Where and how could used screencasts in education?
Screencast records can be used as learning resources, learning tasks, and
learning support.
We often hear: everything can be found on the Internet!
Youtube stores a huge amount of screencast videos that could be useful in many
curriculums. But will the ready material precisely fit into our curriculum? This
is especially true of vocational training programs that often are specific.
Just a few considerations that might convince you to start creating your own screencast recordings.
1. Although students learn computer training in general education programs, they often encounter specific tasks in professional subjects, although they are to be performed in well-known software (Word, Excel). For example, drawings, technological schemes, calculations and diagrams, calculations and much more.
The teacher's provided script is absolutely useful for the student to understand how to perform a given task. If the assignment is available online, the learner can view it at its own pace, repeatedly until the task is clear.
Example1. Screencasting of calculations task (MS Excel) for forestry technician students. Teacher with the screencasting explain the progress of the assignment. Students after the practice are doing at home the calculations up to draw the schetch of felling. The result of this homework is printout of description of felling.
2. Many professional subjects use special software, the learning of which may take more time than can be afforded on lessons. Screencasting is a great tool to help students learn these professional applications.
Example 2. Professional application Forest expert, which is used in Latvia for the training of forestry students, as well as used in the field of professional work. Forest expert is a computer program of forest inventory, forest valuation and forest management planning, which is also designed for forest management planning, valuation of forest property, accounting and control of economic activity.
As the screen capture show, this computer programm is not available in English and it would be difficult with screencasting to explain how it works. But It is also likely that other countries have many professional programs in the national languages, and in any case, it's great that there are such programs for both students and professionals. At the same time, there is a problem that can easily be solved certainly by screencasting: the developers of programs do not always offer a good tutorials, but a teacher can do this by recording of screen instructions.
3. It is noteworthy that screencasting is able to attract more attention than usual lectures. It helps to encourage students' thinking, to deepen interest and understanding of the content of the teaching.
Example 3. Creating of mind map as assignment for food technologies students. The screencasting provides additional information of how the current sample could fit into the training plan.
1. The word file with an example content plan was prepared. 2. Attention! It is important to prepare your screen before recording so that no unnecessary icons, taskbar, bookmark bar appear during the recording. 3. The links used in the record were checked. 4. The script (text document) of recordable text was prepared. 5. The current recording was done by adding a pre-prepared Zabaware voice recording audio file. Of course, you can do the same by recording your own voice in the screencasting process. You can choose between a live, real voice with possible pronunciation mistakes or a properly spoken text of the program, which, however, will be more difficult to reconcile with the on-screen events. 6. The audio file was inserted into the Active Presentation record (Annotation/Audio). 7. The screencasting was saved in a video format. 8. Please note that this example explains not only the example itself, i.e., the creation of a mind map, but also how this example could be included in the learning process. |
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