Trying to make sense of it all in education
I launch myself onto Youtube
Having spent some time setting up the structure of my reverse learning classroom I have now truly flipped it by making my own knowledge front loading videos. The final push was that I could not find anything on the web that was just right for my class to cover the concepts of power and efficiency.
I used camtasia recorder to simultaneously capture my screen (writing onto a Smart Note) and my webcam (so adding my face to the proceedings). It took me a little time to get the section of the screen I wanted to capture correct and I also had to place a pile of books behind my screen to keep it still whilst I was recording. Yet these were minor teething issues.
For the structure of the vodcast I wanted to keep it short and too the point with; key formula, discussion and then example (s). I mapped out what I wanted to point out on paper and placed the discussion point and example question at the top of different SmartNote pages. Structured so I could go over all in one take requiring no time consuming editing – which I managed.
Camtasia recorder automatically transferred the recorded content into a camtasia editing suite in which I added a title screen and then uploaded directly onto my youtube channel. This was incredibly easy!
So here is my first video discussing power:
Here is my second video discussing efficiency:
I look back on them and already have some issues.
1) My handwriting is not great and this is accentuated by writing onto the tablet screen.
2) Why did my first video have to be at the end of MOVEMBER. I have been developing the kind of moustache which should not be seen around young children.
3) It should be displacement not distance in my deconstruction of the power formula.
Yet although I have those minor concerns I am really pleased because with the outcome because of the relative ease and the short time they can be produced in. These are the features which I need to convince me to keep on producing these vodcasts. Plus I know next time I teach this content I will do it again and it will be better (just like all teaching should be).
Awesome job, Neil!
It’s pretty cool to see how many of our cohort colleagues are discovering all various beneficial uses of screencasts after briefly touching on them in COETAIL class. I imagine for you, it may be a particularly useful tool to add to your arsenal given your success with flipping your science classroom!
I can’t suggest anything as far as the moustache goes, but as far as the handwritiing part goes, does the version of Camtasia you’re using allow you to add text into the screencast? Most only let you add text in editing, but you can place it, timing-wise, where you choose. This would definitely add time to the overall creation of your screencast, but I guess that would balance off against legibility. Or you could simply handwrite more neatly
(that’s out of the question for me!)
Congrats again and I look forward to seeing more of your screencasts!
Great work…and the more you make the videos the better you become the faster it is to make them. Pretty soon it will be faster to make the videos then to teach the content live in class…plus you stay focused which is good for both you and the students.
Keep it up and the time and improvement will come….can’t wait to see and read more about how this is working for you.