Screencasts
When COVID-19 began rapidly spreading and schools began distance learning, screencasts became an important feature to learn and utilize. Some teachers were recording their screen to prerecord lessons, and others, like myself, began to share screencast videos of important information for students and parents.
Many of my students and parents were having a difficult time logging into websites and maneuvering around them. I constantly had parents emailing me asking how to log their child into Istation, or how to access AR testing from home, so I knew right away that the easiest way to help both students and parents would be to create screencasts so I can show them what they needed to do.
I had seen many teachers talk about Screencast-o-matic and Screencastify, so I decided to try out both and stick to one that was the easiest and most helpful for me.
Here was my experience:
1. Screencast-o-matic is one screencast website that I have seen being used a lot with teachers and professors. It was the first that came to mind, so I quickly created an account. In the beginning I was confused on how to use this screencast because I tried various times to create an account and login, and the website would not work with my laptop. I am not sure why but after about 5 tries, I was ready to give up. Then I realized there is a "Launch Free Recorder" button on the homepage, and through there I was able to start my screen recording. It was pretty simple to use, and videos can be up to 15 minutes long. There are three options to pick as to how you want to record: record screen, record using a webcam or record using both simultaneously. However, with a free account, you are not able to edit your recording, which would require you to pay for an upgrade to your account. One positive feature though is that at the end of your recording, you are able to choose to upload it to a social media account, mail it, or upload it to your Google classroom which is a helpful feature for teachers to use.
2. Screencastify was easier to set up as I was able to use my Google account. Screencastify is a Google Chrome feature so there is no software that needs to be downloaded. With Screencastify, you are able to easily start recording as the feature is always accessible when you use Google Chrome (as shown below). 
When creating screencasts, I am always afraid of showing more of my screen than I plan to. Luckily, with Screencastify you are able to choose to record a browser tab, so only what is on the tab is being recorded, which is awesome! When recording, the tool box pops up in the bottom of the screen which comes in handy with switching between tools while recording. When your recording is done, your video opens on a new tab and you are able to trim your recording, upload it, share it, or email it.
The main downside to having a free Screencastify account is that your videos can only be 5 minutes long. This can be troublesome for teachers who plan on doing a long lesson, but for quick tips for students, it works perfectly.
A great feature however, is not only that teachers can upload their recording straight to their Google classroom, but they are also able to save their recording to their Google Drive!
This will help teachers in knowing exactly where to find their recordings!
Since I was and will probably need to continue to use Google Classroom, I would continue to use Screencastify and I recommend it to other teachers as well!
Here is a video I created using Screencast-o-matic
(For some reason the website does not work with my MacBook so I had a very difficult time saving the video and I had to record my video about 15 times to get it right and save it correctly. This is one main reason why I do not recommend using this screencast!)
Here is a video I created using Screencastify
(It was so easy to record using this screencast but the 5 minutes really do go by fast!)
Other ways to use a screencast:
- Teaching students how to log into websites/apps such as Istation, IXL and Flipgrid
- Showing students how to access/ log into their Google Classroom
- Having students showcase a Powerpoint or other presentations
- Helping parents set up a Class Dojo account and showing them how to maneuver through the Class Dojo website/app
There is an endless amount of "how-to" videos that can be done to assist your students and parents!
I also had trouble saving a video using Screencast-O-Matic. I was trying to save it to my YouTube channel and could not so I ended up doing the same as you.
ReplyDeleteI love the feature on Screencastify that you can save it to Google Drive or place it in Google Classroom! Now that we are moving into a more technological time, it is important to be able to have easy access to Google features. The only downside is that screencastify only lets you five minutes, while screencastomatic lets you fifteen minutes. As an educator, we can decide which to use depending on the topic, tutorial, or information going to be given out in a screencast.
ReplyDeleteOur district is also using Google Classroom, so Screencastify is perfect for recording short videos for students and parents to refer to. My only problem was condensing the information to fit the 5 minute limit. Otherwise, for simplcity sake, I would also recommend Screencastify.
ReplyDelete