Responses to Screencasts

The class responses to our excel screencasts were overwhelmingly positive. Every survey indicated that the screencasts were helpful at least in some way and that they could be used going forward. The surveys indicated that the audio portion of the screencasts was a weakness, of which we were aware. As well, some surveyors felt that the screencasts progressed too quickly. This could be adjusted for a classroom, depending on the needs of the students using the screencasts. The responses to the advanced excel screencast were slightly less positive, this is where the audio issues were highlighted.

The screencasts that were created by the other groups were helpful for both my personal use of the technology and in thinking about future classroom instruction tools. The PowerPoint screencasts showed several features of which I was unaware, even though I have used PowerPoint extensively in the past.

I would definitely use screencasts in a future classroom as they provide an easy overview of a technology that students can use to enhance projects. The Word and PowerPoint screencasts were very well done with full attention to timing and coverage of salient points. They will make an excellent classroom tool.

Students that are unfamiliar with the technology would benefit greatly from screencasts as the screencasts can be used individually by the student and then quickly and easily applied to any content area assignment. If I were assigning a project wherein they would use Word or Excel or PowerPoint, I would have the students that were unfamiliar with the technology use headphones and watch the screencasts. I think this would effectively both introduce the technology and give a very comprehensive overview of how best to use the product. This would hopefully provide those students with a comfort level that will allow them to fully engage in the project without struggling to understand and apply the supporting technology.