Category: screencasting

What makes a good screencast: The KSV method

Perhaps the largest repository of screencast lectures is found at the Khan Academy. The library of topics covered seems to be growing exponentially. What started as a site to teach mathematics has grown to something that provides insight into sociology, biology, economics, politics and more. The growth of the site is linked to the flow of resources into it from donors who recognize the great work it has accomplished within this type of content delivery.

The success of the Khan Academy is due to its success in presenting information. People would not be tuning into and returning to the site if they did not learn something from it. For us as screencasters, it is also important for us to learn from this success. To that extent view this video from Salman Khan about his screencasting technique.

Screencast resources galore

Bernie Warren identified Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything site in his TPC discussion. It is a comprehensive site with tremendous information in a wide variety of topics. As far as screencasting goes, there’s something on it to meet the needs of everyone from beginner to expert.  Check out Kathy Schrock’s site  here.

Another less daunting way for those considering how to get started is to read The+Professor’s+Guide+to+Creating+Video+with+a+PC. This quick and dirty guide discusses equipment, software and post-production techniques that will serve your needs well. The guide was created by MediaCore, a company that for better or worse, no longer serves education institutions because it was purchased by a large media company and was repurposed for its own needs. None-the-less, the information remains valid.

Enjoy!

TPC at TRU

I’ve enlisted some experienced screencasters to talk about their experience with the technology and the outcomes for their students on Monday, Feb 16 at 1:45 at the TRU campus. For all the details, click here.

If you’re on campus and interested in this topic, please join us.

Flipping the classroom

Delivering information and lectures on-line can open the opportunity to Flip the Classroom. This delivery mode requires students to complete material prior to attending the scheduled class, which is then used for practical work on tasks students have difficulty with. The idea is sound but there are pitfalls. Listen to Robert Talbert, whose five years of using the Flipped Classrom, has provided a wealth of experiences to share.

Getting started with Screencasting

An open door is opportunity.
An open door is opportunity.
I’m becoming an advocate for the use of screencasting at TRU. I think the technology is underutilized in our courses on campus and in the Open Learning department, of which I’m an instructional designer. So, this page is going to be dedicated to the teaching and learning effectiveness of screencasting. I’ll be researching scholarly information as well as practical information from the classroom.

On the scholarly front, Sorden 2005, provides a nice synopsis of how cognitive learning theory support the use of multimedia. Check this out A Cognitive Approach to Instructional Design for Multimedia Learning

On the practical front, this education based marketing brochure from a company provides some good information on the state of video amongest younger people today. Read The Netflix Generation eBook

You can also look for a screencasting session to be provided at the Teaching Practices Colloquium on February 16. I’ve enlisted the support of a number of faculty who been using screencasts in their courses to discuss how this technology has sparked with their students. It’s going to be an informative and hopefully inspiring session, that will fire up others at TRU to give screencasting a try!

If you have anything that you’d like to share about your experience, you’re more than welcome to share it here too.