8/7/2019 7 Things You Should Know About Screen Casting

1/2

www.educause.edu/eli

1

2

Formerly NLII

more

7 things you should know about... Screencasting

ScenarioJoey is in an atmospheric science class that uses ahigh-perormance modeling application to represent

atmospheric conditions and orecast weather events.

Because everyone in the class needs to be comort-

able using the applicationand because it is highly

complexthe proessor, Dr. Lattner, has created a set

o screencasts to establish a baseline amiliarity with the

application among students in the class. The screen-

casts, which are about 30 minutes long each, cover the

our primary sets o unctions in the application.

To create the screencasts, Dr. Lattner simply presses

Record on his screencast sotware while running

the modeling application on his computer. He manip-

ulates the application and narrates into a microphone

connected to his computer, just as i he were lectur-

ing. He demonstrates how the various unctions work,

using an example with real data to model ocean tem-

peratures and hurricane paths. With the screencast,

Dr. Lattner explains as he goes, drawing students

attention to the weather patterns and to the parts o

the application that are most relevant and important to

their models. When he is done, he makes minor edits

to the screencasts and saves them as Flash movies.

At the beginning o the semester, Joey reviews all our

o the screencasts. Not only has he not previouslyused the weather modeling application, he has never

used an application as powerul and complicated as

this one. He watches the screencasts at times when

he knows he is most likely to absorb the inormation,

which or him is typically late at night. He takes notes

as the screencasts play, and he keeps an instance o

the weather modeling application open at the same

time so he can toggle between the two, using the

unctions ater he sees how Dr. Lattner used them

in the screencast. When he gets conused, Joey

can stop the screencast, go back to an earlier spot,

and replay the difcult parts until he eels confdent

that he can use the modeling application efciently.

Several times throughout the semesterespecially

just beore the midterm and the fnal, which use the

modeling toolJoey returns to the screencasts to

reresh his memory about how particular unctions o

the application work.

What is it?A screencast is a screen capture o the actions on a users com-puter screen, typically with accompanying audio, distributed

through RSS. In the same way that a screenshot is a static rep-

resentation o a computer screen at a point in time, a screencast

captures what happens on a monitor over a period o time. The

audio track can be the sound rom an application being demon-

strated, a narrative rom the presenter, or background audio rom

another application. Screencasts can be produced in various or-

mats, and users generally watch them streamed over a network.

Screencasts can be thought o as podcasts o a computer monitor.

Podcasts are easy-to-make audio fles that can be edited and dis-

tributed online. Screencasts capture the eeling o personal con-

nection that podcasts provide, with the added beneft o v ideo to

see what is being discussed. And, like podcasts, screencasts can

be easily distributed through blogs and other Web pages. Screen-

casts can be another component o a users news aggregator,

along with Web pages, multimedia fles, and other resources.

Who is doing it?Screencasts have become a regular fxture in distance education

programs because they provide a sense o engagement between

aculty and students without compromising the ability to access

learning materials online whenever and wherever it is convenient.

In other cases, aculty have taken advantage o screencasts to

provide learning resources to local students. For some students,the technology allows them to learn in a more sel-directed ashion,

one that suits their style and speed o learning.

Some aculty use screencasts to provide richer eedback on stu-

dent perormance than a marked-up paper oers. A screencast

can show students what aculty are marking and let them hear

the instructors narrative about the reasons behind those marks.

Screencasts are well suited to demonstrations o basic concepts,

such as showing examples o undamental equations in math or

sciences. They are also showing up on the Web in the orm o

sotware tutorials.

How does it work?Making screencasts requires special sotware that captures activ-ity on a screen. With the proper sotware installed, making a scre-

encast is as simple as pushing a Record button and then working

8/7/2019 7 Things You Should Know About Screen Casting

2/2

3

4

5

6

7

www.educause.edu/eli

March 2006

ScreencastingFindmoretitlesinthisseries

ontheELIWebsitewww.educause.edu/eli

with an application you want to demonstrate. I a narrative is part

o the screencast, you speak into a microphone as you manipulate

the actions on the screen. All o the action and sound are recorded

and, with most screencast sotware, can be edited later. Some sot-

ware lets you add menus or a table o contents or the screencast,allowing users to navigate to dierent parts o the presentation.

Certain tools include captioning unctionality, which adds text cap-

tions to accompany a presentation. This can be benefcial to visual

learners and students with auditory handicaps. Some screen-

cast tools specifcally use Tablet PCs. With these applications,

instructors use the stylus to write on a whiteboard, showing stu-

dents how to perorm calculations, diagramming data in fgures

and tables, or representing other lessons you might demonstrate

by example. Finally, the screencast is saved in the desired ormat,

based on fle size, resolution, or compatibility with hardware and

sotware used by the audience.

To watch a screencast, you only need a viewer capable o show-

ing the appropriate fle ormat. For many screencasts, this means

nothing more than a Web browser with a media player, such as

QuickTime, Flash, or Windows Media Player. Screencasts can

be streamed over a network or downloaded and watched later.

One option is to save screencasts on a portable device with video

capability, such as a video iPod. Although the small screen makes

some screencasts impractical or portable devices, others work

well, allowing students more reedom in where and when they view

recorded sessions.

Why is it signifcant?Screencasts provide students with lessons they can watch at their

convenience, as oten as they choose, to review class material or

to help understand concepts they fnd difcult. Students can stop

and start presentations, giving them control over how a lesson

unolds, which can help accommodate dierent learning styles

and speeds. Even presentations that last an hour or more can be

recorded as reasonably sized fles. Screencasts can also add a

new dimension to embedded learning. Instead o s imply consult-

ing a reerence book to learn or reresh your memory about a basic

concept needed or work on a larger project, you might access a

library o screencasts and watch the one that addresses the con-

cept at hand.

The ability to edit screencasts gives instructors the opportunity

to create a useul, targeted educational resource. With judiciousediting, an instructor can re-sequence the elements o a lesson,

eliminate awkward or unnecessary parts, and crat a ocused pre-

sentation that is easy to ollow and uses students time efciently.

Another beneft o screencasts is a sense o connection with the

instructor. For both distant and local learners, a screencast puts

the action o the instructors computer on a screen right in ront

o the student, creating a look over my shoulder eect similar to

one-on-one instruction.

What are the downsides?The most obvious drawback o screencasting is that it is not inter-

active. Although some lessons lend themselves to fxed demon-

stration, others do not and should not be taught with screencasts.

Moreover, in the same way that watching someone demonstratea program can include irrelevant inormation, simply recording the

instructors screen during a class session can be an inefcient way

to transer inormation. Good screencasts depend on planning a

session with an eye toward its being recorded and on thoughtul

editing aterwards.

Where is it going?Because the tools used to create screencasts are straightorward

and simple to use, they oer a new avenue or individuals who need

to share inormation visually and aurally. This might be students in

a course who create tools to help others understand the material,

making instructors out o all the students in the class. It might be a

student using a screencast as part o an electronic portolio to ulfll

a course requirement or demonstrate a specifc profciency. An indi-

vidual might use a screencast as an electronic component o a rsu-

m or a CV. Screencasts can personalize any learning experience

where students are remote rom the instructor. Although screen-

casts are more likely to be used or rote learningskill and drill

types o applicationsusing the tools or creating and viewing the

recordings will build amiliarity and comort with IT tasks in general.

What are the implications or

teaching and learning?Screencasts provide a simple means to extend rich course con-

tent to distance students, students with disabilities (who might

have restricted access to certain class sessions or presentations),

and anyone else who might beneft rom the material but cannot

attend a presentation. The technology also oers a simple means

o providing a fxed presentation, one that shows the same mate-

rial in a consistent, repeatable orm. Routine training or large num-

bers o students, such as learning about an institutions course

management system or other campus-wide systems, is an excel-

lent candidate or screencasts. In addition, screencasts represent

another tool at the disposal o aculty. The thresholds are low or

creating and viewing screencasts, giving instructors broad latitude

in deciding when to use the technology, without having to depend

on IT sta to make it happen. Screencasts add an active, visual

element to resources available outside class. Rather than simply

relying on texts or notes, students can replay class sessions or

demonstrations, seeing how an application is manipulated while

hearing the instructor talk.