Screencasting
For several semesters, writers have been responding to a question in the email submission form about whether or not they would be interested in receiving feedback through a screencast. About half of the time, writers say, “Yes.”
As Dominique Bourg Hacker has outlined in this blog post, screencasting involves tutors using software such as TechSmith’s Jing, Kaltura, or Camtasia (or any of the other screencasting software options that DoIT has reviewed here) to record their voice and computer screen as they walk writers through their feedback. These take the place of a longer opening comment and complement the ideas raised within the collection of marginal or in-text comments. Screencasting champions the personhood of the tutor and allows for a more seemingly dialogic response to students’ writing. Screencasting isn’t something that Written Feedback staff members are necessarily expected to do on a regular basis, but there is freedom for tutors to use this feedback options when it would be pedagogically appropriate or useful. As such, all email staff members should become comfortable with the technological and instructional aspects of screencasting so that the online staff as a whole can make well-informed decisions about incorporating this modality into our repertoire of feedback. |
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Screencasting Technical Logistics
The primary software that tutors have been using for screencasting has been Jing and Kaltura. [Note: Jing has a maximum recording time of 5 minutes. This is good insofar as it makes sure that tutors are not providing more feedback than can be productively received by a writer, but some tutors find the time limit to be constricting.] These tools are free and fairly simple to us; you can find an amateur walk through of how to use Jing here and an introduction to using Kaltura here.
Additionally, one of the technical issues that is raised through screencasting is how to share the files with the writer. Video files are too large to send via email, so they need to be shared through some other online tool. One of the ways to resolve this is to set up a personal account at screencast.com, upload the screencast to that location, and share the created link with the tutor. (An amateur How-To for screencast.com can be found here.) If you prefer, you can also upload your screencasts to box.com and share them with the student's wisc address.
Additionally, one of the technical issues that is raised through screencasting is how to share the files with the writer. Video files are too large to send via email, so they need to be shared through some other online tool. One of the ways to resolve this is to set up a personal account at screencast.com, upload the screencast to that location, and share the created link with the tutor. (An amateur How-To for screencast.com can be found here.) If you prefer, you can also upload your screencasts to box.com and share them with the student's wisc address.
Screencasting Pedagogy
Preparing to record a screencast.
One of the challenges of this feedback modality is connected to one of its strengths: screencasting works within the immediacy of the spoken word. The feedback is recorded and received as if it was a monologue within a face-to-face tutorial. As such, it is important for the tutor to have a fairly exact sense of what this feedback will contain.
Some tutors find it useful to write out a highly abbreviated version of an opening note to serve as a kind of script for the screencast. This note assures the tutor that all the main points of feedback (i.e. the identified strengths as well as the recommended revisions) will be accounted for in the recording. This abbreviated note might be typed out and included in the document that is emailed back to the writer, or it might be just jotted down for the tutor’s own use. Of course, the issues that the screencasted recording focuses on should be reiterated by or furthered through some of the marginal or in-text comments.
Feedback through Screencasting vs. Writing
In response to the question, “How do you find your teaching through screencasting to be different from what you would do if you had been writing a full opening note?” tutors have provided the following thoughts:
Additional affordances of Screencasting
Screencasting allows tutors to represent themselves and their feedback as more than just voiceless words, but beyond the obvious auditory possibilities of this feedback modality, there are some other affordances to consider.
One of the challenges of this feedback modality is connected to one of its strengths: screencasting works within the immediacy of the spoken word. The feedback is recorded and received as if it was a monologue within a face-to-face tutorial. As such, it is important for the tutor to have a fairly exact sense of what this feedback will contain.
Some tutors find it useful to write out a highly abbreviated version of an opening note to serve as a kind of script for the screencast. This note assures the tutor that all the main points of feedback (i.e. the identified strengths as well as the recommended revisions) will be accounted for in the recording. This abbreviated note might be typed out and included in the document that is emailed back to the writer, or it might be just jotted down for the tutor’s own use. Of course, the issues that the screencasted recording focuses on should be reiterated by or furthered through some of the marginal or in-text comments.
Feedback through Screencasting vs. Writing
In response to the question, “How do you find your teaching through screencasting to be different from what you would do if you had been writing a full opening note?” tutors have provided the following thoughts:
- I think the topics I covered would have been the same; however, I find that when I am speaking I use more examples and say a lot more. Basically, I think the topics covered were the same as with written feedback, but the manner of the feedback was much more similar to an in-person session. (Anna Muenchrath)
- I find that I’m more specific about what works when I can highlight specific paragraphs. (Emily Loney)
- I have found myself drawing from my personal experience more readily in screencasts than in writing. Perhaps this is because it is easier to tell a quick story than it is to write one out? (Matthew Fledderjohann)
Additional affordances of Screencasting
Screencasting allows tutors to represent themselves and their feedback as more than just voiceless words, but beyond the obvious auditory possibilities of this feedback modality, there are some other affordances to consider.
- Pulling up multiple different screens during a screencast can be helpful in guiding the writer to a specific question or requirement posed by the prompt.
- If a tutor wants to quickly direct a writer to an outside source (i.e. a page in our Online Writer’s Handbook that further explores an issue or recommendation), the tutor can show the writer the steps of how to get to that particular page or where on a site the writer could find additional information.
- When talking about a particular area of the writer’s text, it can be useful to highlight that paragraph or passage or to clearly gesture towards that section through cursor movement.
- It can also be effective for a tutor to highlight his/her own marginal or in-text comments and then expand on or further explain those ideas.
Example Screencasts
Dominique’s blog post includes several great examples of screencasts.
Here are a couple of other example screencasts:
Here are a couple of other example screencasts:
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