Screencast-O-Matic

Not only does Screencast-O-Matic allow you to share and record your screen ), but it also allows you to edit the videos and publish them to the web as well. In other words, it is both a screencast tool and a video editor. We have recently purchased premium licenses to it and you can request to use one by contacting CTL@mail.WOU.Edu.

To use the tool for the first time,

Login to your account
Select Make a Recording (this will download the tool)
Run the downloaded application
Select the input to be recorded (Screen, Webcam, or Both)
Select the recording frame
Record.

Screencastomatic welcome page

Check out the tutorials page of the tool to access guides on recording and editing your content.

Another useful feature of Screencast-O-Matic is its Zoom Integration.

Canvas Built-in Media Recorder

You can directly record audio/videos in Canvas. All you need to do is to click the "Record/Upload Media" icon from your rich text editor, navigate to the record tab, select the correct microphone and camera settings, and record. You can use the recording feature anywhere you have the rich tech editor (that is, pages, assignments, discussions, quizzes). similarly, your students can record videos wherever in Canvas they have access to the rich text editor. These videos do not count towards your course storage space. Learn more about this feature here.

VoiceThread

VoiceThread allows you to create multimodal (video, audio, podcast, graphic, text; please see below), collaborative presentation/ discussion threads. So, whether you record your own videos or pull them from external sources such as YouTube, you can load them into VT and turn them into social and collaborative activities where students can watch and comment. To learn more about using VT in your course, check out this resource.

WOU Instructors have premium VoiceThread accounts through Canvas that allow you to create unlimited presentations, leverage VoiceThread's assignment builder, and add captions to your videos!

Embedding Videos

There are two efficient ways to embed videos from an external source (e.g., YouTube) into your course.

You can use the plug icon from your rich text editor. Using this menu (click View All to see all the external sources), you can search for videos directly from Canvas and/or use the URL to load and embed them into your course.

You can copy the embed code (see how to retrieve YouTube embed code) from the external source and use the cloud ion from the rich text editor to paste the code. Alternatively, you embed a video from the Insert menu.

Canvas External Tools

There are a number of video-based instruction tools that are either installed on WOU Canvas (VoiceThread and Perusall) or could be installed (e.g., EdPuzzle) by faculty. External tools can be used in assignments and modules. Installing an external tool requires a "shared secret" and "consumer key," which you can obtain by either retrieving this information from your (external tool) account settings and/or contacting the vendor. To install an app in your course, go to the course Settings, click the Apps tab, and look for the tool you would like to install.

External Apps

Once the app is selected, you can press the + Add App button to install the app. Note that you would need the app key and secret at this stage.

Consumer key and shared secret

Tools

VoiceTHread input forms

Perusall. A social reading/ annotation tool, Perusall allows you to import videos from a variety of sources, including YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Using Perusall, you can create video-based annotation/ discussion activities. A similar non-Canvas tool is VideoAnt.

Perusall

Flipgrid. We have used Flipgrid twice in this course so far. As you know, Flipgrid is an interactive video discussion board, which you can use to create short (15 sec-10 min) videos. In addition, to live demos/presentations, Flipgrid allows you to create screencasts (see this resource to learn more). Check out this resource to learn about installing Flipgrid in your Canvas course.
EdPuzzle. You can add questions (multiple choice and essay type), notes, and voiceovers to your videos using EdPuzzle. Also, the app also allows you to pull videos from external video services (e.g., YouTube, Khan Academy) and the content developed by other users. The tool can integrate into Canvas and, with the free plan, you can create 20 interactive videos. Adding interactions to videos can not only help engage students, but also assess students’ understanding as well as provide scaffolds when necessary (Similar tools are Hippo Video , Playposit , Nearpod , and Panopto). Check out the following video to learn about integrating and using EdPuzzle in Canvas.

Screencasting with Zoom or Google Meet

Zoom

To create a screencast video with Zoom,

run a meeting,
share your screen,
and record to either cloud or computer.
end the meeting once you're finished with your presentation.

If you recorded to your computer, the video will be saved to your Zoom recordings folder on your machine, and if you recorded to the cloud, you will receive the link to the video through your WOU email. Check out the following video to learn more.

WOU has a subscription to Zoom. Contact University Computing Solutions if you are using the free plan.

Google Meet

Another easy way to create a screencast is using Google Meet, which WOU has a subscription to as well. To do so,

Start a meeting using Google Meet (either from your email home page or through the website),
Select Present and choose what to share (entire screen or browser).
Record.
Stop recording.

Once you stop recording, your video will be saved to your Google Drive. Check out the following video to learn more.

Green Screen/ Virtual Field Trips

While the live demos/presentations tend to be usually casual and/or authentic recordings, you can use the Green Screen (or Chroma key) technology to add unreal/ fictional effects to your scenes. Isn't it fun? So, for instance, if you're talking about the Egyptian pyramids, you could just fly to Egypt and go inside the pyramids and record a video, just as what I did in 2018--well... virtually!

To create your green screen video, all you need to do is to film yourself in front of a green screen (a $1 green table cloth from Walmart would do!) and then replace the green background with other scenes, further contextualizing your videos. Check out the following video to learn more about the process.

Not only such creative videos could support your differentiated instruction (as you contextualize the content), but could they also serve as examples for your students when they develop their own green screen videos in the active learning phase of your Flipped Classroom (FC)--yes, they could develop theirs, too! Such technology-enhanced projects are in line with International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards in supporting students' creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.

Incidentally, we have a green screen studio in the library that you and your students could use. 🟩🎥

In addition to virtual field trips you could create using the Green Screen technology, you could actually take your camera outside and shoot the scenes outside if it is convenient.

Accessibility

Videos need closed captions (CC). Whether you record/upload into Canvas or embed from streaming services such as YouTube, videos need CC files for accessibility purposes.

When you record/upload a video into Canvas, you will be prompted to add CC/Subtitles (see this page). Usually, the CC file is obtained through the Office of Disability Services (ODS), but, you can also use other services (e.g., YouTube, Amara Editor, and Subtitle Horse) to generate the CC file and attach it to the video.

One of the convenient ways to share videos with your class and auto-generate CC is through YouTube. To do that, first, you need to create your channel using your Google account. Your WOU account is basically a Google account, so you may as well use that. If you're concerned about the visibility of your videos, the visibility settings allow you to make your videos public, unlisted, or private. Shortly after the video is uploaded, the subtitles will be auto-generated through the YouTube artificial intelligence (AI) voice recognition technology. Then, you can edit the AI-generated subtitles and/or download them in three formats (*.SRT, *.VTT, and *.SBV; Canvas supports SRT and VTT files). Check out this resource to learn more.

Another way you can host and generate AI subtitles for your videos is using Google Drive. Like YouTube, Google Drive autogenerates captions once the video is uploaded and you can further edit them and/or replace them with the files you can receive from ODS. To edit and/or add subtitles, load the video in your Google Drive, click the three dots on the top right-hand side of the page, and select "Manage caption tracks." Check out this resource to learn more.

Manage Caption Tracks

Multiple Camera Settings in Zoom

You can use Zoom to create a live demo/ presentation and/or a screencast video (see this resource to learn more). While recording, you may use other cameras (such as a document camera) to support students' understanding. Zoom Multi-Camera feature allows you to share the footage from multiple video sources. You may set one of the cameras on the document and the other one on you, and you can easily switch between the two. If you have a third camera attached to your device, you can also switch to it. Check out the following video to learn how to set up multiple cameras in Zoom.

Converting Slides to Videos

You must have a lot of Powerpoint and Google Slides presentations. If you add narrations to those slides, you can export them as videos.

Powerpoint. Open the Slideshow menu and select Record Slide Show. Here you can narrate your slides. Check out this resource to learn more.

Once you narrated your slides, you can export them as videos. To do so, open the File menu, select Export, and then choose "Create a Video." This will generate a video file (in .MP4 or .WMV formats) which you can share with your students. Check out this resource to learn more.

Besides, you can create a screencast video using Powerpoint. To do so, open the Insert menu and select Screen Recording. Check out this resource to learn more.
Google Slides. Slides do not have a video converter, but you can either install an add-on (e.g., Creator Studio) or save your slides as a PowerPoint file and use Powerpoint to convert it to a video file (see above).