Screencast O Matic

What makes an online video engaging?  According to a study done by Melanie Hibbert at Columbia University there are five components which make an online video appealing to students.  

1. The content of the video should directly relate to the content of the course.

2. The instructor uses a conversational tone and humor while delivering the content.

3. The content of the video is not something the students could have just read as text.

4. A high quality production.

5. The video length is 4 minutes or less.

So with all of these factors in mind I created a video showing first year teachers how to create online report cards using Edline software.  I felt this was important because there are multiple steps to this process, and while there are written directions, many teachers need these directions shown to them multiple times. 

So let me just say that was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.  When I first tried it, I didn't pay attention to the time because I thought there is no way this will take longer than 4 minutes.  Well my first attempt was 8 minutes long.  So I had to redo it, and I felt like I was rushing to keep it under 4 minutes!  

Screencast O Matic was so easy to use.  It was also super easy to upload it to youtube!  I had no idea that if you have a google account you also have a youtube channel.  I thought it would be super difficult but it really wasn't, and once it was uploaded to my youtube channel it was really simple to embed the video in the blog post...way easier than Jing!

As far as the SMAR model goes, I would place this application in the modification level.  Students could read text and directions, but by creating a screencast you are able to show them first hand what they need to know thus modifying what they had before. They are also able to rewind and watch multiple times if necessary.  T