Educators across the country have adopted a new way of teaching - one that strays from the traditional "sage on the stage" version of lectures and delivery of instruction. It puts the responsibility for learning on the student, who is given homework assignments that consist of the lecture portion of a lesson, preferably a video created by the teacher. Once back in the classroom, valuable instructional time is spent with collaborative enrichment activities to assist students in finding relevance in and applying what they have learned through the videos.
This method is called a flipped classroom. There is no set model for how to create the videos or how they will be used in the classroom. This article will focus on one of the easiest ways to create the videos and is the first in a series.
Most educators who have been delivering instruction through traditional methods have some kind of visual aid, whether it is a presentation, a document or images. Rather than recreating these aids, screencasting software makes it easy to use the same visual cues and add narration, video of the teacher, and even background music.
One free web-based tool to use for screencasting is Screencastomatic. This service requires no download, although there is a downloadable version available to use offline. The free version allows for lengthy recordings and for the resulting file to be downloaded or posted on YouTube. There is a pro version which includes lengthier videos and a more robust video editor, but most educators will find the free version to be adequate.
Screencastomatic will record whatever is on the computer screen, which means a teacher can have their visual aid loaded on the computer, switch between that aid and a live demonstration of another website or program, and record their voiceover with just a few clicks. Watch the video attached to this article for a quick tutorial.
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