Screencasts

Screencasts

Screencasts are a great way to make videos and provide instruction or tutorials to students and staff.  I had a great time researching different screen video recorders and finally decided to use Screencastify and Screencast-O-Matic.  I do apologize ahead of time, for the length of the videos.  This was my first time using these two tools and it took me a while to figure it out (not to mention, I have poort reception at home).  I do plan to keep my videos short and sweet for the kiddos.

Screencastify is a screen recorder for Chrome and it allows users to capture, edit, and share videos free within seconds.  You need to create an extension on Chrome in order to use the program.  It has editing options like, pen tools, focus spotlight (mouse), crop, and trim.  These two last options are for premium members only though.  I do have to mention, however, that I did not like that I had to keep pushing the record option every time I switched web pages.  It got very annoying and I had to redo the video several times because of I would forget to switch and click record after opening a new page.  The free membership allows users to make 50 videos per month and the videos can be up to 10 minute long.  To be honest, I think that as educators we don’t really need more than this.  Ten-minute long videos are more than enough to provide a quick instruction or review, and we probably won’t need to make more than 50 videos a month.  This is a free tool for teachers to use, as it works perfectly with Google Chrome and can easily be shared with students using their Google Drive.  Teachers can send videos of lessons through Google Classroom or share the link on their drive, when they are absent and still need to assign a project.  If users would like the paid features, the cost for Screencastify is $24 annually.  Using Screencastify, I created a video tutorial for my students to know how to access the library’s OPAC.

Screencast-O-Matic, is a straightforward screen recorder that allows you to record what is happening in your computer screen, so that you can provide instruction, how-to tutorials, or directions.  You are able to capture any part of the screen, add narration using the computer’s microphone, add captions, add music, and trim the videos.  The saving features, were simple yet provide the ability to save the video for free to your computer, upload it to Screencast-O-Matic, or to YouTube if you have the Deluxe account.  It allows videos to be shared to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Classroom.  I really liked that it allows users to record 15-minute videos using the free account.  The website does not specify how many videos can be made during each month, but it does mention the free account has 2GB bandwidth a month.  Honestly, I do have to mention that if someone wants the paid features, the monthly fees are very affordable.  Deluxe members pay $1.50/month and Premier members pay $4.00/month.  This is also a great resource for teachers to have, as it provides numerous opportunities for them to create videos to use with the students or for students to use it for flipped learning. Imagine the possibilities for students to create their own video and share their learning with their classmates.  With Screencast-O-Matic, I created a video tutorial on how to access on of our databases, MackinVIA.

It is important to choose the right free screen recorder depending on what you intend to use it for.  Different recorders offer a great range of features and options, and there are a lot of choices out there, so selecting the right one might need for you to do a little research.  In my case, I chose Screencast-O-Matic because of the ease and quick time it took to make videos. I created and saved a couple of videos for my library in less than 10 minutes.  That was awesome!  I will definitely make more videos to show students and teachers more ways to incorporate databases into their lessons.