I used to believe that my students knew more about technology than I ever would. I now realize they only know more about social networking than I do. That being said, I think the best way to learn technology is by doing it and then trying to share it/teach it to somebody else. In the classroom, I would incorporate screencasts as a way for students to demonstrate how to use any of the Web 2.0 tools. I would first introduce several applications such as Skype, Animoto, Googledocs, Picasa, or Goanimate. Students could pair up and learn about one of the applications and then create a screencast demonstrating how that application may be used. It would be beneficial to store all the student-made screencasts and use that library of knowledge for all students, especially the younger grades. I prefer Screencast-O-Matic because it allows for clearer views of the web pages.
Here is a sample of my screencast showing how to access the Laurel homework page.
This is a great, simple way to integrate screecasts into the classroom. You could also have students create one showing how they use their favorite educational websites.
ReplyDeleteGood Idea. I was thinking of having one or two students create a screencast for bubbl.us. We used that in class and of course the students figured out all kinds of things I did not know.
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