Screencasts

Screencasts, what are they?  Well I was terrified of them and for no good reason it seems.  I thought you had to be super tech savvy to do one and that is just not the case.  They are just recordings of numerous things (websites, catalog searches) that you can use to show how to's to your class, you can put them on websites, blogs or even email.  It is also great because they can be used by more than one student and at more than one time and from any place that they have access to the internet.  It's a great tool to use to help visual learners.  


I created a screencast with Jing to show how easy it is to create a comic using MakeBeliefsComix website.  It was extremely easy to download and then you're ready to create a screencast and record. The first thing you do is open Jing and then click on the tool at the top of your screen to capture (+ sign) and then drag to fit the image you want to capture.  Then you decide if you want to capture an image or a video.  I like that there are tools available to add to your image: arrows, text, frames, highlight and tool color.  If you are recording a video, then once you click the button at the bottom, it gives you 3 seconds before recording starts.  Once you are done, you click finish and then you can save your video to screencast.com.  I was not able to find an easy way to embed the file for easy viewing without clicking on a link.  That was the one drawback to Jing.

Screencast made with Jing on MakeBeliefsComix.com

I also created a screen cast using Screencast-o-matic.  It was easy to record and I didn't even have to create an account.  After opening the webpage all I did was click record, you can install and download the application but I just chose to record off the site and then once done, you click the Done buttom and then chose if you want to save, upload to screencast-o-matic or upload to Youtube. I uploaded it to my youtube channel and embedded it here.  I did have to complete my screencast using Internet Explorer and not Google Chrome due to Java problems.  They only thing I don't like about Screencast-o-matic is that unless you pay for an account they have a watermark on your screencast.   I would have to say that Screencast-o-matic was my favorite because it was easiest to save and embed into my blog and I like having the video there to just click on the play button versus clicking on a link and then clicking play.  I also liked the yellow circle that highlighted where you were clicking during the screencast.

I also created a screencast using Screenr that is going away on November 11, 2015.  I was not able to save my file or download it.  I tried numerous times and finally just gave up.   Screenr was very easy to use and it's sad that because of the problems with Java RE that it is not longer going to be available.

I was terrified of screencasts before using them and really they were quite easy and the worst part is having to listen to my voice during the recordings.