Narrated Slideshow – Screencast

DEFINITION

A screencast is a digital recording of a computer screen with audio narration. Screencasts can include telestrator (‘John Madden pen’) annotations. Narrated slideshows include audio recordings synchronized to images without hand-drawn annotations.

Screencasts and narrated slideshows can be created with two kinds of tools:

1. Browser-based: Create an account on the website and use a modern web browser like Google Chrome or FireFox to record, save and share it.
2. Client-based: Download and install software on a computing device to record and save.

After recording, narrated slideshows and screencasts can be shared  via a website provided by the software publisher and/or via a video sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo.

WORKFLOW

Initial Setup

Browser-based:

1. Download and install a modern web browser like Google Chrome or FireFox on your laptop or desktop computer.
2. Register for a free account on the browser-based Screencasting service (like Screenr.com)

Client-based

1. Download and install software to your computer or tablet device for screencast recording.
2. Create a free account EITHER on the software publisher’s website (like Jing, ShowMe or EduCreations) or on a video sharing site (like YouTube or Vimeo.)

Ongoing Use

Browser-based:

1. Open your web browser and login to the screencasting site.
2. Record your screencast.
3. Directly publish your screencast on the website, optionally cross-post to YouTube.

Client-based:

1. Open your screencasting software program.
2. Record your screencast.
3. Save your screencast as a local, editable file.
4. Export your screencast as a finalized, ‘flattened’ (combined) video.
5. Upload your final screencast video to the publisher’s sharing site or another video sharing site.

TOOLS (software for laptop/desktop computers)

1. Screencast-O-Matic (free & commercial versions, 15 min limit for free, Win/Mac)
2. QuickTime (free, Mac only)
3. Jing (free, client software based, 5 min limit, Win/Mac)
4. Fastone Capture ($20, Win only)
5. Camtasia ($100, Win/Mac)
6. Screenflow ($100, Mac only)
7. Clarify ($30, Win/Mac)
8. Snapz Pro ($70, Mac only)
9. iShowU ($20, $30 or $60, Mac only)
10. Community Clips (free, Win only)
11. More resources on Screencasting from “Technology 4 Teachers”

TOOLS (iPad / iPod Touch / iPhone apps)

1. Explain Everything for iPad ($3 – www.explaineverything.com)
2. Shadow Puppet (free – get-puppet.com)
3. EduCreations (free, for iPad, can load multiple slides/scenes before starting – www.educreations.com)
4. 30 Hands: Show What You Know (free)
5. Touchcast (free, can embed different kinds of interactive media – www.touchcast.com)
6. ShowMe (free, for iPad, have to load slides/scenes 1 at a time – www.showme.com)
7. Knowmia (free – www.knowmia.com)
8. Snapguide (free)
9. Doodlecast Pro for iPad ($1 doodlecastpro.com)
10. Pixntell (free, iPhone/iPod Touch / iPad – upload to YouTube or Facebook – pixntell.com)
11. Sonic Pics ($3 – www.sonicpics.com)
12. Little Bird Tales ($3)

EXAMPLES

PAPER SLIDE VIDEO EXAMPLES

1. How to Make a Paper Slide Video (74 sec – also a good example!)
2. Paper Slide Video Project Rubric and Planning Guide (PDF) by Phillip Ward & Wes Fryer
   1. Example video: China One Child Policy (4 min) by Phillip Ward & Wes Fryer
   2. Example video: Egypt After Arab Spring (5 min) by Wes Fryer
   3. Open Ended Questions List (Africa)
3. 1 Take Video Resources by Lodge McCammon
4. Paper Slide Video Guidelines from Mary Frazier (Buhler, Kansas)
5. Sample Storyboard for Paper Slide Video (PDF) from Mary Frazier (Buhler, Kansas)
6. Good overview & example: Why This Method? Flipped Classroom Training Program by Lodge McCammon (key idea: “we are modeling a low barrier creative process that requires deep level thinking & focused on content”)
7. Examples on “Smart Phones in the Classroom” by Jake Heister

Screencasts:

1. Minecraft – San Diego Mission Project (4 min, 13 sec, created by a 4th grader, backstory)
2. Mathtrain.tv (elementary math screencasts in Santa Monica, CA – @mathtrain)
3. Using the Daum Equation Editor to Format Math Equations for Wolfram Alpha (3 min, 18 sec)
4. Student example created with Screenflow: Subtracting negative and positive integers. Check out Yarmouth 7th grade teachers and students’ YouTube channel HMSFlippingCMP for more. Also check out the resources for Mike and Morgan’s presentation for Yarmouth’s district PD day on March 16, 2012, “Flipping the Classroom.”
5. Khan Academy is the most famous screencasting project currently.
6. The Explain Everything Showcase includes exemplary screencasts in a variety of content areas.

* Image attribution: Narrated Slideshow image created by Wesley Fryer using Brushes for iPad