Screencast-O-Matic

This was one of the more challenging assignments for me! I am not comfortable recording anything because I always seem to mess up. I think I have to do the phone message machine 5 times before I get it right!

So this time, after I designed the PowerPoint and got the visuals to work, I wrote out a script. I had to practice it numerous times, but also had to practice with the PowerPoint presentation at the same time so the timing was right.

Creating instructional videos can be time consuming, but it is fun. I suppose it is like anything else - easier the more you practice.

So what does a teacher do if their voice is horrible or they don't speak clearly enough. Perhaps, for future teachers, we will be required to take a class on speaking and voice modulation!

I uploaded the video to You Tube, but honestly I have not viewed it yet. Hope you find it amusing.



Screencast-O-Matic is great because you can pause it as you record. That's the best tool ever for me! I did just review the video and it wasn't too bad! I listed the link to Screencast-O-Matic along with my other favorite websites.

I did have difficulty getting screencastomatic accepted by You Tube but I finally figured that out, but then I realized that I had to embed it. It turned out that YouTube allows you to do that when you click on the SHARE button. I was pretty proud of myself for stumbling onto that one!

The more I think about this the more I realize that this tool is a modification in the SAMR model. It allows teachers to create instructional visuals that help your students understand the material in a manner that is an improvement over watching a lecture or reading a text book.

This tool will also help if used by students and screencastomatic is an improvement over screencast.com. You really do have to plan ahead before filming begins though and expect to edit and redo your video a number of times.

Engaging students and teaching them to use this tool is a great way to "use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students" and have students "apply technology to develop students' higher order skills and creativity." ISTE NETS III BandC.

I would use it in a cooperative learning setting where students learn a section of the science material and then use this tool to teach the concepts to the rest of the class.