Computer Tutorial: Jing Screencast

Summary

I've always wondered how tech savvy individuals create tutorials. How do they capture a video of their computer screen without using a digital camera? Both the image in my head of a man holding a recorder up to the screen and this question seem silly to me now that I have practiced using Jing's screencapture feature. Using Jing, I can not only capture still screenshots, I can also capture a video of anything I do on the computer (opening applications, typing, mouse movements, surfing the web). In addition, I can create a voiceover to my video by synchronously using a microphone. I now have the power to create videos at my finger tips, but no need to worry about having to sit through hours of my computer demonstrations; Jing reins in the crazy by limiting video capture to five minutes. Once a video has been created, it can be shared or saved just as with a Jing image....that's right, Jing my videos can be published online, accessed in Jing history, and saved to My Computer. So, as I improve my computer skills, I am able to create my very own tutorials to share with others because teaching and sharing knowledge is what I like to do best!

 

 

What I Did It

            To capture video, I return to the little sun at the top of my computer screen, the constant reminder that Jing is open and ready to serve my needs. I choose the first ray to capture, then I click and drag my mouse to select a viewing area, just as I would to take a Jing image. But this time, I choose the “capture video” option. Once I choose this option, I am given three seconds before Jing starts recording. A little bar appears allowing me to pause, finish, restart, or cancel the video. I must admit, the restart feature comes in handy. When I’m done, I choose to share my video as a screencast or save it (videos are saved as SWF files). Figuring out what you’re going to record is the hard part!

 

For this assignment, I choose to create a video tutorial demonstrating how to embed a Youtube Video into PowerPoint. I published it to the web by creating a screencast which is available by typing in the URL or clicking here. Finally, I saved the video to My Computer and coverted it to an AVI file that would enable me to view the document on my computer. I then uploaded the file to be embedded into this post.

 

            I am a self taught PowerPoint user. While I believe that I know how to create some nice looking and interesting PowerPoints, I must admit that I am not aware of PowerPoint’s full potential. But, fter I got the basics down, I learned that videos and other things could be embedded into my slides. I had been including ugly URLs in my PowerPoints and watching others do the same thing up until this time. While embedding a video is a minor trick, I believe it demonstrates a more thorough knowledge of the technology available to me, in other words, it makes me look like I know what I’m doing.

 

 

How I Would Use It

There are many possibilities with Jing screencast. Jing’s website even shares how some educators have discovered ways to use Jing in their own classrooms. Once teacher uses Jing screencast to provide homework help for her students while another uses it to grade students’ papers. Overall, I like the idea of using Jing screencast to record how-to videos for math, science, and language arts on a SmartBoard. These types of videos can have multiple uses. For instance, a teacher can demonstrate a new mathematics skill using Jing on the SmartBoard and create a link or embed the video in her classroom’s website. Students can access the video when they need a refresher after school while working on homework, when they need help while working independently in the classroom, when they are working at centers, and when they have been absent. Using Jing for such a purpose can elevate some of the everyday problems teachers face.

 

Issue #1

Giving homework is a controversial issue these days. Many students do not have the support they need at home in order to learn effectively from their homework. One of my professors likes to say, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent.” We are doing a disservice to our students when we have them go home with to practice a new skill with a twenty question worksheet and all they have done is practiced the skill incorrectly twenty times because they forgot the intricacies of the skill and didn’t have the help they needed. By providing how-to video’s to students, there is a better chance that students will be practicing skills correctly. This way, students are receiving the extra practice they need, although I do believe that grades for homework still should not be used in grade books.

Issue #2

Grading is a whole other issue. Teachers take a large amount of precious time in class to grading and correcting homework with students. I see three things wrong with this. Firstly, time could be better spent. Secondly, many students choose not to follow along. Finally, the pace may be too fast for some to follow and the chance that any student is internalizing why they got a problem wrong is slim to none. Instead, a teacher could fill out an answer key using the SmartBoard and Jing, and have students grade their own work at home. A strict honor policy would need to be in place and students would need to be required to make corrections obvious. Focus is then placed on mastery instead of collecting grades for the gradebook.

 

 

Issue #3

I’ve heard of a lot of creative ideas educators have come up with for keeping peace and quiet while working with a group of students at the guided reading table, this is one of them.

When students work independently, when the teacher is helping a small group or when working at centers, hands are constantly flying in the air or the teacher and her group is getting interrupted. If your classroom has iPads or a computer, one way to alleviate this issue is to record directions or examples using Jing. iPads and computers can be accessed by students independently and can often be passed around the room. Using Jing in this way could be both a time and energy saver and it requires students to become more independent.

 

 

What I Learned

            My logical mind tells me that there are many technologies I have yet to discover and learn how to use and that learning about them could lead to professional development. However, it wasn’t until now that I have discovered an application that I feel could greatly influence and improve my practice as an educator. Sure, there are websites I could use for research, lesson planning, and that I could introduce my students to but, (here comes the part that no higher-up wants to here) I already have a repertoire of digital resources and am comfortable using what I already know.

 

I have learned to use many technologies and how to incorporate them into my teaching in just a few years. But, since I haven’t had my own classroom yet, it is difficult to think about improving my practice and ditching old ideas for new ones! However, today it has truly been impressed upon me that there are still technologies worth finding because while I don’t want to be a teacher who shoves technology down her student’s throat, I want to be a teacher who can reinvent the classroom. After applications are made people discover how to use them in ways the inventor never even thought of. By synthesizing what I learn about new tools, perhaps I can discover a way to use them to transform the classroom in a way no one has thought of yet.

 

Standards Reflection

            Teachers using Jing meet ISTE-NETS-T’s standard 2, sections “a, c, and d,” by adapting a learning experience through a digital resource that can be used by students with diverse learning styles (visual, auditory) and diverse working strategies (whole group, small group, independent work) or that could be used for assessment purposes. They also meet standard 3, section “a” for demonstrating technological fluency by communicating with students using a video media format. Additionally, teachers meet standard 5, section “d” for evolves and renews classroom management in such a way that makes class time more efficient, teaching more effective and contributes to the vitality of homework.