Screenshots and screencasting with the Snagit extension

When explaining something computer-related, it is often helpful to capture either a still image of the screen (called a screenshot) or a video of the screen as you do your thing-- often recording your voice narration, as well (called a screencast).

I've mentioned various tools for doing this in the past, but I started using a new one recently, and I'd recommend it for two reasons:

1. It's easy to use
2. It automatically stores your screenshots and screencasts in Google Drive for easy sharing.

I made a how-to video. Here's an index so you can skip ahead if desired:

0:00 What is screencasting?

0:55 Signing into Chrome

1:45 Starting up Snagit

2:18 Granting permissions for Snagit

3:00 Capturing screenshots (still images)

4:24 Capturing screencasts (video of the screen)

For those who prefer the short and sweet written steps:

1. Sign into Chrome
2. Click the SnagIt Extension (white S in a blue square)
3. Grant the necessary permissions
4. Click the extension again 
5. Use the sidebar menu to take screenshots and screencasts
6. These are automatically saved in Google Drive for sharing 

(full disclosure on the video above-- I didn't actually use the extension itself to make the video, because I demo it in the video.  You can't use a camera to take a picture of itself !).

Screen capture and screencasting on a Mac

After some recent posts about capturing images of your screen in Windows, I realized that you Mac users might want to do the same, so...

For the many students and teachers at CVU who use Mac computers, you can also take a picture of your screen (called screen capture) and/or record video of your screen (aka screencasting).

Here's how:

1. To take a snapshot of your screen, press Command-Shift-4.  Then drag a box around the part of the screen you want to capture.  Or use Command-Shift-3 to capture the entire screen.

2. Another method for capturing screen shots on the Mac is by using the utility called Grab, located in the Applications > Utilities folder.



3. To take video of your screen (useful to demonstrate something), you can use QuickTime. Open QuickTime player, then choose New Screen Recording from the File menu. You can now record your screen while you narrate, if desired. The result can be sent right to iMovie for editing, if needed.

Screencast-o-matic

Here's a short how-to video on screencasting (capturing your computer screen while you narrate) using Screencast-o-matic.  I've recommended Jing in the past, but this one has some nice features that make it a great choice for you and your students:

GooRu

GOORU
There's a new site that looks promising for classroom resources called GooRu. You can get to it through Google Apps, by opening your GMail, then choosing Gooru under "More." I'd love to know what people think- are these useful resources? 
(originally posted 2/10/12)

TED-Ed

Many teachers use TED videos with their classes. TED has now jumped into the "flipped lesson" model with TED-Ed. Essentially, TED-Ed takes pre-existing TED videos and creates "lessons" that include a quick quiz for understanding, free response questions, and links to extend the learning. You can even customize the lessons or build your own based on any video on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/JQDgE_eJGTM

There are some criticisms and cautions about the flipped classroom model, but used as a supplement, TED-Ed could be a powerful tool in your class. If anyone tries a lesson, please share your thoughts here.