Screen Casting
What is it?
Desktop recording, or screen casting, is a way of capturing whatever is happening on your computer screen in a video enhanced with audio narration. It can be used to record presentations students can access before or after lecture. They can view recordings in their own time and as often as they like. Such recordings are particularly suitable for explaining complex tasks with a sequence of actions that must be completed in order, for example, how to use a computer program. Screencasts can also be an engaging and efficient way of addressing common issues or clarifying frequently asked questions.
Who uses it?
EAIT lecturers and tutors use screencast for:
- The flipped classroom
A short 3-4 min video introduces students to each online module in the ENGG1200 course. The videos explain difficult concepts and frame the module learning resources. Students are expected to work through the materials before they come to class. This frees up time for hands-on, problem based learning activities. - Demonstrations of software features in CAD simulation and modelling:
ENGG1200 Creo and MatLab tutors use Echo360 Personal Capture to create recordings of their workshops or short info videos in response to frequently asked questions. - Students create videos as part of their learning
ENGG1200 students produce a short video detailing how concepts like strain hardening, plastic deformation or thermal expansion play a role in everyday life. This resulted in creative online examples of difficult concepts. - Video Assessment
Dr Gwen Lawrie, in CHEM1090 uses YouTube and Vimeo video blogs to enhance student explanations of structure-property relationships in chemistry. Students found the Vlog task useful in learning about molecules but felt the 5% weighting did not reflect the work required to produce a video. This was changed in 2012 and the task is now worth 15% of the course total.
How does it work?
There are different options for recording your desktop. If your recording is between 5-15 minutes, you can use Screencast-o-matic (no installation required) or Jing for free.
Echo360 Personal Capture is the University’s centrally supported desktop recording software. The software has basic editing tools and allows you to publish your recordings directly to your Black-board course. It is also possible to narrate a PowerPoint slideshow and save it as a video. The Echo 360 Ingest function allows you to upload any video to UQ's Video Server.
More information
The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. (2006). 7 Things You Should Know About Screencasting.
ScreenCasting at UQ
Retrieved from http://www.elearning.uq.edu.au