Being able to capture a video of your screen is an incredibly valuable tool, especially so for education. The use of computers has become a foundational tool for almost every field of work, and a necessary skill for navigating modern life. Screencastify is a simple screen capture web extension that is quick and easy to learn. After just a few minutes of playing with the software, I managed to make this short video. Screencastify has a few convenient tools to assist in teaching. A toolbar is visible in my video on the bottom left of the screen that gives the creator the ability to highlight the mouse and points of interest.
There are many ways this application can be improved. The fact that the toolbar is visible to the viewer is unacceptable. It could potentially obstruct a topic of interest. Also, the fact that the toolbar is restricted to the webpage is a problem, as it would not be uncommon to be recording a lesson on a different program. Having to tab back and forth to access the toolbar would be distracting and unprofessional.
I much prefer using Nvidea Shadowplay to capture my screen, as it’s simply what I’m used to. It has hotkeys to perform actions so that the viewer isn’t distracted, but it doesn’t have the real-time highlighting tools that I found helpful in the Screencastify application. I tend to add those highlighting effects in the editing phase of video creation.
Something that teachers should value more when it comes to content creation or streaming (video calling), is the quality of the hardware they use. All too often, teachers use 480p webcams and potato microphones. Kids are on youtube and twitch, watching incredibly professional videos with high production value created by fellow children in basements. Watching unprofessional videos produced by teachers is distracting and damages the reputation of educators. Cheap USB microphones are available, as well as reasonable webcams.