WEEK 3.3 How to use Screencast-o-matic to create instructions for your students

I love Screencasting as a teaching tool. Up to now I have tried Jing, and even paid for Jing pro. Then I heard about Screenr and tried that. It seemed to me that Screenr did what Jing Pro does. Today the thought came to me that I should try Screencast-o- matic. (http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/)

The site tells me that it is the original Screencast programme. That’s interesting!




There is a demo video to watch. I must say, after watching it there seem to be some very nice features in Sceencast-o-matic! Two things I REALLY like is the fact that  your maximum time with the free version is 15 minutes, and that you can upload directly to your YouTube channel.




The next thing to do would be to join the site, It is all free. I joined and found there is a Pro version, but it may not be necessary to have all those extra features for my use.


How to use Screencast-o-matic


1. Click on Start Recording




You’ll notice that a dotted line block appears. At the bottom you can choose the screensize that you want. I really like this feature.


2. Find the page on the internet that you want to start recording from




3. Check your settings


Check the little arrow next to the microphone to make sure you have the right microphone checked (I find that headphones work the best).


Press the red arrow and start recording. You can press it again to pause during your recording session and then continue if you want to.


When you are finished press the word Done. It will take you to a preview page.


4. Listen and decide




If you like what you hear you can press one of the options on the right (or all three one after the other):

* Upload directly to YouTube
* Save in your Screencasts section on Screencast-o-matic
* Download it as a video.


Another feature I really like is that you can arrange your screencasts in folders on Screencast-o-matic’s ‘My Screencasts’ channel page.




I really like this Screencasting programme very much. It just seems to offer me exactly what I am looking for.


An example that I made


I made a recording entitled ‘How to write a comment on a blog’. Here it is:



Ideas for the classroom using Screencast-o-matic


1. Use it to present a lesson online. It can be used to cater for diverse levels of understanding.
2. Use it to explain a homework task. The students can then go over things at home.
3. Students that have been absnt can use it to catch up tasks.
4. The students themselves can use screencasts to illustrate something they have learned.
5. Screencast-o-Matic is perfect for illustrating research methods, and musical instrument tutorials,
6. Teachers can use it to give parents and students simple directions on how to use the class website or wiki

…and much, much more!

WEEK 3.2 How to add a video from YouTube to your Blogger blog

I was very pleased to find out today, through one of my social networking links, that Blogger has its own YouTube Help Channel. It's called BloggerHelp and you can find it here. When I took a look I saw they had one on one of this week's topics - How to add a YouTube video to your blog. So I thought I would add it here. For those of you that are still unsure on how to do this here are some screen shots.

1. Find the video you want to download

2. Click on Share to first get the Internet address and embed button

3. Click on embed to get the HTML code.

4. Paste the code into the HTML part of your blog

5. Your video will now appear miraculously on the Compose side of your blog.

If you are reading this post, why not give it a go. Add a video to your blog right now!

Here is the same information in a TIPSHEET in case you want to print it. Click on this link.

http://www.box.com/s/7y2slikxomnsq5y48hmm

WEEK 3.1 Blogging course week 3 details

Click on the icon below and listen to the plan. (I have added this to show you how easy it is to add verbal instructions to a blog). Here is the result:

This week's details

Well, here we are in the third week of the blogging course. Please don't hesitate yo let me know if there is anything you don't understand or you are struggling with and I will help as much as I can. Here are this week's details: (Click on the link to open the document)

http://www.box.com/s/6fopszxirg1d9s1r5mkj

Requirements for this week

Although there will be posts about photos, slideshows, videos and screencasts, and you can add as many as you like, your only requirements in order to receive your Certificate of Attendance are:

* Add one photo to your blog this week
* Write a reflection post on how you found this week's task.

WEEK 2.7 A blog can be a fantastic teaching tool

There are five Web2.0 applications that I think make a blog a really worthwhile teaching tool in a technology integrated classroom. They are:
1) Box.net where you can store documents that you have created and link to them.
2) Embedit.in which allows you to embed anything on your blog.
3) Slideshare which maakes an e-book from a PowerPoint or PDF. This is so useful for instructions.
4) Screencast-o-matic where you can explain and show at the same time.
5) Vocaroo.com where you can give verbal instructions to the class.

Best of all - they are all free!

This slideshare shows you how to use each one of these applications.

Your blog as a teaching tool

View more presentations from fionabeal.

WEEK 2.6 Adding photos, slideshows, and videos to a blog (Webinar presentation)

How to add photos, videos and slideshows to a Blogger blog

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