During class this week I was introduced to the tool Screencastify and how it could be used in an educational setting to promote learning! I found that one of the most significant advantages of using video in the classroom is that it is fun! Incorporating mixed media in the middle of a slide show for example is a silly way to grab the attention of your students if you need to present long pieces of information without activities and movement to break up the lecture. Screencastify is a simple way to record short voice video with screen sharing technology. Below is a QR code that will bring you to my very first Screencastify video, please follow the link and check it out!
Challenges:
- The first issue I ran into while creating this video is sound quality. It is very important to remove yourself from any loud generators or external noises in order for the focus it be on your voice!
- I also created this video freestyle while using the screen sharing technology but next time I would better outline a script before recording to ensure clarity and professionalism within the clip.
It was a very easy process to create and with more practice it could be an excellent tool in the classroom! Please be aware that Screencastify must be used on Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge and you will need to sign in with google to use the application!
For this clip I choose to use the editing features within the free version of the application and found there were very few options to edit the clip. I was able to add a title page and cut out and mistakes in the clip but the editing software was not user friendly and I was not pleased with my end result. Next time I would export the clip and load it into an external editing software like imovie to play around with more features and try to uplift the content.
Overall I was very please by Screencastify as a tool for learning! It is easy to use, a new and fun way to provide information to students and easy to provide a link so students can watch the video over and over! This could be an excellent way to take important but dry information and show it to the kids in a way that they an continuously look back on! This tool could also be used to share pieces of what is happening within the classroom with parents in a new and personalized way.