Screencasts in Education
A screencast is a digital recording of a computer screen, usually including narration. They’re great for visually walking users through the necessary steps to complete tasks online, as well as troubleshoot, beating the traditional step-by-step “how to” list any day. I first began utilizing screencasts regularly as a new graduate student, and have since begun looking them up to help me with certain challenges, such as this example. However, I’m a newbie to creating them myself, and began by looking at a few different free options.
Because I was already familiar with Screencast-o-matic from having viewed instructional screencasts as a student myself, I thought I would utilize this platform at first. However, after viewing one tutorial for Snagit, I was impressed by some of the suggestions as well as editing features. Beginning at a $49.95 purchase price, I was concerned about the expense as an educator, but decided to download and play with the free trial. Likewise, I perused the options in Screencast-o-matic by signing up for a free account, which does limit the number of free screencasts allowed, as well as length of videos--though this does not seem prohibitive for an educator creating short videos for K-12 student audiences.
When I investigated Jing, I found that--like Snagit--it, too, is a TechSmith product. This prompted me to look further into the various features that each offers, as there had to be some clear differences with both being offerings of the same company. As it turns out, Jing is not unlike Snagit in its ability to snap screenshots and share through videos, but, per the company’s explanation, Snagit offers a “more robust” feature set and editing capabilities. Bottom line, Jing is their free version, while Snagit comes with the pricetag (and optional paid “maintenance” plan) after the free 30-day trial. While I may be more likely to utilize Jing in the long run, I still figured Snagit was worth the free trial for my current purposes.
Unlike so many free options, this particular platform doesn’t necessarily perform better at the paid level--they are using the free trial to hopefully hook you on a purchase, so all the features are there. However, depending on your needs, you may only want to create only a few, short screencasts, and you may find that you do not require extensive editing to convey your message to your audience. My guess is that in the current climate this is probably especially true, as K-12 educators accustomed to face-to-face instruction flock to the internet without prior preparation, trying to explain to younger students how to use online features through distance learning. This is, in fact, my reasoning for creating my first screencast, in hopes of answering as easily as possible many of the questions I am presently receiving from students and families.
Ideally my first official screencast would have been done in two installations, each shorter and focused on one subject only. However, time is of the essence, and it’s not my desire to burden families with any more emails or videos to view at this time; thus, I try to explain a couple of different concepts as concisely as possible in my video. I found that the editing mode in Snagit offered multiple features for marking up and altering my capture, though I did not take advantage of all of these features at this time. I also really appreciated that it let me save it directly to my Google Drive for the purpose of storing and sharing it easily.
Here is an example of how I might send out a link to my video using Google Drive. This is a handy tool for getting screencasts out to students and families; however, I did discover that the resolution was not great, and actually appears much clearer in full screen mode.
Snagit also offers numerous other options for saving and sharing. If you’re wanting to embed it directly into a post such as this, it would appear as following:
Overall there are a number of great options for educators looking to explain online processes as easily as possible, a definite advantage in the current climate as well as going forward.
Cited
Explore some powerful software on the TechSmith product page. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/products.html
Screen Recorder & Video Editor: Screencast-O-Matic. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://screencast-o-matic.com/home
Share Ideas Instantly with Jing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/jing-tool.html
SnagIt vs. Jing: TechSmith Customer Community. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/snagit_vs_jing
TechSmith Snagit: Screen capture and screen recorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html
Because I was already familiar with Screencast-o-matic from having viewed instructional screencasts as a student myself, I thought I would utilize this platform at first. However, after viewing one tutorial for Snagit, I was impressed by some of the suggestions as well as editing features. Beginning at a $49.95 purchase price, I was concerned about the expense as an educator, but decided to download and play with the free trial. Likewise, I perused the options in Screencast-o-matic by signing up for a free account, which does limit the number of free screencasts allowed, as well as length of videos--though this does not seem prohibitive for an educator creating short videos for K-12 student audiences.
When I investigated Jing, I found that--like Snagit--it, too, is a TechSmith product. This prompted me to look further into the various features that each offers, as there had to be some clear differences with both being offerings of the same company. As it turns out, Jing is not unlike Snagit in its ability to snap screenshots and share through videos, but, per the company’s explanation, Snagit offers a “more robust” feature set and editing capabilities. Bottom line, Jing is their free version, while Snagit comes with the pricetag (and optional paid “maintenance” plan) after the free 30-day trial. While I may be more likely to utilize Jing in the long run, I still figured Snagit was worth the free trial for my current purposes.
Unlike so many free options, this particular platform doesn’t necessarily perform better at the paid level--they are using the free trial to hopefully hook you on a purchase, so all the features are there. However, depending on your needs, you may only want to create only a few, short screencasts, and you may find that you do not require extensive editing to convey your message to your audience. My guess is that in the current climate this is probably especially true, as K-12 educators accustomed to face-to-face instruction flock to the internet without prior preparation, trying to explain to younger students how to use online features through distance learning. This is, in fact, my reasoning for creating my first screencast, in hopes of answering as easily as possible many of the questions I am presently receiving from students and families.
Ideally my first official screencast would have been done in two installations, each shorter and focused on one subject only. However, time is of the essence, and it’s not my desire to burden families with any more emails or videos to view at this time; thus, I try to explain a couple of different concepts as concisely as possible in my video. I found that the editing mode in Snagit offered multiple features for marking up and altering my capture, though I did not take advantage of all of these features at this time. I also really appreciated that it let me save it directly to my Google Drive for the purpose of storing and sharing it easily.
Here is an example of how I might send out a link to my video using Google Drive. This is a handy tool for getting screencasts out to students and families; however, I did discover that the resolution was not great, and actually appears much clearer in full screen mode.
Snagit also offers numerous other options for saving and sharing. If you’re wanting to embed it directly into a post such as this, it would appear as following:
Overall there are a number of great options for educators looking to explain online processes as easily as possible, a definite advantage in the current climate as well as going forward.
Cited
Explore some powerful software on the TechSmith product page. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/products.html
Screen Recorder & Video Editor: Screencast-O-Matic. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://screencast-o-matic.com/home
Share Ideas Instantly with Jing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/jing-tool.html
SnagIt vs. Jing: TechSmith Customer Community. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/snagit_vs_jing
TechSmith Snagit: Screen capture and screen recorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html
I only have a district-issued device which doesn't allow me to install anything major, so I wasn't able to really experiment with Snagit (or Jing). I really appreciated the summary and evaluation of this option because it looked like it had quite a few features! I'm most experienced with Screencast-O-Matic as well, but I always like to know about other options out there. This is such a timely assignment given the current circumstances!
ReplyDeleteYou may want to look into "Screencastify" as it is available with a Google Sign in and as a Chrome extension. I too have a district issued device and can't download anything with out a district tech person to download it. I love that I can save my recordings on my Google Drive automatically and can easily make edits as needed.
DeleteI wasn't a fan of those made by TechSmith either. They just didn't seem user friendly to me, and I disliked that the content was never really "mine" as it was saved on their server and depending on license purchased, I could only access it for a limited time.
ReplyDeleteYes. I use Screencastify myself and like it very much. It is very user friendly and easy to use. I think you will like it a lot, Christina. Melissa, I know what you mean about not getting hi def on your videos you create for students and teachers. I run into the same problems with Screencastify. It always looks great while recording and replay, but as soon as I transfer it to a youtube download its very low res. What causes that I wonder? I thought I was the only one...
ReplyDeleteI liked Screencastomatic too, although I didn't have any prior experience. I did notice the low resolution issues on those, but also tried an app called Record It! that did not seem to have the resolution issues. However, I had to record it first and then add sound over it ... which can be a little difficult to time properly.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of jing or sangit. I like that you mentioned the step by step offered by these apps. I think that would even be used inside the app itself. There could easily be a tutorial built in these sites to help educators, students, and anyone else hoping to kuse the website.
ReplyDeleteAshley Porter