TheLen

I was thinking of making a screencast for one of the requirements for my tool of research. I probably won’t at this point because I don’t have a microphone and I’m still not completely comfortable with the software. But, it’s fascinating stuff all the same. And, to avoid relearning this stuff later, here’s everything I know at the moment about screencasting.

John Udell coined the term “screencasting” in 2004 and primarily uses screencasts to record software “test drives” for product reviews. He also often records vendor software demos and presentations and these experiences have led helped him refine a list of screencasting rules. Even though these rules target software demos and tech presentations, they also apply (if less directly) to less technical applications. And although my first screencast will be technology-driven, I’m very interested in the educational opportunities offered by screencasting software. Initially I focused on the distance learning options screencasting creates: particularly the possibility of recording lectures and powerpoint presentations together in one file to more fully replicate classroom learning. Basically, I saw myself using screencasting to record a traditional classroom lecture — possibly with the option of questions and discussion if recorded in front of an audience. While useful in an internet classroom, screencasts in this context aren’t significantly more advanced than a camcorder in the back corner of the physical classroom — the structure of a traditional lecture class hasn’t changed and the professor is still essentially standing in front of the class, lecturing next to a computer.

Although screencasting a traditional lecture certainly has its uses, a conversation with a friend who teaches junior high technology reminded me that technology shouldn’t always be used to replicate traditional learning patterns. Unlike my distance-learning based understanding of screencasts, he uses screencasting in his classroom to free himself to walk around the classroom while still demostrating his lectures. So, instead of standing or sitting in front of a computer and walking his students through a particular application, he records the demo before class and streams it to the lab computers and then walks around the class talking them through the demo. He has a remote and can pause the screencast when students have questions and although it’s not a perfect system, it seems to work for him.

Although I wouldn’t be using screencasting in my classrooms to demonstrate software applications, I could use it to walk my students through the process of researching and writing an annotated bibliography without being physically tied to a computer during the presentation. Or, I could use screencasting to practice timing lectures and powerpoint presentations since many of my lectures will be paired with minimalist slideshows of important images, documents, and the like.

So, I guess I should put together two powerpoint presentations for the TOR, huh? One that can stand alone without a lectures (I’ll be doing a lot of screen captures tomorrow) and one that can accompany a presentation or screencast.