Screencasting 1
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Screen casting
What is screen casting?................................................................................................................4
Screencasting Software................................................................................................................4
Popular uses of screen casting.....................................................................................................4
Screencasting in Education..........................................................................................................4
Diary Entries................................................................................................................................6
Screen cast feedback...................................................................................................................6
Worked Examples........................................................................................................................6
A guide to Debut Video Capture Software....................................................................................7
Opening Debut............................................................................................................................7
Making a Recording.....................................................................................................................7
Viewing your work.......................................................................................................................7
Using your video in another application.......................................................................................7
Insert Text Comments on a screen cast........................................................................................7
Change the Video Colour?............................................................................................................8
Record a selection of the screen..................................................................................................8
Change Video File format.............................................................................................................8
Video Size....................................................................................................................................8
Configure Debut..........................................................................................................................8
Debut Interface in Pictures..........................................................................................................9
Activities....................................................................................................................................11
Before and After........................................................................................................................11
Making a Tour............................................................................................................................11
Tutorials....................................................................................................................................11
Evaluating Web Sites.................................................................................................................12
Screen cast planner....................................................................................................................15
Resource....................................................................................................................................15
Commentary..............................................................................................................................15
Screen casting
What is screen casting?
Simply refers to making a video recording of you using your computer. Typical screen
casts are made showing others how to use a piece of software, a recording of yourself or
someone else speaking into a webcam or as part of mash up.
Screencasting Software
The screencasting software loaded onto your computer is Debut video capture software.
This is only one example of this type of software. Camtasia studio is a professional
software screen casting package and Jing is probably the most popular version of screen
casting software.
Popular uses of screen casting
The most popular use of screen casting software is making short videos showing other
people how to use computer applications or how to use programming utilities. Computer
programmers developed the first screen cast tools for this purpose. Screen casts are also
widely used in mash up and there is growing use made of them in K-12 classrooms.
Screencasting in Education.
Screen casting is becoming more popular in schools but is however still in the early
adopters phase; hence there are not many creative uses of this technology around. Set
out below is a list of the ways in which screen casts have and can be used in classrooms.
Tutorials
Screencasts are often made to show students how to use particular pieces of software
e.g. how to edit video in Premiere. They have also been used to provide examples of
problem solving and exemplars of various academic tasks; analysing documents, pictures
and computer programs. Usually these are done by teachers however these kinds of
tasks are great ways for students to elaborate and evaluate their own understanding and
to share knowledge.
Formative assessment
Screen casts allow a teacher to place a visual resource on a computer and ask students
to say everything they know about it as they complete a particular task. An example
might be analysing a photo or better still construct a chart or diagram. This procedure
mimics a think aloud protocol. The student states their thoughts aloud and their
comments are recorded in the screen cast. The teacher can replay the screen cast and it
affords a window on student understanding. This enables teachers to identify cognitive
errors and other factors that impede the development of student understanding and
provide cognitively specific feedback. That is feedback targeted directly at processing
errors and other student misconceptions. This type of feedback greatly improves student
performance and allows teachers to target instruction where it will be most effective.
Assessment Activities
A useful application of screen casting is in assessment. Instead of student producing a
PowerPoint, or giving a talk they can produce a screen cast instead. Some students who
feel uncomfortable in speaking to a whole class might prefer this option.
Web Walks/Tours
A student prepares a screen cast that takes you on a tour of the resources available on a
website or some other digital resource. Students must relate the content to the topic
being studied, evaluate the content using information literacy criteria. This activity
works well at the start of a web based research activity.
Commentary
Screen casts allow students to insert voiceovers over the top of a video or some other
digital resource. Students can provide some type of commentary on the news for
example or a historical document. These can be used as engage and explore activities or
for assessment.
Mash Ups
One of the most popular uses of screen casting is creating short video clips for use in a
mash up. In these cases the screen cast will be imported into a video editing application
and used with other video footage and images.
Screen casting
Web Cams
Video capture software allows you to record yourself or others speaking to the
computer. Material created in this way can be used in a class to collect opinions (before
and afters) and used as footage in other clips. A student for example can easily pretend
to be a newsreader. Using moviemaker it is easy to import a collection of short clips
and make a class video on a theme. A simple way of doing this is to use the web cam on
your own computer.
Diary Entries
Microsoft one note has screen-casting facilities built in. Students can record their
thoughts on a topic in written document and use these to create a spoken and visual
record of the progress of thoughts on a topic. This is a time consuming but effective way
of documenting growth in student understanding.
Common Teacher uses mainly in the states
Screen cast feedback
Teachers provide a short screen cast in response to a student query. It may either show
students how to solve a problem or operate a piece of software.
Worked Examples
Some lecturers load screen casts of them solving problems onto a web site and students
can watch these at their leisure. This is without doubt one of the most effective uses of
screen casts I have seen. It works better however you are using a tablet rather than a
laptop.
The above examples of how screen casts are used are by no means exhaustive. It should
however give people a place to start in terms of thinking how you might apply screen
casting in your own classroom.
A guide to Debut Video Capture Software
Opening Debut
Debut can be opened in two ways. Click on the AV Tab on the windows 7 toolbar and
choose Debut.
Secondly Choose>All Programs > Audio Visual Debut.
Making a Recording
(1) Open the programs, files and or videos you wish to record. Make sure they are ready
before you start. It saves on editing later.
(2) Open debut.
(3) Full screen recording is easier however if you wish to select a portion of the screen
then select and save it.
(4) Once you are ready click the red button record.
(5) Click pause if you wish to type text on the screen and pause again to restart
recording.
(6) Click Finish when you have finished.
(7) You can always activate Debut controls by clicking on the Debut icon at the bottom
of your screen.
Viewing your work
(1) Click the recording button on the Debut top bar.
(2) Select the video you want to play.
(3) Press the play button.
Using your video in another application
(1) Click the recordings tab at the top of the bar.
(2) From the recordings window select open folder.
(3) Select and then right click> copy the file you wish to use. Or use the save as
Button.
(4) Paste the video file into another folder where you can import it easily.
Insert Text Comments on a screen cast
(1) Start the screen cast. Pause the cast where you wish to insert a caption or title.
(2) Click on the text tool. Make sure your font colour and background colours are
different.
Screen casting
(3) Type in your comment.
(4) Continue recording.
Change the Video Colour?
(1) Open Debut
(2) Look on the bottom of record screen and click on the multicoloured square. Next
door to the text tool.
(3) From the fly out menu choose the colour you want.
Record a selection of the screen
(1) Click on the window select tool (Near the colour tool)
(2) Make your selection
(3) Record
(4) You can also do the same and save your selection for future use by using the
selection tab at the top of the screen.
Change Video File format
(1) In the middle bar of the screen on the left you will see Record as .avi or .wmv.
From the pop up menu choose the format you want. Wmv is the best format for
use on windows machines. Debut avi should be better but is a bit buggy.
Video Size
(1) In the middle tab bar select edit output.
(2) From the pop up box select Resize Video and enter the dimensions you want.
(3) Click Ok
Configure Debut
(1) Choose the Options button
(2) Select folder to save your videos
(3) Alter naming conventions
(4) Choose Hot Keys etc
Debut Interface in Pictures
Screen casting
Activities
Before and After
(1) Use a webcam and record your thoughts on the recent Turmoil in the Middle East.
(2) You will repeat this activity after a short video.
Making a Tour
(1) Pick a website that you use with students. Open this website in a browser and assess
it against the information literacy criteria in the table on the next page. Write down
what you think in the space provided.
(2) Pick three of those criteria and make screen cast explaining the strengths or
weaknesses of your chosen web site.
(3) Share it with others.
Tutorials
All of you at one time or another need to explain how to use a piece of software to
students.
Prepare a short screen cast on this software. Plan think write (What you will say)
Produce and Publish. We will skip editing today.
Screen casting
Evaluating Web Sites
Criterion #1: AUTHORITY
1. Is it clear what author is responsible for the contents of the page?
2. Is there a link to a page describing the nature of the author, who the author is, and
the types of products the author sells?
3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this author? That is, is there a phone
number or postal address to contact for more information? (Simply an email address is
not enough.) A degree? A job?
4. Is there a way of determining the credibility of this author? Can you believe them?
5. Is there a statement that the content of the page has the official approval of the
author?
6. Is there a statement giving the author's name as copyright holder?
Criterion #2: ACCURACY
1. Has the author provided a link to outside sources such as product reviews or
reports filed with the SEC (the Securities and Exchange Commission) which can be used
to verify author claims? Are links provided to reliable sources of information on this
topic?
2. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can be verified
in another source?
3. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors? (These
kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce
inaccuracies in information.)
Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY
1. For any given piece of information, is it clear what the author's motivation is for
providing it?
2. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the
informational content?
Criterion #4: CURRENCY
1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:
a. When the page was written?
b. When the page was first placed on the Web?
c. When the page was last revised?
2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?
3. For financial information, is there an indication it was filed with the SEC and is
the filing date listed? Are auditors listed?
4. For material from the author's annual report, is the date of the report listed?
Criterion #5: COVERAGE
1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not still under
construction?
2. If describing a product, does the page include an adequately detailed description
of the product? Is all relevant Factual Information Included?
3. Are all of the author's products described with an adequate level of detail?
Criterion #6 Relevance
Is the material actually relevant to your purpose? Are you looking at soccer sites instead
of ones of Roman History?
Criterion Seven Understandable?
Many websites are produced for experts and hence the average person can not
remember and understand what they are reading. Do you understand what you are
reading? Are there lots of unfamiliar words?
Criterion Eight Ease of use, useability and navigation?
Is it easy to find the information you are looking for in the web site? Do the important
ideas stand out? Do you get lost moving between different links and pages?
Screen casting
Web Evaluation
Criteria Comment
Authority
Accuracy
Objectivity
Currency
Coverage
Relevance
Understandable
Useability
Screen cast planner
(1) Organise Resources
(2) Rehearse
(3) Remember someone else is watching:Not too fast
(4) Plan your comments
Resource Commentary
