Screen recording
Screen recording allows you to record your computer screen, in addition to your voice or video image. It enables students to view learning materials repeatedly and in their own time. Students can view an entire presentation, select portions and repeat the presentation to control the pace of their learning. Creating a screen recording can be particularly suitable for explaining complex, sequence-based activities that students will revisit multiple times.
They are useful for engaging students in learning before or after lectures and tutorials (in a flipped learning mode). Using your voice or video image in the recording can add a more personal touch for viewers. A narrated slide presentation is one example of how you might produce a screen recording.
Pedagogical possibilities
Teaching activities | Details |
Announcements and learning site tours | A welcome presentation for students, introducing yourself and the features of the unit and learning management system (e.g. Blackboard). Provide solutions to known issues or notifications of updated course content. |
Micro lectures or pre-briefings on a learning topic | Enables students to engage in complex topics before class, so teachers have more time for student-centred hands-on practice in face-to-face or synchronous online sessions. |
Beginning discussions | Add a video to a blog or forum to stimulate discussion. |
Addressing ‘stuck places’ and threshold concepts | Help students identify and understand troublesome content and integrate these ideas with previous knowledge to develop a deep understanding of the subject. |
Assessment explanation and feedback | Initial explanation and answers to FAQs, or provide audio-visual feedback to groups (teamwork assessment) or cohorts. |
Demonstrations | Show how to use software or demonstrate a complex screen-based process and provide step-by-step voice-over explanations. |
Accessibility | Provide access to learning activities for students with disabilities (who might have restricted access to class sessions or presentations), and others who might benefit from the material but cannot attend a face-to-face presentation e.g. distance students. |
Reusable resources | Reuse resources where generic content covers basic concepts, available in more than one unit, to an entire course or across several disciplines. |
Routine training for large numbers of students | Provide information about an institution’s learning management system (e.g. Blackboard) or other campus-wide systems. |
Add an active, visual element to resources available outside scheduled class times | Provide a greater variety in teaching and learning resources to support learning and keep students engaged. |
Practicalities
- Shorter recordings help students digest information in smaller ‘chunks’ - from as brief as 2 minutes, up to a maximum of 20 minutes.
- Plan the screen actions before you start recording. Record only the part of the screen that is important. Backgrounds, icons and other open programs can be distracting to viewers.
- Plan what to say before you start recording. Doing a run-through first may help you practice an engaging tone for your recording and make the final recording more polished. Use appropriate language and terminology for your audience. Conversational language may be suitable for more informal content.
- If the content is to be re-used in future sessions, avoid reference to specific modules, dates, etc. which may impact on shelf-life/versatility and may require time-consuming editing or re-recording.
- Think carefully about the content you use. In some cases, presenting information using only text and still images could be more useful for students and less time consuming to develop.
- When publishing, include a brief description of the content to make it easier for students to find what they are looking for.
- Consider providing a short (fewer than 10 questions) online questionnaire with key screencasts, either for the students to reinforce the concepts or for you to gain feedback for future development of screencasts.
My Mediasite
My Mediasite is a web-based portal that allows staff to create desktop recordings and upload new and existing media files into a central online location. My Mediasite includes a desktop recorder, an editor and a video upload. Using your laptop or desktop computer with a camera and microphone, you can record high-quality video or audio. There are other options for you to record and publish your recordings such as YouTube, Vimeo and Camtasia, however, SCU recommends Medisite due to the accessibility provided to students who may be unable to access YouTube (due to certain restrictions).
Support about how to use Mediasite.
My Mediasite allows staff to: | My Mediasite allows students to: |
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