Cool Tools Screencast Reflection

My Cool Tool Screencast:      http://bit.ly/aJyQyo


     This was quite a difficult task for me. I spent several hours getting to know my site and preparing my script, and I spent at least 2 hours trying to get my screencast recorded halfways decent. During the screencast I found myself verging away from the script that I had prepared, which then got me a little lost. I found myself pausing the screencast multiple times and even starting the whole screencast over at least ten times; perhaps it is just the perfectionist in me, but I found this assignment to be extremely hard to get to be the way that I wanted it to be. I ended up posting a screencast that I was not completely happy with, because I just couldn't seem to fit everything in that I wanted to say. I even ended up not having time to say any of my threats. One threat that I did not get to list was the possibility that schools may have banned the website unknowingly, becasue it at first glance almost seems like a game website (however when you actually explore the activities you see the educational value in them). Another threat I listed was that if you had your whole classroom in a computer lab doing an activity on Kerpoof.com, you might run into some students doing their own thing; as a teacher, you would need to monitor your students during the activity to keep them on task. I also did not know how to go about editing my screencast, to get rid of a dreaded um, that I said! I found that the five minutes really went by fast ... too fast! I felt a bit rushed during the "make a drawing" demonstration, I looked up and saw about 30 seconds left, so I quickly tried to say something about the activity, but ended up getting a little flustered and I did not even say anything that I had planned on saying. I had meant to discuss the gradient option of the coloring pen and the educational value of the activity, but I ran out of time. I also meant to detail more clearly the educational value of each of the activities, but I ran out of time and only slightly skimmed the educational value. As you can probably tell in the screencast, I actually ran out of time and was cut off mid-word of saying technology; time was definitely my enemy in this assignment. I was not sure how to go about editing my screencast, but if I had known how to edit it, I think that I could have had a more polished finished project. I tried to save one screencast and ended up losing it entirely, so I had to start over and I decided I wouldn't try to edit the screencast. I would have to say that my written script was much better than my actual screencast; the written script had all of my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats listed out very clearly and in an orderly fashion, but in my screencast, things did not come out so smoothly. Although I had quite a few difficulties in getting this assignment to be half-ways decent, I had fun trying out new tools and examining a really cool and free website, Kerpoof.com!

     This assignment allowed me to see that imperfection is okay. Making a screencast also enabled me to try out new things and to explore a really cool educational site. I really like the idea of using a screencasting tool inside or outside of the classroom. I think that screencasts can be very good tools to use in a classroom, to explain how to use new technology or how to do an assignment (especially if a student was missing that day). I can definitely see myself using screencasts in the future, either by making them myself or by viewing others screencasts. Being able to post my screencast and to view my peer's screencasts allowed me to quickly analyze a wide range of very cool tools. The screencasts quickly showed me how 20-some sites can be effectively or ineffectively used in a classroom, which is very helpful and time-saving for me. As a teacher, I will need to collaborate with other teachers and share my ideas; I feel that screencasts are similar to collaborating with others. Through a screencast, you could share your thoughts about a particular website and then your peers or fellow teachers could quickly grasp your ideas and evaluate the site as well. A screencast could allow peers and colleagues to efficiently share their ideas with one another and walk one another through the important points of a site. I feel that screencasts are able to be used as another essential form of collaboration in the educational workplace.