Screencast is a useful tool
for both the teachers and the students. It is a screen recording accompanied by
an audio commentary done by the user explaining what is happening on the screen
as it happens. It will record your mouse movements and everything you do on the
screen while you describe the process.
For the students, especially
the students who are very busy during their daytime, they may appreciate the
opportunity to go over the lessons brought by the screencast on line. Students can
review course materials outside of the classroom, at their own convenience. If
they are confused about some theory or concept, they can watch the video
several times and stop the video anytime they want to establish their
understanding. I found this structured approach very useful, in particular with
students that perhaps need special focus. What’s more, students can use the
screencast to get the access to lectures if they want to take some distance
classes. In a word, screencast provide the students an active, visual resource
outside the class. By watching screencasts enable students see every step in
great detail, and they can take note of anywhere they want.
For the teachers, screencast
offers a positive improvement. First, presenting materials in such a fashion
way can make the lesson more engaging and help the explainer adjust to
different learning styles. Secondly, the online character of screencast can
help teachers to save time in some way. After posting the screencasts online,
the students can watch them when the teacher is not available to answer their
questions. Last but not least, teachers can use screencasts to explain in
details what may be confusing to the students. Students perform well in the
class can just skip the part they know well and leave space for the other
students to learn better.
Considering it
benefits both to the teachers and the students, I would like to try to apply it
in my teaching practice appropriately in the future.
