my very first video screencast by going the sub-tab in my livebinder.
I'm satisfied with my first video screencast. I don't think it will eliminate all of the questions, but, at least, if I'm not available to provide an explanation, students have the option of watching the screencast. They just have to find it first!
I can't say that my first video screencasting attempt was quick. I lost count of how many "takes" it took after the first hour. The problem, for me, was that if I made a mistake, I couldn't edit. I simply had to start all over again. I suppose I could have downloaded the 30-day free trial of Camstasia, but I didn't. I thought I should be able to get through a 3-minute video fairly painlessly and that downloading another appliction and learning that application would cause me more pain. But, I'm not sure that my theory worked. If I decide to screencast more often, I will definitely try out Camstasia's 30-day free trial. In the end, my saving grace was the pause button. It allowed me some transition time between each frame and I didn't feel rushed.
Now that I've finished my first video screencast, I see the value in screencasting from Richardson's (2009) point of view: "From a teaching standpoint, you could create screencasts as support materials when teaching complex skills on the computer" (p. 122). By doing this, one could lessen the broken record syndrom that Koval (2009) refers to. Thank you, Jing!
References
Koval, A. (2009). the 2.0 tech i can't live without. Knowledge Quest, 37(4), 34-35. doi: 1709435561
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
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