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Learn how a research-practice partnership used screencasting to promote early elementary students' mathematics learning and communication.
It is a winter day in Auburn, Maine. Twenty second-grade students in Ms. M's classroom pull out individual iPads that the school district has supplied for all students in grades K-2. Ms. M poses the following scenario and question to her students:

The school's gym teacher is introducing a new game to first and second graders. They need 91 balls to play the game. How many balls could be small, how many could be medium, and how many could be large?

Following Ms. M's instructions, the classroom buzzes with conversation as students devise answers on their iPads using Explain Everything, an app that offers each student an interactive whiteboard space for visually representing and writing their mathematics solution strategies. With flexible multimedia capabilities, the app allows students to import photos, videos, and digital modeling tools to help them think through and illustrate their answers. The app also allows students to create audiovisual recordings, or screencasts, of everything they do on their screens and say aloud as they work out their solutions.

Students in Ms. M's class make their recordings and then share them with one or two other classmates. A small group of students-Aliyah, Jessica, and Ollie (all names in this article are pseudonyms)-sit on a rug and watch Jessica's recording on her iPad. After they watch, they comment and ask each other questions. Aliyah says, "I liked that you have friendly numbers." Ollie echoes her compliment. Aliyah then continues: "You had 1 small ball ... you had 81 medium ... and 9 big. So my question is: Why is 81 the biggest number in all of them?" Jessica responds: "Well, the numbers don't have to go with certain balls ... I guess I just chose medium." Ollie then has a revelation: "Oh, I get what you did ... it's like 1 plus 9 equals 10 and then you had 81 and that was 91. I like that."

During this conversation, a researcher captures the small group's interaction on video (Figure 1). The teacher is circulating elsewhere in the classroom, observing other paired and small-group interactions and posing questions to help deepen students' mathematical thinking and reflection. Aliyah, Jessica, and Ollie are independently sharing solution strategies, observing what is unique about their approaches, and supporting each other's thinking. Through this type of mathematical exchange, they are developing a fundamental mathematical practice described by the Common Core State Standards, Mathematics (CCSS Mathematics): "Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others" (NGAC and CCSSO 2010, p. 6). These students have handouts and classroom posters with sentence starters and phrases (e.g., "This is what I noticed ..." and "I know my answer is correct because ...") to help prompt dialogue and their own self-reflection when making and reviewing their recordings. Ms. M collects all students' screencasts and can review and discuss specific recordings further with students the next day.

A Research-Practice Partnership Focused on Improving Early Mathematics Learning

This student scene, and others like it, came about through Ms. M's participation in a research-practice partnership between the Education Development Center (EDC), local mathematics education faculty from the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) and the University of Southern Maine (USM), and the Auburn School Department (ASD). Launched in early 2014, the partnership addresses low mathematics achievement in early elementary students in Auburn. (For more information on the partnership and its work, see Interactive STEM.) Auburn is a small city and former mill town in west-central Maine, where a majority (54%) of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch (NCES 2015). For many years, students entered kindergarten with significant gaps in literacy and mathematics readiness skills. In 2011 the district implemented a one-to-one iPad initiative to support more customized student instruction and to improve students' literacy and mathematics achievement scores. Although improvements were made in literacy, early elementary students' mathematics achievement scores remained low. When researchers from EDC approached ASD leaders to form a research-practice partnership (RPP), district leaders agreed to use a collaborative approach to explore the problem more deeply and develop potential solutions.

The EDC partners who helped form the Auburn RPP were part of the Research + Practice Collaboratory, a project funded by the National Science Foundation to explore new approaches to bridging the gap between research and practice in STEM education through partnerships in both school and out-of-school settings. EDC and ASD pursued a partnership approach under the theory that researchers and practitioners who collaborate closely can generate education reforms that are more sustainable and scalable than those designed by researchers or practitioners alone (Penuel et al. 2011).

Initial Collaborative Learning Among Partners

The Auburn RPP began with a team of four researchers and professional learning experts from EDC, two mathematics education faculty from UMF and USM, five ASD district administrators, three principals, and nine K-2 teachers from the three lowest-performing elementary schools in the district. The partnership organized its collaboration around the four principles of design-based implementation research (Penuel et al. 2011), which are:

1. "a focus on persistent problems of practice from multiple stakeholders' perspectives";

2. "a commitment to iterative, collaborative design";

3. "a concern with developing theory related to both classroom learning and implementation"; and

4. "a concern with developing capacity for sustaining change in systems" (p. 332).

Following these principles, the Auburn RPP identified a persistent problem of practice that partners could address together. Early elementary teachers from the district described two main challenges they faced in supporting students' mathematical learning. First, multiple teachers noted that they did not know the best ways to promote students' numerical fluency and basic number and operation skills, which were weak among students in the early elementary grades. Second, many teachers agreed that they did not have a clear understanding of what effective mathematics instruction could look like for young children when using one-to-one iPads in the classroom. To gain greater insight into these concerns, EDC researchers conducted observations of mathematics lessons in early elementary classrooms. There, they saw students typically using iPads by themselves, wearing headphones, for supplemental drill-and-practice exercises-with few opportunities to engage in rich problem-solving activities or mathematical discourse.

In response to these needs and challenges, EDC and Maine university researchers helped the district design and facilitate a 35-hour professional learning experience in summer 2014. The experience consisted of workshops and online activities (see links to sample resources here) in which all partners studied and discussed research on early mathematics learning trajectories (Clements and Sarama, 2014; Confrey, Maloney, and Corley 2014; Fosnot and Dolk 2001), research-based digital modeling apps designed to support mathematical reasoning and problem solving, and screencasting tools such as Explain Everything. Teachers then spent the fall exploring new tools and strategies in their classrooms. They documented their experiences and observations, and gathered monthly with all partners during professional learning community meetings to share and reflect on their efforts (see Appendix A in Resources).

The RPP's Research Question and Methods

Following this period of initial exploration, the partners developed a student learning strategy to coinvestigate. Multiple teachers observed that students were highly engaged when using screencasting to make audiovisual recordings of themselves solving mathematics problems. The teachers and researchers posed the following research question: If students in early grades regularly use a screencasting app such as Explain Everything to record explanations of their thinking when solving mathematics problems, will they show improvement in their mathematical problem-solving skills and communication (Figure 3)?

The teachers agreed to explore this research question together. They engaged in 30-day, iterative coinvestigation cycles in which they asked their students to use screencasting to explain, record, and review their process when completing a mathematics task. Through a strategy planning form, an online log that mirrored the questions in the strategy planning form, and regular surveys, teachers documented how they implemented this strategy with students (such as in small groups, in pairs, or individually), and how students responded to different implementation approaches. During monthly professional learning community meetings, teachers shared student screencasts and group members offered observations and ideas for further testing (see the sharing protocol that was used during group discussions and a tool that a teacher created and refined over time). Coinvestigation cycles continued through the spring, when small, school-based teams of researchers and administrators visited classrooms to help collect observation data and student media recordings. Over the summer, a new cohort of nine teachers from Auburn's three other elementary schools joined the group and coinvestigation of the screencasting strategy was extended through the following academic year. During this period, EDC researchers also conducted interviews with teachers, administrators, and researchers to gather more in-depth data on the types of changes that partners were observing in early mathematics learning due to the group's testing efforts.

Findings: Improved Mathematics Learning Among Students

Data collected through interviews with Auburn educators, classroom observations, and student screencasts suggest that the screencasting strategy supported growth in students' mathematics learning. Following regular use of the strategy, partners observed students displaying stronger mathematical reasoning and metacognition, richer mathematical communication and discourse, and more flexible mathematical thinking that can transfer to everyday, out-of-school settings. The strategy also provided more equitable opportunities for students of all backgrounds to engage in rigorous mathematical tasks. All of these outcomes are aligned with learning goals from the CCSS Mathematics.

Stronger Mathematical Reasoning and Metacognition

In interviews, multiple teachers said that based on their observations, the screencasting strategy helped students develop deeper understandings of early mathematics concepts and recognize the mathematical reasoning of others. Observations by teachers and research partners suggest that the screencasting app may have given students an engaging way to observe and reflect on their own and their peers' mathematical thinking. For example, a second-grade teacher observed that when her students reviewed others' screencasts, "They're listening to somebody else's video, so they're thinking about what the other person is doing. So, often they'll jump in [and say]: 'Oh, I can see you added the 9 and the 1 in the tenth column, and that's how you got 100,' and they start to make those connections" (interview, March 2, 2016). Another second-grade teacher reported what she heard from other teachers in the partnership: "Their students are looking at their work and they're making the corrections and they're pointing out each other's mistakes and they're doing it in a respectful way. The other teachers just seem very happy ... they're seeing this growth in their students with math" (interview, January 26, 2016). A math coach also described her thoughts about how the screencasting strategy may have helped to advance students' awareness of their own thinking and metacognition: "When they're doing their work and recording, and then they go back and listen, they can either deepen their understanding, or be reflective [as they self-correct]. They can say, 'Oh, wait a minute. I meant this.' And within that piece, [they] may also clarify a misunderstanding they may have had" (interview, January 27, 2016).

Richer Communication and Discourse

Teacher interviews and observations among partners suggest that by giving students an opportunity to express, hear, and share their own voices when solving problems, the screencasting strategy helped promote richer dialogue about mathematics. One teacher explained: "In the past, my kids have said, 'Well, this is how I did it.' Or, 'I just knew it,' and they don't discuss anymore. This year, they're having discussions and talking about their thinking and responding to others" (interview, January 26, 2016). After a semester of testing the screencasting strategy, school-based coinvestigation teams no longer saw students using their iPads with headphones to silently practice drills by themselves. Researchers more often saw students grouped around their devices, engaging in mathematical discussions. One teacher noted:

I'll find now ... students will ... just be engaging in conversation while I'm writing something up on the board and it's about a math problem. And they're arguing with each other but being really reasonable and they're doing those things that we're practicing but without that scaffold of [using] the [screencasting] video. Which I think is really the goal. I feel like the videos are a stepping stone toward just having [regular] math conversations with each other (interview, February 2, 2016).

More Equitable Mathematics Learning Opportunities for All Students

Multiple teachers and administrators observed that the recording strategy promotes greater equity in mathematics learning, because it gives all students opportunities to express and share their mathematical ideas and have their thinking heard and discussed by others. A principal observed that "you might have kids that have great thinking, but they're not able to share that because they can't read or write like their typically developing peers. So [screencasting] evens the playing field for some of those kids who struggle in other areas" (interview, February 1, 2016). A second-grade teacher noted that the recording strategy helped all her students have a voice in the classroom: "I tried [whole-group discussions] and not all students were talking. And there were definitely those students who would get lost in the shuffle ... So, what the iPad does is it forces everyone to engage in [a math] problem and everyone to talk" (interview, February 2, 2016).

Several teachers noted that the recording strategy also provided ways for English language learners, students with fine motor and writing difficulties, and students with other learning barriers to engage in mathematical discourse. A kindergarten teacher said:

With my English language learners, sometimes they don't have the language and the ability to write down what they're thinking. But if they can use this recording tool and an app, they can show it and talk about what they've done a little bit more easily than if [they were using] pencil/paper. Also, I have a very visual class this year, they have to see things and move things ... I think that it's really helpful with those types of kids" (interview, January 26, 2016).

In Ms. M's second-grade class, the recording strategy was able to draw out words from a student who had previously been nonverbal with all of his teachers. The screencast shown in Figure 6 was the first time any teacher in Auburn had heard the student's voice. The recording strategy and support from his teacher helped the student begin to speak and share his thinking more regularly with his teacher and classmates throughout the school day.

More Flexible Thinking That Transfers

Another benefit of the screencasting strategy, as well as the use of digital modeling tools to support mathematical problem solving, was increased flexibility in students' mathematical thinking and reasoning. One teacher observed:

And the way my students look at numbers ... and the way they're thinking about solving problems is a lot different than they have in years past ... Since we've done a lot of work with breaking the numbers apart and using some of those [modeling] apps and the number lines, they have multiple ways they're solving these problems, multiple ways they're answering these questions, and then they're having discussions (interview, January 26, 2016).

The increased flexibility that students demonstrated in class also transferred to problem-solving outside the classroom. A teacher relayed a story of a second-grade student who was shopping for video games with his family. His older brother in fourth grade had a certain amount of birthday money and was trying to decide what to buy. The student offered his brother three possible scenarios: "One was to buy one video game and have some money left over, another was to buy two video games and use all of his money, and a third was to buy three smaller games." His family was impressed when they realized that his calculations were correct and when he gave a thoughtful explanation of how he arrived at the scenarios. The teacher remarked: "His mom told me his reasoning made so much sense. They were amazed that he could put it all together in his head! This student benefited from the open-ended problems and the opportunity to explain and test his strategies. He is a real problem solver!" (personal communication, 2016).

Findings: Altered Practice Among Teachers

Based on teacher interviews, surveys, and classroom observations conducted by research partners, the screencasting strategy appears to have promoted positive shifts in students' mathematical outcomes not only directly, but also indirectly by prompting teachers to adopt teaching practices that research has identified as essential for supporting deeper learning in mathematics. These practices include:

a focus on eliciting and examining students' thinking;

use of rich, open tasks that promote reasoning and multiple solution strategies; and

support for productive struggle among students (Leinwand et al. 2014).

Greater Focus on Students' Thinking

The screencasting strategy helped teachers gain greater access to students' thinking and attend more carefully to students' mathematical reasoning. By regularly collecting dynamic screencasts of students' problem-solving efforts, teachers gained insights into the thinking of all their students-thinking that may not be clear in the written products or drawings of very young children or in group conversations when some students are more hesitant to speak than others (Figure 8). One teacher noted, "Before, it was one teacher and 20 students, so I didn't always get to listen to every student ... [With the screencasting tool] I can look at those students who I know are struggling and take time to review their recordings later" (interview, February 2, 2016).

Greater Use of Rich, Open Tasks

Teachers and principals observed that students gained most from the screencasting strategy, and could launch into richer conversations about their recordings, when teachers presented students with open-ended types of problems. Such problems, such as the one shown in Figure 9 or the one that Ms. M posed to her students (described at the beginning of this article), have multiple possible answers and ways of arriving at a solution (Leinwand et al. 2014). After teachers saw the high levels of thinking and discussion that emerged when students used open tasks with the screencasting strategy, they began to incorporate such tasks more regularly into their instruction.

Greater Support for Productive Struggle

A lesson that emerged for several teachers was the value of allowing students to engage in productive struggle when solving mathematics problems, which is a core standard of the CCSS Mathematics: "Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them" (NGAC and CCSSO 2010, p. 6). The screencasting strategy prompted students to record and review their own explanations when solving a mathematics problem. When students engaged in this strategy as a classroom activity, it was not feasible for teachers to provide help to every student who encountered difficulties solving the problem. The strategy therefore gave students a platform and space to tackle problems on their own, play back and hear their own (and often other students') thinking, and revise and re-record their explanations. A first-grade teacher noted that the strategy helped her realize that "productive struggle is where kids learn," as students could often figure out solutions on their own when given a safe space to persevere and self-correct after initial stumbles (interview, January 27, 2016).

Opportunities for Supporting STEM Practices in Multiple Spaces

Based on interview, survey, and classroom observation data, the screencasting strategy developed in Auburn appears to have strengthened mathematics learning among early elementary students by providing a flexible audiovisual platform for students to share their thoughts, ideas, and explanations of how they approach problems and make sense of tasks. The ease with which young learners can use screencasting to draft, review, and redraft their mathematical thinking before sharing with others may help students feel safer taking risks with problem solving and exploring mathematical ideas. Compared to more static paper-and-pencil forms of student work, the dynamic nature of screencasts may help engage students in reviewing and debating their own and other students' thinking. As media artifacts that make student thinking visible, screencasts can also help teachers focus on where students are in their understandings of mathematical concepts, and then tailor their instruction to students' needs. The use of screencasting may also help teachers recognize-as teachers did in Auburn-how all students can benefit from opportunities to wrestle with rich, open tasks both individually and in discussion with their peers.

Although the Auburn RPP focused on mathematics learning in early elementary classrooms, partners from the broader Research + Practice Collaboratory project also worked in other STEM disciplines. Insights gleaned from conversations with these partners suggest possibilities for using the screencasting strategy to support student reasoning, communication, and discourse in a variety of STEM settings, such as science. Like the CCSS Mathematics, the Next Generation Science Standards emphasize the importance of developing students' skills in argumentation and communication through the practices of Engaging in Argument From Evidence and Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information (NGSS Lead States 2013).

Screencasting also offers opportunities to connect in-school and out-of-school STEM learning. For example, studies have found that students can demonstrate strong interest and engagement in science-related activities outside of the classroom (e.g., Bricker and Bell 2014). With screencasting tools, out-of-school science educators at a summer camp or day visit to an environmental center could ask young children to record their thinking as they examine data that they or others have collected to explain a natural phenomenon (such as why some objects fall to the ground faster than others, or why some objects float or sink in water). Children could make their screencasts at the same time or in turns, depending on the number of devices available. The screencasts could be shared with family when they get home, or with other children at school. Educators in an after-school maker space could encourage children involved in an extended tinkering project to reflect on their learning in screencasts that become an electronic journal. Similar to teachers in Auburn, educators in these settings could organize sessions in which children share their recorded reflections with peers for group discussion.

Teachers in Auburn indicated that the screencasting strategy helped them see strides in student thinking that they had not been able to detect before. Screencasts have the potential to help classroom educators gain insight into STEM-related learning that students pursue outside of school. With such insights, educators may find ways to reinforce or expand upon students' outside scientific interests in the formal school curriculum. Conversely, screencasts that students make of their science work in school could be shared with out-of-school educators or family members for further discussion or extension.

The growing availability of digital devices with screencasting capabilities, and the appeal that screencasting can hold for young learners, suggests that screencasting may be a powerful tool for supporting the development of important disciplinary practices in multiple STEM fields in early elementary grades. Future research could explore screencasting's potential to support student learning at later grade levels, in science or engineering classrooms, and in after-school spaces. Following a collaborative approach such as the one used in Auburn, future researchers and educators could also explore possible ways in which screencasting can help students and their teachers see, connect, and strengthen STEM learning across in- and out-of-school settings.

Acknowledgment

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (grant DRL-1238253). Opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.

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A Screencasting Strategy to Support STEM Learning in the Early Grades | Connected Science Learning

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Learn how a research-practice partnership used screencasting to promote early elementary students' mathematics learning and communication. It is a winter day in Auburn, Maine. Twenty second-grade students in Ms. M's classroom pull out individual iPads that the school district has supplied for all students in grades K-2.

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6 Ways to Use Screencasting in the Classroom

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6 Ways to Use Screencasting in the Classroom | Piktochart Visual Editor

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Classroom Video Ideas | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Classroom Video Ideas | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Classroom Video Ideas | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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A collection of ideas, use cases, and activities involving Screencastify specifically for teachers and students. Crowdsourced by educators around the world.

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Screencasting tools are a popular option for use in schools. At their most basic they allow you to record a video of what is on your computer screen, along with your voice, and depending on the program perhaps your webcam as well. Some may go further to provide you with annotation tools to write on or highlight portions of the screen while recording.

There are many tools and programs that can be used for screencasting, and better yet, there are many ways for students and educators to use such tools for teaching and learning.

In this blog post we are going to take a look at seven creative activities that can be done with screencasting. Although these activities can likely be done with many of the common screencasting tools available, for the demonstrations I have included here I will be using the free Screencastify Chrome web extension.

See below for a detailed tutorial video as well as seven examples of how your students and you can spice up learning with screencasting!

Tutorial Video (1 hour)

Below is the full 1-hour training video on " Super Screencastify Activities for Schools". You can watch the entire video below, or further down in this post you can watch shorter portions of the video explaining each of the seven ways to use screencasting in your classroom.

1) Instructional Videos

We will start off with what is probably the most common use of screencasting, which is to create videos to teach a concept. These could be videos to teach students subject content, how to solve a problem, introduce a new topic, or such. Or these could be videos for teachers instead, such as technology tutorials on how to use the latest features of Google Classroom. Whatever the case, there are several benefits to using screencasting to make instructional videos:

Flipping - Students can watch these instructional videos outside of traditional class time to prepare for the more hands-on application work they will do in class.

Remediation - Students the need extra help can watch videos to gain more instruction, with the option to rewind and rewatch as needed.

Enrichment - Students that are ready for additional content or challenges can use your recorded screencasts to extend their learning.

Differentiation - There is only one of you, but there can be loads of videos you have created, allowing students to explore different content as needed or desired.

Independence - With recorded screencasts students and teachers can get help on their own initiative and on their own time, without having to get face to face help for everything.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for instructional videos:

2) Narrating Slideshows

One of the most common questions I get concerning Google Slides is if users can record their voice to add narration to the presentation. Unfortunately Slides does not currently offer an option to record and embed audio. However, screencasting can be used to record a video of the slideshow along with you speaking.

This could be used in several scenarios:
Whatever the purpose, here are a few tips to make the narration successful:

First, use the "Publish to the web" option to run the slideshow full-tab.

To do this, click "File" then "Publish to the web" then "Publish".

You will now get a link for the presentation.

Copy that link and then paste it into the URL bar in a new browser tab.

The slideshow will now display in presentation mode filling up the entire browser tab.

You can now record your screencast while speaking and clicking through the presentation.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to narrate a slideshow:

3) Explain Student Understanding

When assessing student learning we try to discover what student understand and where their misconceptions are. Sometimes this can be a challenge when simply looking at a written answer on a worksheet. How much better to allow the student to explain what they know in their own words. Screencasting can be a great way for students to express their understanding.

A student can record themselves:

Sharing their thoughts on the latest chapter they read in the class novel.

Working out a math problem on a virtual whiteboard while talking through the steps.

Summarizing what they learning in today's lesson.

Explaining the main points of the essay, story, or report that wrote.

In each case you will be able to get a much clearer picture of what the student understands, identify misunderstandings, and move into higher-level Bloom's skills. This also can help address cheating concerns that are so common when working in a digital environment. It may be easy to copy the answers to a multiple-choice assessment, but it is more difficult to cheat if the assignment is to explain something on video in your own words. For more resources, see my post on " Addressing student cheating in Google Apps".
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for students to explain their understanding:

A fun activity for screencasting is to take an existing video, mute the audio, and then re-record the video with your own narration. Dubbing a video can be used for many educational activities including:

Practice translation - Students can take a video in a foreign language and speak the dialog in their own language, or vice versa they can take a video in their native language and speak it in a language they are learning.

Interpret a story - Students could act out a scene from a movie or show verbatim. This would give them the opportunity to act out the text to express their understanding of the story.

Reinterpret a story - Or students could rewrite the original dialog in more modern language, or in simpler terms, or just in a new style. Again this would allow them to show their understanding of the purpose and themes of the original story. For example, they could write contemporary dialog for Hamlet.

Tell a whole new story - Or students could be totally creative and make up a completely new story, replacing the original dialog with a new narrative that fits the actions being shown on screen.

Create commentary - Finally students could make their own commentary track for a video. This could be them describing what is happening, or offering their critique, telling a historical backstory, or explaining a scientific concept that can be seen in the video

Whatever the reason, there are a few steps to consider when doing a dubbing activity for best results:

Pay the video full tab.

Set a start and stop time, if needed.

Mute the audio of the video, so only you will be heard.

For details on the technical steps needed to do all of that, see my earlier blog post on " Video Dubbing Learning Activities for Students"
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to dub a video:

5) Give a Speech or Performance

Standing up in front of a class or group of students to give a speech, sing a song, or play an instrument can be a very stressful situation for students. It is very easy for their nerves to get in the way so that the student's performance is a poor representation of what they really know. One option to help with this is to allow students to record themselves with a screencast.

Although we often think of screencasting as recording your screen, most tools will also allow you to just record your webcam. Students can record themselves giving their speech or performing their music in the privacy of their own home. This can have several benefits:

The student will be much less nervous you will get a more accurate measure of what they know or can do.

The student will likely do the recording multiple times to get it perfect, encouraging lots of practice and repetition.

The student will likely gain confidence, as the screencast serves as a stepping stone to presenting live eventually.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for a student to give a speech or performance:

Another useful way to use screencasting is for a student to practice their reading fluency. As a teacher you can provide your student with a Google Doc or a website that has the text they need to read. The student can then record the text on the screen, along with their voice as they practice reading the content. This could be useful for young students still learning to read, as well as ELL students or students learning a world language.

A great benefit of this is the ability of the teacher to listen and re-listen to the recording as much as needed to identify errors and needs. Additionally since the recording is digital, it will be easy to share it with other colleagues for their input, or to play for parents to show student progress.

For more resources on technology tools for world language fluency see my post " 5 Fantastic Fluency Tools for Speaking World Languages".

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for a student to practice fluency:

A final example activity for screencasting is to provide more personalized feedback on student work. This can be a teacher giving feedback to a student, or it could be students giving peer feedback on student work. Feedback is such a critical part of the revision process, but often gets left out due to the amount of time it can take.

However, by using a screencast, you can simply record the screen with the student's work displayed, and then talk as you explain the strengths of the work and what needs improvement, pointing things out with the mouse or by highlighting. When done, a link to the recording can be pasted into the student's document so they can simply click the link to view your personal video feedback.

For more resources on feedback options for student work, see my post on " Four Fantastic Feedback Tools for Google Docs".

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to provide feedback:

As mentioned before, there are many tools that can be used for screencasting. Chances are that the activities described above could be accomplished with many of these tools. However, one tool I would certainly recommend for students and teachers is Screencastify for several reasons:

Screencastify has a free version that will do everything you need.

With the free version you can record up to 10 minutes at a time.

You can record your entire desktop, a tab in your browser, and/or your webcam.

It includes annotation tools that can be used during the recording.

When done, the video can be saved automatically to your Google Drive, but can also be downloaded to your computer or uploaded to YouTube.

To use Screencastify do the following:
Begin by installing the Screencastify extension from the Chrome Web Store: Chrome Web Store link

Note: Because this is a Chrome Extensions, you need to be using Chrome on a PC, Mac, or Chromebook to be able to use this tool.

After installing the extension, click on its icon once to set up its one-time initial configuration. Screencastify will ask for three permissions to be set.

First, Screencastify will ask for permission to use your webcam and microphone, which you will need to allow.

Next, it will ask where to save your videos. I recommend having the videos saved to Google Drive since you have unlimited storage in Google Apps for Education and the videos are easy to share with others. When asked, you will need to give permission for Screencastify to save to your Drive.

For the last permission, it will ask to be able to record your browser tabs.

Screencastify is now setup and ready for use!
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses how to install and configure Screencastify:

Conclusion

Screencasting is an easy tool that can have a powerful impact on learning. Although it can be used for instructional videos, it is much more versatile and can lend itself to a variety of student projects for creativity and communication.

How else have you and your students used screencasting tools in school? Please share your ideas and experiences in the comments below.

Post by Eric Curts. Connect with Eric on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

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7 Super Screencasting Activities for School

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Screencasting tools are a popular option for use in schools. At their most basic they allow you to record a video of what is on your computer screen, along with your voice, and depending on the program perhaps your webcam as well.

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I am going to screencast my vocab lists.   Rather than spend class time working through pronunciation and discussing usage, I will be posting these to my Classroom.

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I am going to screencast my vocab lists.   Rather than spend class time working through pronunciation and discussing usage, I will be posting these to my Classroom.

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Years ago, as a middle school math teacher, I had a dilemma. My 51 minute math classes had been shortened to 43 minutes. As any teacher knows, this is a big deal. After wrestling with a lot of ideas for how to handle here's what I landed on:

Each day, during my planning period, I pressed record in a screencasting program called Jing, stepped up to the SmartBoard and went over the day's homework as if my class was there. (I'm sure I looked like I had lost my marbles to any passerby) I did it quickly, forcing myself to keep it under 5 minutes. Any longer would mean 2 things: my assignment was too long and I was using to much class time to explain content that my students had already done.

The next day, I would play that video while taking attendance, checking to see who did their homework and meeting with any students who had been absent. This allowed me to combine two sets of things that I had previously done-going over the homework and doing the beginning of class teacher stuff-at once. It made up for those 8 lost minutes, and then some.
Nowadays, my philosophies about homework and classrooms where all students are doing the same thing at the same time has changed, so I wouldn't repeat this format. However, I think these recordings would still be valuable in a blended learning setting. When students finish certain assignments, they could view the videos to self-assess and learn more. Learning Management Systems and websites really open up the possibilities on this.
Here's a sample of one of these videos:

Published by

Jake Miller

Jake is a Google for Education Certified Trainer and is the Lead Technology Integration Specialist for Brady Middle School in Ohio's Orange City Schools. In the past he taught STEM, Science & Math in Stow-Munroe Falls, Ohio, where he was also a leader in the district's Technology Leadership Team and a co-advisor for the middle school's STEM Club. He has been an educator since 2003. His Bachelor's Degree is in middle-level education (math/science) from the University of Akron and his Master's Degree is in Instructional Technology from Kent State University. He has enjoyed providing more than 100 professional development opportunities at conferences and school districts across the state of Ohio. He is very involved in Twitter (@JakeMillerTech) and provides regular pointers for educators with his #GAFETip tweets. View all posts by Jake Miller

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Years ago, as a middle school math teacher, I had a dilemma. My 51 minute math classes had been shortened to 43 minutes. As any teacher knows, this is a big deal.

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The Ultimate Screencasting Guide for Teachers and Students | Heather Wolpert-Gawron

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The Ultimate Screencasting Guide for Teachers and Students | Heather Wolpert-Gawron

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Lately, I've been getting really deep into Screencasting, in particular for my English Language Learners and special ed students. I know it's been around, and we've all heard about it, but finding resources out there that make it concrete can be hard.

So what is Screencasting?

Screencasting is a digital recording, also known as video screen capture, that also includes audio. According to Kathy Schrock, "Screencasting is the capture all of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating."

Why Use Screencasting?

There are many reasons to use screencasts in your teaching and assessing. Screencasts...

Add a personal touch to your online lessons

Add a more visual approach to text-based assignments

Help to highlight text and illustrate topics

Provide 24/7 models

Encourage more independent learning

Differentiated Assessment of Content Knowledge

Help to Provide Quicker and Richer Feedback

Humanize the Teacher

Help a teacher to learn students quicker

Share skills/tools with other teachers

Provide Engaging Opportunities for Informal Assessment

In particular, screencasting helps to address some of the needs of our EL and SPED populations because it...

Provides more visual lesson delivery

Helps to model fluency

Incorporates Multi-modal elements into lessons

Focuses on engagement

Supports the standards of Listening and Speaking

Allows for some student control over the pacing of their learning

How Do You Use Screencasting in the Classroom?

Vehicles for Assignments/Flipped Model - Here's a annotated screenshot of one of my flipped assignments:

How to Guides - Here's one I whipped together to help my staff learn about Google Voice Typing.

Feedback for Student Work - I find that it's far easier to give feedback verbally than with any color pen. Therefore, my feedback is richer and more individualized for each student.

Maintaining an Archive of Skills - I keep my videos embedded on my class agenda next to related bullet points on the syllabus. That way, students can review concepts about things such as "How To Use Easy Bib in Google Docs" or "How to Sign Into Tinkercad."

Student> Student Feedback: I have students read a peer's essay that was written on a Google Doc, then record a screencast walking through it step-by-step, sharing their thoughts - both positive and critical - as they go. They then create a link to their recording and insert it into a comment box off the same Google Doc.

Informal Assessment about Your Content Area: Adelyn

Informal Assessments in Oral Fluency - Ivan teaching about the parts of a 3D printer

Brainstorming - For our EL learners, sometimes speaking their thoughts prior to writing them down is an easier first step. Have students talk about your content area and then have them transcribe and revise their thoughts into a more formal written assignment.

9 Norms of Screencasting

Although I've never found a definitive list, I thought I'd compile just some of the things I tell students and also remind myself prior to recording a screencast:

1. Plan - Outline, Mindmap - It's important to develop an outline or mindmap that might help you get down your basic thoughts together prior to recording. Although I'm not a huge fan of having kids read directly from a page, they also don't want to wing it entirely. Sometimes chunking your ideas onto the pages of a slideshow helps. Some might want to use a visual tool like Storyboard That! to help develop a digital storyboard to help plan.

2. Rehearse - Again, while I tend to like the informal tone in many screencasts, I also don't believe in something that's totally off the cuff.

3. Look Out Behind You! - I've seen naked siblings run across the background of a room. I've seen parents walk in yelling to get in the shower. Know what's going on in the house and prepare your area. Make your bed.

4. Watch What You are Wearing - If you are recording something at home (or if we're video conferencing with me during online office hours, for that matter), students have to be wearing appropriate clothes. Actually, my two rules are, "No pajamas and I never want you to show the camera your cat's butt." Students do weird things when they're excited with something new.

5. Set a Time Limit - In terms of how long, this depends on your purpose. Is it an exit card? :15-:30- seconds. Is it a book report? 3-5 minutes. Less is more. I'm looking for efficient responses as well as fluent ones.

6. Warn Others That You are Recording - Inform others that there will be a camera on in the house for an assignment. Let them know the space that that camera can see or that you will need quiet for X-amount of time. I have a spinning "on air" light that I put just inside the door of the classroom that adjoins mine. It tells my colleague not to come in and grab her salad out of the fridge for a couple of minutes.

7. Look at the camera - Make sure if you are reading cue cards that they are positioned such that your eyes are looking towards the camera. It's more personable for your viewer. It's just another reason to get in the habit of using bullet points, rather than a full script. You don't want your eyes to get trapped to the page.

8. Edit ums and ers - If you're using a program like iMovie or WeVideo, you can easily edit out glitches and vocal slow-downs. It's not always necessary, but there are programs out there to perfect your screencast if you want.

9. Watch it in its entirety before posting - I tell my students that I cannot be the first one to watch their screencast. I've had kids turn in videos of only the view of their eyebrows moving. "Proofread" your work.

What are Different Screencasting Programs?

There are many screencast programs out there, and I've tried a lot of 'em. Here are those I recommend for different reasons:

Screencast-o-matic - clunky but free.

Google Hangout - free and can you can include multiple people in on the fun

OneNote - Microsoft's product

Screenflow - paid, but affordable, user-friendly, and sexier

Screencastify - this is free through the Chrome web store and it's the one I use primarily with the students at school

Screencasting is an engaging strategy focused on communication that embraces both the student voice and technology. We all know that if a student isn't engaged, then that student will not be learning as deeply as they can be. Screencasting has allowed me to encourage more independent learning and personalized assessment.

So how can you use screencasting in your own practice?

Posted in: Curriculum, Educational Policy, Educational Technology

Tagged: Ed Tech, education, EL, k12, middle school, personalized learning, screencasting, special ed, visual learning

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The Ultimate Screencasting Guide for Teachers and Students

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Lately, I've been getting really deep into Screencasting, in particular for my English Language Learners and special ed students. I know it's been around, and we've all heard about it, but finding resources out there that make it concrete can be hard. So what is Screencasting?

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7 Classroom Screencasting Activities | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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7 Classroom Screencasting Activities | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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7 Classroom Screencasting Activities | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Back in January, our friend Eric Curts of Control Alt Achieve created a fantastic 1 hour training video in which he explained seven creative ways to use Screencastify in the classroom. If you're a teacher who already uses Screencastify to create flipped learning videos and are looking for more ways to engage your students using screencast, Eric's video is the place to start.

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Benefits of Screencasting for Teachers and Students - Atomi Systems, Inc.

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Benefits of Screencasting for Teachers and Students - Atomi Systems, Inc.

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(Last Updated: October 27, 2017)

As you may know, screencasting is the act of recording a video which captures everything on the screen at a given time. The video you get is a screencast. It can contain objects like text, images, audios, and even mouse movements . There are now many screencasting tools (also screen recording tools) out there. Out of them, Adobe Captivate and ActivePresenter are typical applications.

In previous articles, I showed you advantages of screencasting to improve customer retention . As a consequence, it is only a matter of time before your profitability increases . Today, let's find out top reasons why teachers and students can also enjoy screencasts.
Screencasting is a good way to create engaging learning contents.
Screencasting gives learning a whole new lease of life. Gone are the days when students had to attend in-person lectures and drop-in workshops for gaining knowledge. Now, they can stay at home and take online courses, even from top universities. Moreover, it is possible to download video lessons to review offline. We no longer need to spend much time commuting or need teachers as before.

Screencasting also helps teachers, trainers, and the like save more time and effort. For example, a teacher uses a screencast to deliver some contents that he doesn't want to cover during class. Or, an instructor records videos to upload new lessons on his YouTube channel. This is an effective way to get more video views and attract more learners as well.

Now, let's dive deep into benefits of screencasting for teachers and students. Keep reading since you will find a 3-in-1 tool to design professional eLearning courses at the end.

Benefits of Screencasting for Teachers
It has never been easier to create screencasts with screen recording tools.

In flipped learning, the teacher early on uses a screen recording tool to make a video. Then, share the video with his learners. Students have to watch the video before coming to class. Meanwhile, class time is for discussing and doing problem-solving activities. The students thus have a deeper understanding of the lesson.

Blended learning involves online and traditional face-to-face instruction. The teacher provides online learning materials to his students. Then, the students use these resources to review and enhance their knowledge base. Note that online resources don't replace face-to-face teaching here.

Online learning (also eLearning) is different. In this case, learners take a course without meeting a teacher in a classroom setting. They can study at home or wherever they want with a computer and an Internet connection. Using eLearning authoring tools, educators create online courses with ease.

There are four main types of learners: visual, auditory, read-write, and kinesthetic. Oral and text-based teaching approaches suit auditory and read-write learners. But, they aren't effective for visual and kinesthetic ones. Then, teachers need to look for a solution to engage all learners. This is where screencasting can help.

Screencasts support learning and teaching. They contain audios, images, closed captions, voiceovers, interactive elements, and other visual cues. These things are beneficial to students who prefer learning through seeing and practicing. With the help of screencasts, the emergence of the Internet and the ever-increasing ease of access to web, many teaching trends come to life. Flipped learning, blending learning, and online learning are good examples. They have been all changing the teacher " into a more facilitative role ".

It's easy to see that screencasting plays an important role in all these teaching methods. It is an ideal choice to describe step-to-step processes and explain complex concepts . Or, assign videos as homework and collect learners' feedbacks. Besides these benefits, teachers can make money from sharing screencasts and interactive tutorials. According to a 2015 article in The Atlantic, a vast number of digital teachers earned six figures for creating top-selling online materials.

Benefits of Screencasting for Students
Using screencasts, students can learn anytime, anywhere.

Screencasts give students a combined audio-visual learning environment. They are useful to those who learn best through seeing rather than hearing or reading.

Screencasts help improve self-study. There are a large number of free screencasts on YouTube, Khan Academy, Lynda, and so on.

Screencasts allow students to learn by examples. For instance, see a step-by-step procedure in detail or easily understand a technical term through a simulation.

With screencasts, students become more proactive. They can learn at their own pace: watch, pause, or replay videos whenever they want. There's no need to get up early, get dressed, take a bus, you name it. Comfort is a great benefit!

Screencasts help improve students' attention and retention, compared to classroom and text-based learning.

Screencasts offer students 24/7 online access to knowledge. Learn anywhere and easy to review lessons before tests and exams.

Also, students create their own screencasts to prove what they understand. Or, record a video to share their ideas with the teacher.

As mentioned above, we, as students, don't need teachers or tutors in the same way anymore. Although a student may need some help from his teacher, he can study by himself with online tutorials. No matter what he studies, he may get from his computer better than going to class.

In case you missed it: screencasts have brought countless educational opportunities for people all over the world. They are very meaningful for those who didn't have access to a school or an educational institution in the past. The Khan Academy, for example, now provides over 6,000 screencasts on various subjects. Every month over 10 million students use those screencasts (see Screencasts. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo ).

Here is a list of advantages of screencasting for students:

So, What is the Best Tool to Create Screencasts?

To create screencasts, one of the basic things you need is a screencasting tool. Although there is a wide array of screen recording applications in the market, I highly recommend you to try ActivePresenter.

ActivePresenter is not just a screencasting tool, but a 3-in-1 one. That is, you can work with this app to record screen, edit recorded videos, and design eLearning contents. Almost everything will be done using ActivePresenter only.

No matter who you are - a teacher, an educator, a trainer, or even a student - ActivePresenter comes in handy. Record everything on screen , from a certain window to the full screen. Capture in the custom or full-screen mode. Record audio and narration. Insert any type of annotations like closed caption , background music , and smart shapes . Add a lot of interactive objects and . The list goes on. This is the best app to integrate screencasts with your eLearning courses.

For more information about how to create screencasts with ActivePresenter, refer to:

The best is yet to come!

. With this new version, the app will support so many powerful new features to create screencasts and design eLearning contents. If you still don't know what's new in ActivePresenter 7, check out the ActivePresenter 7 will be available soon ActivePresenter 7 New Features and Enhancements series:

Now it's your turn. Download ActivePresenter 6 today, and create your first screencast. Don't forget to follow our and ActivePresenter community to get updates about ActivePresenter 7.

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Benefits of Screencasting for Teachers and Students - Atomi Systems, Inc.

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(Last Updated: October 27, 2017) As you may know, screencasting is the act of recording a video which captures everything on the screen at a given time. The video you get is a screencast. It can contain objects like text, images, audios, and even mouse movements .

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Screencasting - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything

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Screencasting - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything

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Screencasting is the capture all of the action on a computer screen while you are narrating. Screencasts can be made with many tools and are often used to create a tutorial or showcase student...

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3 Screencastify Features You (Probably) Didn’t Know About – Jake Miller

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3 Screencastify Features You (Probably) Didn’t Know About – Jake Miller

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Screencastify is my favorite "lightweight" screen recording tool. I prefer it because 1) it works on Chromebooks, 2) it syncs to Drive and 3) it has all 3 important options (webcam, screen and webcam + screen). Recently, I discovered 3 features that I hadn't realized were there - and I'm guessing you hadn't either. So, here we go!

1. Move, Resize & toggle the webcam

I believe that including webcam video in a screencast is best practice. However, it doesn't need to be there for the entire video and sometimes it gets in the way. So, in Screencastify's Tab Recording mode, it's super convenient that you can toggle the webcam off, resize it and move it - mid-recording! You can also flip the camera, which is nice if you need to hold up something with text on it or, you know, if you have a non-symmetrical hairstyle. 🤪 Note that (currently) you cannot customize your webcam in Desktop Recording Mode.

2. Cursor effects

If you're recording a tutorial on your computer, cursor effects-like click animations or highlighting the cursor-are essential. They're available in both Desktop and Tab Recording Mode.

3. Switch tabs

Tab Recording Mode is nice for a number of reasons: it lets you reference things "off camera," lets you customize the webcam window (see above), creates smaller file sizes and lets your computer run more smoothly. But, what if you realize that you need to record a different tab mid-video? Just click on the extension and select "Record This Tab."

Note: I learned of many of these features on Screencastify's blog.

Published by

Jake Miller

Jake is the host of the Educational Duct Tape podcast, the #EduGIF Guy, a Tech Integration Coach, speaker, Former STEM, Math & Science Teacher, and a presenter. View all posts by Jake Miller

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3 Screencastify Features You (Probably) Didn't Know About

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Screencastify is my favorite "lightweight" screen recording tool. I prefer it because 1) it works on Chromebooks, 2) it syncs to Drive and 3) it has all 3 important options (webcam, screen and webcam + screen). Recently, I discovered 3 features that I hadn't realized were there - and I'm guessing you hadn't either.

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22 Million Stories: The 2017-18 School Year in Review | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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22 Million Stories: The 2017-18 School Year in Review | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Here's a fun fact: 22 million videos were created with Screencastify during the 2017-18 school year 🤩

If that doesn't impress you, try these on for size:

Screencastifiers have recorded one video per second since September 1, 2017

If you watched all the videos one after another, it would take you 245 years (no bathroom breaks) 🚽

You'd need more than 160,000 Chromebooks to store all the videos

The education world should be proud.

Those 22 million videos are more than just a cool stat. They're an indicator of a more effective and equal education system.

No matter your learning style, speed or environment, video-based instruction empowers students to learn at their own pace, in their own way. And we're humbled to be a part of that.

Ah, the memories we've made 🧡

As the school year ends and teachers and students are greeted with some well-deserved time off, we thought it'd be fun to look back at some of our favorite ways you all have used Screencastify in the classroom.

We saw people screencasting in the hallways, principals office, gym, music room, playground and more! You all never cease to amaze us with your creativity and passion.

So without further ado, here are our favorite 2017-18 memories! If we missed one, let us know on Twitter and we'll add it to the list.

The thrill of your first ever Screencastify recording!

Screencastify and Stop-Motion: a match made in heaven

Mini-lessons = MAJOR impact

Who says you need to be at a desk to use Screencastify?

Hmm, I wonder what that project was...

Working on a fun project for @Screencastify right now! 🎬 More details to come ...

Gotta love getting work done in pajama pants! 👖👖👖 pic.twitter.com/26NSc1VdKo

- Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) February 19, 2018

Even if you're not in class, your Screencastify video can be

Take a trip across the country with Lewis and Clark 🚂

Young advertisers!

2nd graders learning French. Bon travail! 🇫🇷

***PROUD TEACHER ALERT*** 7yr old Gr2 Ss @StBenedictOCSB downloaded, installed, and managed @Screencastify extension on their Chromebooks 2 use 4 French explanatory activities! Let's leverage Ss VOICE! @OCSB_LT #ocsbLT #ocsb #ocsbDL #ocsbFSL @scurtismyers pic.twitter.com/B1AxWwccgh

- Julian Daher (@mrjdaher) April 17, 2018

Recording a digital notepad makes thinking visible

Making school announcements more personal

Minecraft in class? Yes please!

Jake discovered some lesser-known-but-super-cool features!

Did you know that @Screencastify could do this!? Cursor highlight, click highlight and cursor hiding! #studentcentered #studentvoice #langchat #musedchat #stemchat #scichat #elachat #litchat #engchat #EduGIFs #screencast https://t.co/d9X6DdEVnL pic.twitter.com/t2oA5NzU8D

- Jake Miller (@JakeMillerTech) May 9, 2018

Musical screencasts 🎶

Get your class up and running in 30 minutes or less

@ms_enrightYC class felt spontaneous today. Downloaded and presented @Screencastify in a matter of 30 minutes! Way to go! #edtech #d45learn4life @D45YorkCenter pic.twitter.com/bBWlRqVTTO

- Melissa Guido (@mguido21) April 9, 2018

Bringing poems to life

FrACTION! ➗

Refine those presentation skills on video

It's never too early to get reflective

Let the students be teachers!

We're sold!

A tool for learning about tools...toolception

We should probably hire Ella 📈

Learn -> Record -> Narrate -> Share -> Repeat

Check out these nifty 2nd graders!

More frACTION

Let's be serious...but not TOO serious

Get your Greek on! 🏛

Two languages, but many more memories

We've got some young Oprah's over here!

Who can write a Screencastify rap for us?

Use BeastBox with Screencastify. Students create a rap to go with their beats, and the rap is focused on sharing animal content (as part of animal research). Students record their voices while beats play on the computer using @Screencastify . https://t.co/QhExvcXGRB

- Stuart Chandler (@ChandlerStu) March 7, 2018

Let's hear your best radio voice...🎙

I just used @Screencastify for the first time and I love it. It's so easy to quickly record a video and post it to your classroom. I used it to answer questions and give general #Feedback to my class on a research paper. Just need to work on my RAdio VOIce...

- Mr Borgman (@MrBorgman) March 6, 2018

Step right in to my virtual home 🏠

Screencasting as they're learning to read...wow!

Authors (and narrators) of their own destiny

#studentsteachingstudents

Looks like the Screencastify dream team

More reflections

Graphic design students used @Screencastify to submit self-reflections on a recent project. Students had to justify and analyze their project by creating a short video.
Thank you, @stephj914 for not being afraid to try new ways to support learning. #BeLRHS pic.twitter.com/QRNzO38RzK

- LRHS Wildcats (@LRHSWildcats) February 9, 2018

Do re mi fa so la ti do...

How Stella got her feedback

I have seen where some teachers are using @Screencastify to read through students work and leave voice comments! Talk about personalized feedback! #saskedchat

- Stella Pollard (@Stella_Pollard) February 2, 2018

Get out and SCREENCAST! 🌳

1, 2, 3, 4...integer raps? Give us more!

Using @Screencastify 2 record our integer Raps today! How creative are my Ss- give them options and everyone wins & #learningisfun!! 🎧🎤🎼🎬 #lovewhatyoudo #npspride @kwinsper @gregkulowiec @NortonMiddle pic.twitter.com/efxeHZnPf9

- Amanda Banks (@ABanksNMS) January 29, 2018

What if maps could talk? 🗺

Screencasters as far as the eye can see 👀

More principal messages

Storytelling is what it's all about

The best story is your autobiography

Love how these kids are so animated recording their life stories! Google Classroom + @Screencastify + sharing vids on @Padlet! #autobiography #YouTubers @NISDWanke #NISDInspired @nisdelemelar 🎤🎧🎬 pic.twitter.com/9ABSvKjEYV

- Elizabeth Robles (@TechCoachRobles) November 14, 2017

Amazing mentorship

We'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to all the teachers who have shared so much with us this year (and to all you dedicated readers who have made it to the end of this post). Keep sending us your pictures and videos on Twitter @Screencastify - we love seeing them.

Here's to another successful school year, and have a wonderful summer!

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22 Million Stories: The 2017-18 School Year in Review | Screencastify Screen Recorder for Chrome

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Here's a fun fact: 22 million videos were created with Screencastify during the 2017-18 school year 🤩 If that doesn't impress you, try these on for size: Screencastifiers have recorded one video per second since September 1, 2017 If you watched all the videos one after another, it would take you 245 years (no bathroom breaks) 🚽 You'd need more than 160,000 Chromebooks to store all the videos The education world should be proud.

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Practice Speeches in Screencastify – Jake Miller

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Practice Speeches in Screencastify – Jake Miller

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Giving speeches or presentations in front of their peers can be a really nerve-wrecking activity for students. We often encourage them to practice, but . . . what's practice without reflection and self-assessment?

Students can use the free Google Chrome extension Screencastify to record themselves giving their speech or presentation. Then, they can view that recording and reflect on how they did.

Screencastify automatically saves to their Google Drive and is not public, unless the student chooses to upload to YouTube or share the Google Drive file.

The steps:

1. Install the Chrome Extension.

2. Click on the extension and follow the prompts to set it up.

3. When ready, click on the extension to record.

4. Select Desktop (recording entire screen), Tab (recording just the current tab, even if you navigate away from it) or Cam (recording only the camera). If doing Desktop or Tab, decide if you want the webcam on or not.

5. Click Record and start talking!

6. Click stop and then watch your masterpiece. Remember that it's also saved in your Google Drive in a "Screencastify" folder.

Published by

Jake Miller

Jake is a Google for Education Certified Trainer and is the Lead Technology Integration Specialist for Brady Middle School in Ohio's Orange City Schools. In the past he taught STEM, Science & Math in Stow-Munroe Falls, Ohio, where he was also a leader in the district's Technology Leadership Team and a co-advisor for the middle school's STEM Club. He has been an educator since 2003. His Bachelor's Degree is in middle-level education (math/science) from the University of Akron and his Master's Degree is in Instructional Technology from Kent State University. He has enjoyed providing more than 100 professional development opportunities at conferences and school districts across the state of Ohio. He is very involved in Twitter (@JakeMillerTech) and provides regular pointers for educators with his #GAFETip tweets. View all posts by Jake Miller

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Giving speeches or presentations in front of their peers can be a really nerve-wrecking activity for students. We often encourage them to practice, but . . . what's practice without reflection and self-assessment? Students can use the free Google Chrome extension Screencastify to record themselves giving their speech or presentation.