Screencasting: Enhance your Teaching

Prerequisites Time in the classroom is precious – it is an opportunity for you to interact with the workshop leader and other participants through questions and discussions and to share your experiences and concerns. To make the most of this time we sometimes ask you to carry out learning activities ahead of the workshop so that everyone comes into the class with the same basic knowledge. We keep this prior learning to a minimum and often make use of Lynda.com videos. Lynda.com videos can be accessed by University members anytime, anywhere, through a browser or app. The workshop description will tell you if any prior learning is required. If you don’t have an environment where you can do this learning, you can come along to one of our ‘Lynda Labs’. These are scheduled every week, and are a quiet space where you can work through Lynda.com videos or other workshop resources. If you turn up to a workshop without having done the prior learning, the workshop leader may suggest that you come back on another session.

Copyright Traci Huggins makes this booklet and the accompanying slides available under a Creative Commons licence (BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). The Oxford University crest and logo and IT Services logo are copyright of the University of Oxford and may only be used by members of the University in accordance with the University’s branding guidelines.

About the workshop designer Traci Huggins has over a decade’s experience in teaching, she has worked as a Computing Lecturer, Course Leader and Tutor in Further Education writing and delivering courses for Levels 1 to Level 5, she has also co-wrote a new Foundation Degree in Computing Science course in conjunction with Oxford Brookes University.

Traci’s teaching knowledge covers Excel, Business Computing, Information Systems, Web Design (HTML/CSS/WordPress) and SharePoint. She is a highly committed teacher who likes to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to learn to use technology in their study or workplace both effective and efficiently.

Revision history Version Date Author Comments 1.0 September 2016 Traci Huggins

About this workshop This workshop will give you an insight into the different types of software available to create screencasts and screen capture for use as training or e-learning materials. It will also introduce you to free and open source software that will allow you to create videos for YouTube. You will not be a fully pledged screen caster by the end of the session however it will put you in a good position with the right tools and knowledge to enable you to be creative and create a fully working and adaptable e-learning courses and materials.

What you need to know There is no prerequisite for this course but we will assume that you are familiar with opening files from particular folders and saving them, perhaps with a different name back to the same or different folder. The computer networks in our classrooms may differ slightly to that which you are used to in your College or Department; if you are confused by the differences, ask for help from the teacher or demonstrators.

What is Screen Capture/Screen Casting software? Screen capture, also called screen casting software is a program that runs on your computer (there are also one or two web based programs) that allow you to record what you do on the screen as a set of slides that are played in a desired sequence as a movie. This type of software is sometimes called “an electronic learning tool”. Screen capture software can be used to create videos directly from PowerPoint presentations, software demonstrations and quizzes. You can also create your own bespoke videos.

Learning objectives This workshop covers the following learning objectives; Learning objective One – Course development Learning objective Two – Planning Learning objective Three – Creating Scripts and Storyboards Learning objective Four – Recording Learning objective Five – Quizzes and interactions I will point you at a variety of resources that will help you in achieving these objectives. They can all be downloaded from the ITLC Portfolio at; http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk/resource/course-pack/teaching-creating-screencasts-your-teaching

Learning objective One – Course Development

Screencasts can provide learners with a student-centred and engaging learning experience in both distance and traditional learning settings. Good screencasts for education will depend not only on thorough planning but also on thoughtful and careful editing. Screencasts allow you to re-sequence your sessions, eliminate unnecessary sections allowing you to craft a focused but easy to follow presentation that will use student’s time effectively.

Getting started with course development The power of video teaching What e-learning project goals What are the best techniques? How can I assemble source materials?

How will you communicate the task your students need to accomplish? Will an audio introduction tell them they are supposed to request a day of vacation on the system? Do you want to give your audience step-by-step instructions or just the general task? Will you tell them the first step is to click the Request Leave button, or do they to remember that on their own? If you do include step-by-step instructions, where will they appear? In Audio, in timed captions, or will they appear in a text box down the side of the slide? Do you want to show a success caption for each step, or does the fact that the practice continues serve as adequate feedback? How many attempts should the student get? For a graded assessment, perhaps they should only get one. If the practice is for the students benefit, perhaps they should have two. Will unlimited attempts cause the user to get frustrated and not be able to finish. Do you want to provide hints with hint captions and the hand cursor? For a graded assessment you might not want to. Determine if they add value or not, as the student has to be on the trigger area to see the hints. How much help do you want to give students in a failure caption? Tell them simply to try again or remind them what they are supposed to accomplish in general terms or tell them the specific step or point to the step.

Learning objective Two – Planning

What are the best techniques? Let’s assume you have decided to deliver your learning package using video, however you still have some more thinking to do and decisions to make. There are some options regarding delivery technique, which include the following;

A recorded slideshow, where you create everything presentation style using software such as

Microsoft PowerPoint. A recorded audio-visual lecture, perhaps incorporating a slide presentation. A computer desktop recording, where you demonstrate how to operate a system, software package

or website. Location video, where you make a movie of someone doing a task. Animations or stock images and footage. A whiteboard presentation, where you draw the information on a real or virtual whiteboard while

recording video.

In all cases a virtual learning aid is an audio recording with commentary about what is being shown on screen. While it is possible to have a mute video or one with only music, as a standalone method this will not be as effective instructionally.

All the delivery methods mentioned above can be very effective. The important point is to make a decision about what methods you are going to use and think about how doing it this way will help you reach your learning goals

To Do: ….

Start to jot down ideas that will help you organise your screen cast, look at the questions above, and create a bullet list.

Learning objective Three – Creating Scripts and Storyboards

Storyboard

What is a storyboard? A storyboard is a major part of the planning and recording process that are most often neglected. I personally believe these are very important to the success of your project. A storyboard allows you to draw up the audio, or vocal, content and visual parts of your “story”. A good storyboard includes the script of the vocal recording, as well as a description or “stage directions” for the visual part of the recording. You can find many templates on line to help you organise a storyboard.

Shot List What is a shot list – a shot list helps you plan the video recording session. It is essentially a step-by-step guide that you can print or have on screen while you are recording. Believe it or not your first impulse when clicking on the big red Record button is to freeze! A shot list contains the shots that you want to include in your recording, it will list where you

need to start, how long you will be doing that task, and what task you will need to do next and so on until you have covered all the criteria needed. A shot list is important for video recordings as it works well for a sequence of events that you need to keep in mind while you are recording, it also helps to keep you on track to ensure that you are executing the correct tasks in the correct order.

To Do: …

Choose one of the methods above and create a short storyboard or shot list for your idea. You can use either the storyboards or shot list templates to jot down your ideas.

Learning objective Four – Recording

Microphones

When creating a screen capture it is important that your audience can understand what you are saying when you use sound so they can easily follow what you are trying to show. For this reason it is strongly recommended that you use a good headset or even better a good microphone. It is not a good idea to use the microphone built into your laptop because there is every chance of picking up surrounding sounds. Sounds like other people talking to the sound of the computer fan, these noises will make any sound added to your screen capture sound distant and unclear.

Audacity

Audacity is a free open source cross platform digital audio editor and recording computer software application available for Windows, MACs and Linux, it is used for creating and editing sound files, you can download Audacity from the following link: http://www.audacityteam.org/about/

To Do: …

You need to take time to decide on how you want to capture your audio;

1. Do you want to record your audio as you are recording your actions on screen?

2. Do you want to take you time to record the audio and add at a later date?

Learning objective Five – Quizzes and Interactions

Questions, quizzes, tests, scenarios, interactions are all course elements that often make the difference between telling someone something and teaching them something. They allow both you and the student to reinforce and apply the content, assess the learning, uncover opportunities for re-teaching, and evaluate the course effectiveness. Captivate and Camtasia among others offers in some cases up to 9 questions types you can use to create a graded format and/or survey results, some examples of the types of questions available are listed below;

Multiple Choice

Student chooses one or more options among several possible answers o Can have up to 15 answer choices o Available as graded or survey

True/False

Student decides between two options o Can change “true” and “false” labels o Available as graded or survey

Fill in the Blank

Student types a word into the space provided. o Can be case-sensitive o Can allow more than one correct

answer o Can be formatted as a multiple-

choice questions with a drop-down list

o Available as graded or survey

Short Answer

Student types in a longer answer to a question o Available as graded or survey

Matching

Student matches items in one column with items in the other o Can have up to 8 options per column o Available as graded or survey

Hot Spot

Students clicks on one or more designated hot spots on a graphic image o Can have up to 10 hot spots o Available as graded or survey

Sequence

Student arranges a series of items into the proper sequence o Can be formatted as a drag and drop

or drop down list o Available as graded or survey

Rating Scale (Likert)

Students evaluate statements and rate them on a scale o Can have up to 5 points on the scale o Available as survey only

To Do: ….

You need to decide on a method of questioning to enable you to assess learning. Once you have decided on which questioning technique you would like to use (or a combination of techniques) you need to then to then compile the questions and answers.

Further information - Getting extra help

Clinics The IT Learning Centre offers bookable clinics where you can get pre- or post-course advice.

About Lynda.com Lynda.com is free to all members of the University. Visit courses.it.ox.ac.uk/lynda and sign in with your Single Sign-On (SSO) credentials. Some courses recommend pre- and/or post-course playlists of Lynda.com videos to support your learning. You can watch these anywhere, anytime, and even download them on to a tablet or smartphone for off-line viewing. If you need a quiet place to work through playlists away from distractions, the IT Learning Centre offers frequent Lynda Labs that you can book on to.

About the ITLC Portfolio Many of the resources used on the IT Learning Centre courses and workshops are made available as Open Educational Resources (OER) via our Portfolio website at portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk.

About the IT Learning Centre The IT Learning Centre delivers over 100 It-related classroom-based courses, and gives you access to thousands of on-line course through Lynda.com.

Our team of teachers have backgrounds in academia, research, business and education and are supported by other experts from around the University and beyond.

Our courses are open to all members of the University at a small charge. Where resources allow, we can deliver closed courses to departments and colleges, which can be more cost effective than signing up individually. We can also customize courses to suit your needs.

Our fully equipped suite of seven teaching and training rooms are available for hire for your own events and courses. For more information contact us at courses@it.ox.ac.uk

About Academic IT Services The IT Learning Centre is part of Academic IT Services (AcIT). AcIT engages with the University in all aspects of the use of IT for teaching, learning and outreach, including the development of the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (WebLearn), research data management advice, technology enhanced learning, and digital media services including the Replay lecture capture service. If you think AcIT can help you, contact us at academicit@it.ox.ac.uk