Screencasts

This term in Language A (English) we have been writing explanations. A creative outlet for publishing these pieces of writing was to record them as audio. This seemed a little bit down towards the S/A end of the SAMR model, so we redesigned the task to make using technology to present the work less ingenuous. It was decided that the topic of the explanation whould be ICT related, so the students could present their writing in screencast form.

The brief given to the students was to explain how to do something on a computer. This could be anything from changing the size of writing in a word processor, to airbrushing photos in Photoshop.

The formal writing process was undertaken initially, with planning, sequencing, editing and drafting taking place with gold old pen and paper. When the piece of writing had been suitably crafted and completed, the students then got the laptops out and began the presentation process. Using Quicktime, the students recorded the action of their process, while reciting the ‘script’ which was their finished explanation. Others chose to use the creen capture to record only the on screen actions. This movie was imported into Garage Band, and the students narrated over the top.

We are all very happy with our finished products, which all students have posted to their personal blogs. Below we have three, selected by the Year 3 students the videos were designed for. Please visit individual student blogs to view the rest of the videos. Enjoy!