Screencasts (Part 1): Click ‘RECORD’ While You Teach

IBDP Teacher Blogs, ITGS | February 29, 2012
Screencasts (Part 1): Click ‘RECORD’ While You Teach

Click ‘RECORD’ while you teach – an effortless and brillant teaching idea of how to capture screencasts in the IB classroom for later use!

Whenever you are showing the students a particular skill on the computer in class, just click the record button in a screencast software (built into the new Mac operating system in the Quicktime player, JING  (free), or  Screencast-o-matic (free) and record on the spot.

You can record while you are demonstrating in class – no extra time or work. The software picks up both your commentary from the computer’s microphone and also your actions on the screen. If you ask the students a question, the microphone will pick up their reactions as well. Makes for interesting screencasts.

The following is an example of 4th Grade Teacher’s demonstration on how to use Google Translate on a Geography wiki.

[youtube] _20uWp_yofo[/youtube]

Just click stop recording when you are done. You now have a short screencast that is available whenever the students want to review it.

You can post a screencast on a website, school server or YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube or other video hosting service. The students can download screencasts to their cellphones, laptops or other portable devices whenever they wish. Screencasts are particularly useful in situations where the students would like to review an on-screen explanation or demonstration again after class or were absent from class.

I saw a demonstration of how to work a math problem with the TI-84 calculator. The math problem was displayed in Word and the calculator beside it. The teacher clicked record and showed how to work the problem on the calculator. At the end they dragged the answer from the TI-84 screen right onto the Word page. La Voila! A similar example is how to Customize Histogram on TI

[youtube]S0YdWU8ADek[/youtube]

In a school environment, there are unlimited possibilities for teachers and students to use and share screencasts including how to:

  • cite resources for an extended essay
  • use web 2.0 tools (may be on a help desk website)
  • use scanning software
  • upload video from digital cameras
  • access a school server or remote server
  • use a school management package for entering attendance

So simply click ‘RECORD’  and ‘STOP’ to capture an on-screen moment. Immediately upload to a school server or the web (YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube) for access. It is as easy as that.

Directions for how to create on the spot screencasts:

Additional resource for screencasts:

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