Lasso That Screen - Develop Fantastic Teaching and Learning Tools

Image via CrunchBaseBy Mary M Hobbs

How many times do you wish you had the time to go over material for students who may not have been in attendance or have learning difficulties or disabilities? It is these defining moments in teaching that are frustrating to both teachers and students.

Giving students the opportunity to catch up at their own pace, in a non-threatening environment and probably familiar context, will enhance their learning and give you precious time to support them and others.

Using a video screen capture tool gives you enormous scope to demonstrate specific concepts and processes ad nauseam (and you're not even in the picture). I've only recently been introduced to this tool, and I can see numerous applications.

1. Demonstrate how to access programs or tools in Word, Excel or whatever program you are using.
2. Applying a literacy or numeracy concept or process e.g. showing addition process.
3. Accessing the internet to open and complete a task or game.
4. Constructing sentences.
5. Proof reading and editing.

How do you access these programs? An internet search will deliver a plethora of sites where you can purchase a program, get a free demo or access a free option.

Initially, I used a free screen capturing program and it served its purpose for the basic videos I developed. However, since then I have updated to a pro version to have access to more options and a higher quality output. A few tips before embarking on this new learning adventure.

• Write a script prior to starting.
• Create a story board.
• Ad libbing can be very tricky, unless you are using previously presented information.
• Change the option buttons for recording and pausing to keys you want to use on the keyboard.
• Use PAUSE often! This helps with the flow of your video and you are less likely to become flustered or lose the plot.

Why not share this device with your students? In the area of literacy and numeracy, where I work with adults, to achieve their assessment outcomes they may need to present information to the group. Using the above mentioned strategies i.e. story board or script can also be used by students to achieve assessment outcomes.

Previously I had students present information using PowerPoint, but this tool in my opinion, can be more effective. Screen capturing will allow a student to demonstrate, first hand, the process they implemented to complete a task and solutions they have used to solve problems.

These programs have an audio option. Using an inbuilt or good quality microphone will enable both yourself and students to deliver a neo-professional video.

To incorporate title and credits to the finished product I've used Microsoft Movie Maker. This program also enables me to edit the video. One word of advice, always save the video you create to a specific folder. There are still a couple of my videos floating around the ether of the Universe.

MazioCreate develops literacy and numeracy resources that can be used with a range of learners. These resources have successfully been used with students ranging in age from 16 to 64. The contextualized format is designed to engage adults and youth in real life learning opportunities where they can develop and apply their literacy and numeracy skills. If you need material that covers a specific topic, contact MazioCreate info@maziocreate.com.au and we'll work with you to achieve a high quality learning resource.

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