This blogpost is about the trials and tribulations of an amateur screencast maker. I have been conducting internet research over the past few years, and I have encountered many students and colleagues who are very interested in this research field, but find that the technological knowledge required to use internet research tools is often very off-putting. To fill this gap and to make internet research tools available to everyone, I experimented a bit with video recordings in teaching. I recorded a short installation guide for the Twitter Capture and Analysis Toolset (TCAT):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMEtyNzTfLI&feature=youtu.be
Circulating video recordings prior to a lecture can ensure that students have already some knowledge on a given topic. I chose the activities surround the installation of software as a theme of the video clip because there is a need for such a guide for practice-oriented workshops. I often ask participants to install software applications on their laptops a week before the workshop. Often I have to respond to many emails because the participants use different operation systems or need to update other programs, i.e. Java. Sending workshop participants, a video clip prior to the workshop could ease these stressful situations and `standardize` installation processes.
Recording my own screen and comments was a great exercise for me. I learned how to edit mp4 files and that it is best to record sound and image separately. However, I did not use the tools suggested in the module. I used iScreenRecorder Lite and Filmora 9 for the recording and editing of the clip, which appeared to me less time-consuming. As much as I like high quality recordings, the efforts for making a tutorial must also be put in the context of the teaching unit. Often there is not enough time to develop recordings about all aspects of the course. I plan therefore to introduce videos in my teaching style little by little. However, the use of videos will help me improve my teaching practices and reach out to students through multiple communications channels.
Hi, as someone who also recently has started making screencast recordings it was encouraging to read about your experiment and watch your video. I agree that similar recordings are perfect for flipped classroom activities, but the amount of time give to editing must be reasonable. Thanks for the suggestions of using iScreenrecorder.
I agree with you that by recording one’s own screen is the best way to practice and learn both how to do the video material and how to watch it. I also agree that it’s easier to get student’s attention if they already know something about the topic. I feel that it is necessary to motivate them to watch the video. Flipped classroom methods might work for that purpose.