Explore Screencasts

     I used the ShowMe app to search technology videos. The two that I have included in my post are lessons that I could use in my technology classroom. The first is a step-by-step lesson in creating QR codes. The second one is a lesson instructing others how to print a document from Word. I am not sure who created the videos, but I believe they were done by students. Both of the screencasts were effective. They were only 1-2 minutes long so the points were made quickly. I felt that I would be able to follow the instructions to complete the task described. But the QR code screencast did not use any narration which took something away from the instructional value. I also don't like how long it takes for the creator to annotate. I think time is wasted while I watch the words spell out one letter at a time. The printing screencast was better, because it combined narration, media, and annotations. Her directions were clearly spoken, she used screenshots from the computer and annotated the specific areas she was talking about.
Reflection - Exploring the screencasts was very beneficial. I really liked using ShowMe more than Educreations because I had many more examples to choose from. I was also able to enter in my own search terms instead of searching the main headings. The screencasts not only gave me a better idea of what a screencast should look like, it also gave me some great ideas of ones that I would like to create myself. I was able to see how important clear narration can be. I was also able to get better ideas of how to make the annotations work in an effective manner.