Overcoming My Fear of Screencasting

I'm am certainly no tech expert, but I do know my way around the basics which means I often get tech related questions from my teaching colleagues. Since going back to grad school for my Ed Tech endorsement, I've been learning so much that I wanted to share all of the great ways to integrate and use tech with the teachers in my building. I decided to start Tuesday Tech Tips. I emailed the staff and told them my plans, and I asked them to sign up to receive the emails every Tuesday. I was surprised to see that 20+ teachers signed up, including some teachers from other buildings/districts that were referred by my colleagues.

I have always liked video tutorials related to tech. I am a visual learner, so seeing someone perform steps helps me tremendously. Also, I like the ability to pause and rewind video especially when learning something complicated. I wanted to utilize screencasting in my Tuesday Tech Tips, but I was a little intimidated by what I thought was going to be a complicated process. I also tend to be a perfectionist, and I thought I'd never get the recording "just right." But, hey, tech is all about diving in and stepping out of your comfort zone, so I decided to just go for it!

I researched the various screencasting tools and decided on Screencast-O-Matic. I found it to be very straightforward and user-friendly. I chose to create a YouTube channel to upload the videos to. I've had very positive feedback from staff about the emails and videos! Each time I make one, I get more comfortable with the process. So, if you have something you've wanted to do using screencasting, I encourage you to give it shot! If you want to see what I've been able to do, check out my YouTube channel using this link https://goo.gl/th9Zmx