Screencasts

 

The first screencast app that I used was Screencast-O-Matic. It was easy and quick to download to my computer. As soon as I had it installed I was able to start using it with very little training. I liked the 15-minute time frame as what I was teaching took me about half of that time. Once my video was complete the app gave me a nice walk-through of different things that I might want to do to my video to customize it. I was able to rename my video and get it downloaded relativity easily. The only drawback to me for this program is that it has to be downloaded on any device that you want to make a screencast on. 

I used Screencastify as my second app since it could be downloaded through the Google Play store as an extension and I had seen other screencasts done using this program. It was a quick process to get started on my screencast. I found that one of the drawbacks of this app is that the free version you are limited to only 5 minutes per screencast. I did like that the arrow has a red circle around it that you can use to make it easier for people to see where you are clicking. The other benefit of the program is that you can get it as a Google extension. This would allow students to be able to use the app on Chromebooks as well as you would have access to it on any device that you are logged into Google on. 

Overall both programs were user-friendly and were able to meet the needs of my screencasts. As a teacher, I would probably stick to Screencast-O-Matic since it allows you more time to create your screencast. For student use, I would definitely pick Screencastify since it has the Google extension. For iPads, I like to use the screen recording that is now a part of the built-in app on Apple devices. You can have the microphone on or off as part of your screen recording. It is super quick and easy to use and there is nothing to download. 

Screencasts are a great way to show the process of how to do something on the computer or tablet that students frequently forget. I would create a QR code for the screencast that students could scan in order to watch the video quickly with very little need for teacher assistance. I could also see students using screen recording to show others how to do something or even a way to present a slide deck that could be shown over and over.