Creating an Effective Screencast: Design Principles & Best Practices Xiaoxia "Silvie" Huang, Ph.D. Marge Maxwell, Ph.D. School of Teacher Education Western Kentucky University

What is a Screencast? A digital movie that captures the actions taking place on a computer screen, usually with a voice narration. Screencasting as a teaching tool: –Tutorials –Demonstrations –Presentations (e.g., Narrated PowerPoint ) Screencasting & flipped classroom Screencast examples

Benefits of Screencasts Reusable content Personalized learning for students –Self-paced –Anytime, anywhere –Multiple opportunities (repeated plays of the content) –Design for engagement Sharing is made easy

Screencasting Tools Free tools Screencast-o-matic Jing Screenr Commercial Products Camtasia (Mac $99, Windows $299) Handout available online

Screencasting Process Producing & Sharing EditingRecording Planning & Scripting

Design Principles & Best Practices Focus on student needs Reduce student cognitive load Write a script before recording Think through the actions to capture (sequential steps) Ideal length: 3 minutes Planning & Scripting

Design Principles & Best Practices Clean up your browser and computer desktop Close out Apps Turn off anything that makes noise Ensure high-quality audio Speak slowly and clearly Avoid narration fillers (umm, ahh…) Practice, practice, and practice Recording

Design Principles & Best Practices Add an title Editing features –Cursor effects –Zoom –Callout –Transitions –Captioning –Audio Resist the use of “fancy” effects unless necessary –What effects will enhance learning? –What effects will distract learning? Editing

Design Principles & Best Practices Producing settings –Size –Format Sharing sites –Course management system (e.g., Moodle, Blackboard) –Blogs, wikis, or other social networking sites –Screencasting sites Producing & Sharing

Questions? Contact Xiaoxia “Silvie” Huang, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Instructional Design Marge Maxwell, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Educational Technology, Library Media Education School of Teacher Education Western Kentucky University

Credits Creating a PowerPoint Screencast Using Camtasia StudioCreating a PowerPoint Screencast Using Camtasia Studio Screencasting tips and best practices Screencasting best practices

Powerpoint and Handout available at excellence.com/aboutus/marge- maxwell excellence.com/aboutus/marge- maxwell