THE LEARNING LIBRARY

As a librarian, there are many parts of  my curriculum that require me to teach an entire grade level the same skill.  That's great in terms of testing out and revising a new lesson, because I have 20 classes in which to make changes.  However, it also means that I'm essentially teaching the same thing twenty times, and by the time I've hit class eight, I can no longer stand the sound of my own voice.  While I'm waiting for viable holograms to become available, I've learned to use screencasts for appropriate lessons.  This keeps me from having to say "Point here, now click here, now type this" 800 times, and also allows students who either miss class or need a refresher to go back and watch the screencasts on their own, as I post them on our library website and YouTube.  The screencasts also allow students progress through the lesson at their own pace (headphones are a must, however). 

 

After trying out a number of different screencasting tools, the one I settled on is Screencast-O-Matic.  The biggest benefit of this program is that it allows you to pause, rewind, and re-record if you make a mistake.  So when the second period bell rings in the middle of the recording, I can go back, cut it out, and move on rather than having to start the screencast over.  Screencast-O-Matic is web-based, so there's no software to install on your computer, which is a bonus if your district is strict about downloading programs. 

 

The best advice I can offer to anyone making a screencast is WRITE A SCRIPT.  Yes, it's extra work, but it's worth it if you want a screencast that's clear, concise, and easy to follow.  I tried making a few without a script, and they were awful to the point of having to go back and completely redo them.  The script forces me to think about what it is I really want to get across rather than just rambling.  If I get distracted in the middle of recording (which always happens), the script makes it easy to pick up exactly where I left off.  Now if I could just find someone with a lovely British accent to record the sound for me...

 

This is one of the screencasts I use to introduce students to Noodletools.  There are several more examples on my YouTube page.