edci 5825 - screencast reflection

Positive and negative reactions to the creation of your groups' instructional screencast materials.

I feel that creating the screencasts went very well. We were able to brainstorm ideas as a group and create the screencasts successfully. We did have trouble brainstorming topics for the special skills presentation but we finally came up with some good ideas. We were able to finish easily and I am proud of the finished product.

Provide a brief summary of the feedback that you received on the Google Form. Was this feedback helpful? Why/Why not? Please explain.
The feedback was mainly positive. People were able to follow our screencasts and thought that they were helpful. The feedback was helpful, but some I didn't understand, like someone told us not to keep highlighting text but I don't know what they mean by that. One person said we covered too many basic skills and a few others said we moved a little to quickly, so next time I may slow my narration down to facilitate understanding. For an instructional video, it is best to keep it simple and slow so everyone can follow along. I felt one person was too critical as they rated us highly but then said both our screencasts were hard to follow and we didn't use a script, which we did.

Were the screencasts that were created by the other groups' useful/helpful for your teaching/learning? Would you use them in your future classroom? Why/Why not?
Yes, the screencasts were helpful. I may use the Powerpoint one in my classroom because it demonstrated a lot of effects you could add to a slide that I had never seen before. Everyone's narration was clear and easy to follow, so it would be good for students to follow in a classroom setting. Even if students are familiar with the technology, they can still benefit from learning special skills for Excel, Powerpoint, and Microsoft Word. However, a lot of the screencasts contained a little too much information and may be difficult for some students to follow.

What students might benefit from the use of screencasts? Please explain.

I think students who lack basic technology skills would benefit most from screencasts, since then you could demonstrate to them the various technologies. Knowing the Microsoft Office Suite is important since these are skills you can use in a future job. Screencasts can also help visual learners, who learn from viewing demonstrations. The screencasts are helpful because they can be viewed again and again if you need further help.

Would you consider using screencasts in your future classroom? Why/Why not? Please explain.

I might use screencasts in my future classroom, but only if I have to show them a certain skill on the computer. I will be teaching English, so I'm not sure how applicable using screencasts are unless you have to demonstrate something. With a journalism class, you could demonstrate how to use programs like Adobe Indesign for newspaper layout, but I am not sure if I would use it in an English class. This is because English classes mostly revolve around writing and reading skills and not technology skills.