Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Weekly Report & Reflection #11: Webcasting

     First, I would like to note that the end is near fellow class/online mates…We have all survived learning and exploring a massive amount of digital tools to enhance our learning in the academic setting as well as in our personal lives.  Congratulations guys! We finally made it.  Which tools will you continue to use after concluding the class of ADED 1P32 and what tools will be disregarded right away?

     Throughout the 11th session of ADED 1P32, we discovered how to create our own pod cast and/or screen cast.
 
     I like to think of pod casts as talk shows that mimic official radio shows (CNN).  Podcasts can be downloaded as audio files that are playable on most media devices as they seem to be a growing trend considering there are more than 3000 pod castings online since last year (CNN).  It’s an ideal idea because virtually anyone can be a podcaster that contributes to the online content of the World Wide Web!
Screen casts are another similar growing trend in the Digital Age.  Screen casts are digital recordings of a computer screen usually containing audio narration (Good, 2007).  Have you ever tried to search YouTube for a solution on how to install/uninstall software from your personal computer?  Remember when the tutorial would be a video of what your screen should look like and where your mouse should move and click on in order to solve your problem?  Those were screen casts…Although you may not have known the term for this type of video, now you do!

     After exploring the various options for creating either a podcast or a screen cast, I decided to create a screen cast.  I chose this type of cast primarily because I feel more engaged in visuals than audio, it is just my personal preference.   So after debating for a couple minutes on which service to use, either Screenr or Jing, I chose Jing because Screenr required a Java update that was giving me too many problems to correctly update it.  At the end of the day, Jing ended up being just as great of a screen casting tool as Screenr!
Jing had a very simple, user-friendly layout that was ideal for new screen casters.  The only time I needed to find a tutorial (and yes it was indeed a screencast) was when I had trouble finding the embedded coding.   
 But other than that, Jing was incredibly easy to use!

     Considering the requirements of that learning activity were very broad, I wasn’t sure what I should create as my screen cast.  I finally decided on briefly summarizing what Feedly was and how to use it.  After only one try, the final screencast I posted to my blog (see prior post) was awesome! I was so happy with the outcome… regardless of how nervous my voice sounded. 

     After using and creating a screencast, I realized that these can be used in so many ways to enhance one’s digital learning. 

     First, these are a great tool to use for MOOCs.  MOOC can be defined as Massive Open Online Courses (Angel, 2012). Screen casts provide digital citizens with a way to visually learn or engage in something.  For online courses, professors can share screen casts in order for their students to understand (more thoroughly) how to do something.  It saves time for the student as they eliminate the process of looking up YouTube tutorials on how to do a specific task on a computer. 

     Another great way to use screencasts in an academic setting is with your peers.  For example, say your group member did not know how to create a Prezi and could not find any great tutorials to help him/her… Well considering you were an expert at creating Prezis, you could easily create a 1-2 minute screen casts to show your partner how to do a specific task on Prezi.  By using visuals and audio in your screencast, this gives your partner a much better understanding of the idea that you are presenting to them.    

     After wrapping up session 11 of ADED 1P32, I was very pleased with the exploration of screencasts.  They have definitely become one of my favourite digital tools we have explored since the beginning of this course.

Item of Interest via Feedly:   HAPPY APRIL FOOLS !!! These are fantastic.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/01/best-of-april-fools-2014-roundup-list/

References

Angel, E. (2012). Massive list of MOOC resources.  Retrieved from http://www.worldofwebcast.com/post/massive-list-of-mooc-resources-lit-and-literati

CNN Video: What is Podcasting? If you cannot view the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM5lXOFD4Zg


Good, R. (2007) What is a Screencast? If you cannot view the video, go tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5e5oO1zAPw&list=PL28F3C621E2AFF39F   

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