Using screencasting for feedback

Do you ever wish you could just talk through and annotate student work to provide feedback (rather than all that writing)?  Well, you can.  I made a short video on how to use Screencastify to do just that.  Screencastify is a Chrome extension that should already be installed for you (if not, it only takes a minute).

Check it out here and please let me know how I can help you get started.

https://youtu.be/5-_SDyn9Tdw

Welcome back!

Welcome to the 2019-20 school year!
I'd love to chat with any teachers who are thinking about how they might be integrating technology in their classes this year. 
Over the next few days, I'm focusing on setting up Moodle and Google Classroom.  Please come to 118 if you need support with either (or both) of these.
I also wanted to share my resources from the Screencasting bucket session.  Screencasting is a great way to provide video instruction to students and for students to show their learning. Here's a simple document to get you started, with a link to a video on the process, as well. 

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.

Teachers using Technology

Here are two ways that CVU teachers have used technology for instruction in their classes recently:

When Peter Booth was absent from his math class, he used EduCreations on his iPad to prepare his lesson for his students.  EduCreations allows you to narrate while you write, draw and manipulate images on your iPad.  Peter's substitute than played back the recorded lesson the classroom computer.  Students said afterwards that they found it enjoyable and helpful to have the lesson taught by Peter, even when he was out.  Here's the lesson:
http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/geometry-sub-plans-arc-length/5542446/?ref=link

---

During her science class, Sarah Strack needed to check for understanding from students.  She used PollEverywhere, which allows students to use cell phones, laptops, tablets--basically, any device-- to provide answers to a question or poll.  She used AirServer (wirelessly sends your iPad or Mac screen to the projector) to project the poll from her iPad.  Compare this to asking students, "Does everyone get it?"  Here are the students' responses to one question.:

Technology Integration Showcase 02

Here are two more recent examples of students using technology to demonstrate their learning:

Tupper's Glogster digital poster about The Troops of WWI-- from Lezlee Sprenger's class:

---

A screencast of a presentation on Galicia from Seth Jensen's Spanish class (Laura used Screen-cast-o-matic for this).

Windows 7 Snipping Tool

If you haven't discovered the Snipping Tool in Windows 7, it's worth checking out.  The Snipping Tool allows you to capture any portion of your screen, so you can then insert the image into a document  (for you Mac users, you can accomplish the same thing using Command + Shift + 4).  I have used the tool here to give you the idea* (and to show you where to find it):

You can add annotations-- such as the red arrow above.
The image is automatically copied into your clipboard, so you can paste it where needed.  You can also save the image for future use.

Teachers and students can use this tool to incorporate screen captures into text documents and presentations.

---

*note that capturing an open menu (as in my example) is a little trickier.  Here are the steps (from the Microsoft site):

1. Open Snipping Tool by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Snipping Tool.
2. Press ESC, and then open the menu that you want to capture.
3. Press CTRL+PRINT SCREEN.
4. Select the type of snip you want, and then capture the menu.

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:

More Tools for ESL1

Originally posted 9/ 9/ 2012

Looking back on my last post (about ESL 1: Communication), I realize I may have violated the first condition for some folks-- some teachers and students may want to start with something even quicker than shooting and sharing video.  Here are some ideas you to try that are easy to set up:

1. VoiceThread. Upload a picture or file, give your students the link, and let the conversation begin!  At CVU, this has been used in world language classes to discuss famous Spanish paintings, for example.  Students can provide text comments, record audio comments, or even use webcams to provide video comments.
2. Jing.  Jing is a free tool for recording screencasts.  Students can record their voices as they capture video of their computer screen.  They might explain how they solved a math problem using Geogebra or take the video on a tour of a house they designed in SketchUp.
3. Audacity- It's free.  It's on all school computers.  Record audio, save as mp3.  Easy.