Screencast-o-matic: Useful for Online Lectures, Presentations and Feedback

Screencast-o-matic is an web based screen recording tool which is applicable for all processors including Mac and Chromebook. It is an easy-to use tool to online lecture capture, oral feedback, task based learning and online tutorials

What is screencast?

Before you use any such digital screencasting tool like screencast-o-matic, it is wise to know what is meant by the term screencasting and how we, as educators might use it in our teaching context.

Screencasting is transmitting information through recording your own computer screen. As you navigate through your screen and talk, the screencast tool keeps on capturing oyur screen and voice. You can also use your webcam to build a more personalized form of screen-casting, if you like. It is even easy to create  and share multimedia presentations by screen-casting.

This is a screencast tutorial created by me using Screencast-o-matic.  Many other online tutorials on Screencast-o-matic are out there, but I recorded my own voice just to make it sound more genuine for my post today. So, as you watch it, you will get a clearer understanding about the exclusive functions of this tool and how your voice and computer screen is captured through it.

Computer mediated Communication (CMC)

CMC is actually an umbrella term used for human communication through computers.  Generally there are two types of computer-mediated communication: synchronous which means communication taking place in real time and aynchronous communication where participants do not necessarily have to be face-to-face.

This new way of sharing online discourse is beneficial and effective in any educational context. Because, levels of students' online participation has always been found to be relatively greater. It also fosters better retention. For instance, in case of speaking fluency, tools like screencast-o-matic povides optimum chances for learners to video record themselves without feeling retrained or shy. In most EFL contexts, teaching in classrooms is essentially authoritative which means learners are left with little or no scope to participate in class discussions. As a consequence, their English speaking skills are not honed properly in academic settings. Tools like Screencast-o-matic not only provides scopes for active speaking practice, it also promises valuable opportunities for online collaboration and learner autonomy.

The next section will be on a sample task using screencast-o-matic which teachers may find useful.

Sample Task 

Using authentic language as part of online communication, either as input or practice, is one of the greatest features of Screencast-o-matic. It is obvious that educators can use it for lectures, tutorials and feedback. But let's think of a task that can help our students to practice their English speaking using this tool. Students can be given a specific topic or idea based on which they will prepare a short video or audio screencast. For example, movie review is a good task which I have used several times in my classes, but only in written assignments. But using Screencast-o-matic, students can record their thoughts on any movie they want to review. Teachers can instruct learners that the video presentation should not be more than, say 3 minutes.  The good news is, if the video is less than 15 minutes, we can always use the fee version of this application. Again, to add variety and fun in the screen-cast video, students can simultaneously talk and share snippets of YouTube video, interesting memes or images of the movie scenes, screenshots of social media etc. via Screencast-o-matic. Students will then share the video in class or via, say, Facebook closed group of their class. In this way, his/her peers and teachers can view it and leave comments. This could bean amazing way o enhance online peer-collaboration. Screencast-o-matic can thus be used efficiently to foster students' English speaking skills.

Besides such interactive and engaging online activities, this tool can well be utilized to provide oral asynchronous form of feedback to students, especially advanced level ones. Teachers can show students work on screen and point the areas of improvement. I believe, if feedback is provided in this manner, students will be more sincere and careful about their assigned work.

Screencast-o-matic in Bangladeshi Context

• Can be useful for speaking practice. Students can be encouraged to use this tool autonomously.
• Teachers can create online presentations and lectures which can easily fit in the exiting learning content.  Learners can greatly benefit from such input.
• Teachers can save time by giving oral feedback on students' work i.e. written assignments. Audio feedback is often more effective for students because it allows them to reflect instantly.
• Teachers can create screen-cast tutorials for students and share online. 
• Teachers can flip their classrooms using Screencast-o-matic.

Drawbacks

• The free version does not have editing option. Therefore, it is often time-consuming to record same idea multiple times if anything goes wrong in between the first recording.
• The tool is not absolutely free. In Bangladeshi context, teachers cannot afford subscribing it. So they have to use the fre version which offers 15 minutes of recording time. Sometimes fifteen minutes may not be enough so it can pose a challenge upon teachers.

Overall, Screencast-o-matic is a useful screencasting tool for educators. Teachers can upload tutorial videos on YouTube and create their own repertoire online. Students and other teachers can be invited to watch and subscribe to his/her channel and disseminate the use of Screencast-o-matic.

Courtesy: Images have been taken from pixabay.com and the logo from Google images. The tutorial video was made by my own Screencast-o-matic account.