Skip to main content

Screencasting in the Library

I love screencast programs. I've used screencasts in my music classroom as sub lesson plans, as directions in centers and when I'm having voice problems like strep and I need to be able to teach the same lesson every day of the week without putting strain of my voice. Today, I'm going to show you two different ways to use screencast using two different screencast programs.

Screencast-O-Matic

 Screencast-O-Matic is a web based screen capture program. You can find it here. You will need to download the record launcher, but once you do that, Screencast-O-Matic is really simple to use. A window pops up for you to select settings and once you do that, a small bar appears on your screen with controls while recording. Every time you press record, the recorder gives you a 3 second count down so you can get ready to go. You can pause, which is very useful. In addition, you can back up the recording and record over a previous mistake. I love this feature. There is a 15 minute limit on the free version, which is fine for most applications. When you are finished, you can review your recording and the choose to download the video or post it on your Screen-O-Matic account. It is a really simple tool that is super effective. The downside to Screencast-O-Matic is that it is web based so you can't use it if you are offline.



Jing 

 The next tool I'm going to highlight for screencasting is called Jing. Jing is downloadable here. It is a  program that you download and install onto your computer. Once installed, it creates a little orange dot on your desktop that you click to access the recording features and menu. Once again, fairly intuitive to use. The upside to Jing is that since you download it to your computer, you can work with it even if you are offline. Another downside to Jing is that I couldn't find a way to back up and record over mistakes. You can pause and start over, though.The link to my Jing screencast about Battle of the Books and how to access the information on our school library website about BotB.

http://screencast.com/t/NgobJ0cvHS

Overall, I found Screencast-O-Matic to be the easier to use option, even though it requires connectivity.

I also have a Vine & Instagram account to connect to my students. I went shopping recently for few books to add to my music book library and posted the covers to my Instagram account so my students can see what's new.
A photo posted by @pyrokleptic on

A photo posted by @pyrokleptic on



Comments

  1. PB the LibrarianMarch 19, 2016 at 5:39 PM

    I loved your screencasts. They were very informative and clear. I like how you have overdrive for students to check out audio. I will have to look into that. I am also interested how you do Battle of the Books. Do you write the questions? We have them from the company, but I desperately need to update the reading list. I like how your list incorporated Bluebonnet books also.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 20, 2016 at 2:58 PM

    I like the idea of using screencast-omatic for sub plans and recording lessons you know you have to repeat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elizabeth GrossMarch 23, 2016 at 6:10 PM

    Great work! It takes some preparation, but the result is worth it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloom's Taxonomy for a Digital Age

Bloom's Taxonomy. One of the things we are constantly hearing in our school is the push for increased rigor in our classroom, as a result of the STAAR tests and others like it becoming more rigorous. We are told to push for higher order thinking and questioning from our students. One of the tools we use to look at how we can increase rigor is Bloom's Taxonomy. But some things about Bloom's don't translate exactly when we are talking about the digital age and the classroom or library. For example, remembering is the lowest piece of the triangle for Bloom's, but remembering looks different when you have instant access to a powerful computer that can use essentially limitless online resources to find answers. I've mentioned to my husband just how much more this and future generations will know about the world around them simply because they no longer have to remember everything they're interested in knowing. If I pass a historical marker for a place I haven...
7 comments
Read more

Podcasting

I'm pretty lucky when it comes to podcasting. My husband, the Chainmail Ninja, is a hobbyist podcaster and professional book narrator so we have quite a recording setup in our home office. He worked in radio for 10+ years so he does the production side of things as well as the recording. I've tossed around the idea of contributing on his podcasts, which are mostly about geek culture and hobbies, but haven't had time to put this plan in action. But for today's blog post, I went ahead and made some time to create a podcast using our equipment. There are three main steps to creating a podcast. First, is the planning stage. Some podcasters prepare using various methods. Some research their topics, but don't do any other prep and speak mostly off the cuff. Many podcasters create a notes page to make sure they hit all the points they want to. Others create detailed scripts for their podcasts. The second step is recording the podcast. This can be done using the inter...
4 comments
Read more

The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century

In the 1980s and 1990s, as educational technology was first becoming a budding field, Richard Clark published an analysis of data where he determined that the media that delivers instruction is no more than a delivery tool. He used an analogy of a truck carrying the information to the learner. He concluded that the media chosen has no effect on the learning taking place - that the instruction in the only thing that influences the learning.  In 1994, Kozma responded and prompted the current debate. Kozma states that some media have specific characteristics that do effect learning as more than a vehicle. While there is little research to support Kozma's claim, he suggests that the way the media helps shape the learning does have impact and that evaluating this impact requires more than raw data as the media and the way we use it has become more complex and nuanced. Clark has stood by his original conclusions and has even subsequently released articles further supporting his stanc...
2 comments
Read more