Screencasting for Educators

Author: Arlene Vinion Dubiel

This week I’m keeping things simple with one simple suggestion to help with asynchronous online teaching: try screencasting. 

What is screencasting? Put very simply, screencasting is a video of your computer screen with your voice as the audio. Screencasts serve as a communication tool for asynchronous online courses. They are easy to make and can increase instructor presence without you having to comb your hair and find the best lighting. All you need is something on your computer screen you want to share with students and your voice. 

A purpose for screencasts

“Screencasts are an easy way to communicate with students. They can increase instructor presence in an online course and are ideal for the flipped classroom. I urge you to try it for yourself.”

There are two main purposes for screencasts. The most obvious is instructional. A screencast is a great way to deliver a lecture with slides or with a whiteboard app. Keep it short, 10 minutes or less. The audio is what holds the viewers’ interest as the visuals can be somewhat static. Mini-lecture screencasts are ideal for a flipped classroom approach.

The second main purpose for screencasts is assessment. A colleague who teaches creative writing online shared this idea with me. She would need to provide feedback on several papers each week. Highlighting and writing comments would take a long time and often her students would not read the comments, not comprehend them, or misinterpret them, resulting in missed opportunities for learning and revision. Providing verbal feedback on papers using a screencast saved time and allowed for better communication resulting in improved students’ responses to the feedback. I now use screencasts to provide feedback on all of my students’ larger assignments that I want them to revise. I have even received compliments from my students on this format, sharing that they appreciate the verbal comments.  

Screencast Programs

If you want to create a screencast, the first thing to do is find a program that fits your needs. Check your learning management system (LMS) or ask your technology resource person if screencast is available and integrated with your LMS. At Northern Illinois University where I teach, we have Kaltura integrated with our Blackboard system. Kaltura has a video option with the finished product having a small picture-in-picture with the video in the lower right hand corner of the screencast. For my purely asynchronous classes, I prefer this option so students can see my face, thus increasing my level of instructor presence in the course. 

My go-to screencasting program that is commercially available is Screencast-o-matic. The free version fits my limited needs perfectly and I have used it often. The paid version has more sophisticated editing capabilities for creating more professional-looking screencasts. Screencastify is another program that works well with Google suite of apps including the web browser Chrome and Google Drive. This program is also free and can be used offline after downloading. Both of these screencasting programs are easy to use with an adjustable frame to fit only what you want seen and one button recording. The editing capabilities are somewhat limited, but for most simple screencasts, these free programs are all you need. 

If you want a program that has more sophisticated editing capabilities then you will want to check out OBS Studio. As it is an open source program, the capabilities change frequently. You can browse resources that are available or create your own plug-ins so the program will do your bidding. If you want to create professional-looking screencasts, then OBS Studio would be your best option.  

Tips and Tricks for Screencasts

When planning to create a screencast for instructional purposes, the first thing to do is write a script. The screen can be static for several seconds, it is your voice that makes the video dynamic and interesting. Students will focus on listening to your voice over whatever is on the screen. Writing a script can focus what you will say and can reduce the use of English filler words like, umm...you know...uh...those words. Practice reading the script at least once before recording to make it smooth. If you are creating a screencast for assessment purposes, no script is needed, but a quick read-through of the initial assignment will help you to decide what comments are the most important to share with the students. 

Before you record, make sure your screen is clear of everything except what you want your students to see. This can be done by resizing the frame. If you are using a web-based program, close all windows and tabs except that one. In particular, make sure your email is not open, you don’t want your computer to ding a notification every time you get an email! 

Pay attention to how you are using your computer’s mouse or touchpad. There is an arrow or circle or other type of cursor on the screen that can be moved by you. If the mouse is still, the cursor indicator will usually disappear, and will reappear when you move your mouse or touch your touchpad. Too much movement can be distracting. Too little movement can be boring. Use the cursor to emphasize what area of the screen you want the viewer to focus on. Then, allow it to go still. Try to use long and slow movements for emphasis and to prevent getting a headache from seeing quick movements. 

Finally, relax and breathe. The focus of a screencast is on your voice. Try to sound as natural as possible by relaxing. Sit up tall with good posture, take a couple of deep breaths, and hit the big red record button. If things go off the rails, you can always hit pause and even go back and re-record the last bit. If you record your voice often, you may want to invest in a cheap microphone that will help to reduce background noise. 

Once you have finished with your screencast, save it as an mp4 file as most video programs can read this format. Then, check your screencast. Make sure you can hear your own voice and check the beginning and end and any transitions you made to make sure they are smooth. Keep in mind that the purpose of your screencast is to communicate with your students - it doesn’t have to be perfect, just practical. 

Screencasts are an easy way to communicate with students. They can increase instructor presence in an online course and are ideal for the flipped classroom. I urge you to try it for yourself. 

Increase your instructor presence in an online course by using screencasts. Use them for instructional videos or to provide feedback on assessments. To get started, check out the free screencasting programs mentioned above.