Okay, I did a thing! My first ever screencast, and I’ve chosen to take you all on a tour of the BC Archives digital collection. Strap in and enjoy!

What is a Screencast?

Have you ever looked up a tutorial for how to change settings on your computer, or use a new application? While step-by-step written instructions work for easier tasks, screencasts are often better for learning more complex ones. A screencast is a video that shows the instructor’s screen and all of their actions, and usually includes a voice-over with verbal instruction and description. See above!

Why use Screencasting in Education?

Screencasts are an incredibly popular for a reason. Being able to follow along with instructions visually and verbally is powerful (throw back to Multimedia and Dual Code Theory for anyone following along!). There is no second guessing exactly where to click or if you’re in the correct menu. You can pause as needed when following along. You can follow at your own pace and rewind as needed. It just works, very well. And if a student is away from class, they have a built in lesson.

Like usual, this was much easier than I expected. We used Screencastify, plugin available for chrome browsers. What I didn’t love it that it auto-saved to my already maxed out Google Drive storage, but I was able to download a copy to my computer. I’m also surprised with how professional my one-shot-and-done screencast looks and sounds.

I will certainly look for opportunities to use screencasts in the future. Screencastify only offers 10 free video uploads, so I’ll have to look at other free options. One potential downfall of using the technology in public schools, is of course access. It’s not guaranteed that all my students will have access to a Chromebook in class, or a computer at home. But, I still think this is a great option.