Four Great Tools for Screencasting

Screencasting is a powerful way to explain any topic to a group of people. Screencasts allows students to work independently with the ability to pause, play, rewind, and play material over and over again. There are free web based tools such as ScreenR and Screncast-O-Matic or computer software such as Quick Time Player (free on the Mac) and Camtasia (for Mac or PC) to allow users to create screen casts.

1. ScreenR (http://www.screenr.com/) is a free, easy to use, web based screen casting site that works on either a Mac or a PC. The site is user friendly and allows you to capture and record your computer screen to create screencasts up to five minutes in length.

2. Another web-based option is Screencast-o-matic.com. ( http://screencast-o-matic.com/) It  is a free, “one-click screen capture recording” that doesn’t require installation or sign-up. It allows up to 15 minutes of high definition screen-casting, with direct upload to YouTube. The site is user-friendly, and allows you to screen-capture and record yourself with a webcam at the same time. It is great for creating short, quick tutorials.

There are also several software packages you can install on your computer.

3. If you have a Mac, you can use QuickTime Pro to create screencasts.  Quick Time comes with the Mac. Use the spotlight tool to search for QuickTime Player. Tip - You must turn on the microphone the first time you use it or you won't have sound. Check out this screencast to learn how.  

The advantage to QuickTime Player is you can add the video to iMovie and jazz them up with text and music. Then upload them to your YouTube channel. From there they are easy to organize into playlists and share.

4. Camtasia is a robust program that you can purchase and download from

http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html. In addition to screen recording, you can also include video from your camera, edit the video, use tools such as an arrow to point to items on the screen, use pre-recorded themes, and easily share them.