Embedding Digital Literacy

I'm currently involved in a project on Embedding Digital Literacy in a Community Education setting.

As part of this, I have been asked to create resources on things I do with my learners, and this in turn has prompted me to be a little more organised in how I go about things.

I've created a few resources as a result:

1. How learners can use Evernote in the classroom
2. Using Screencast-o-matic (screen recording software) to create quick tutorials on skills learnt in the classroom.

Here's my Prezi on Evernote

And here's an example video I've created using Screencast-o-matic:

Both ideas have been very well received by the learners, particular the screencast videos, as it means learners can review what was covered in class at their own leisure.

Any comments?

Screencasting

A learner who missed a session recently said that he'd had a bit of trouble adding text to a curve - something we talked about in the class that he missed, but that was only covered briefly in the handouts.

Rather than try to explain in an email / screen shots how to carry out the task, I thought it would be much easier to do a quick Screencast.  I remember a colleague showing me Screencast-O-Matic some time ago, and I recalled how easy it seemed to be to create a simple screencast, so I decided to have a go at creating one myself.

After resolving the missing Java plug-in on my Firefox browser, I was shown a screen which simply said "Start Recording".  I didn't do any prep (other than to have a quick practice at the task myself in Photoshop to ensure I made the steps as clear as possible).  I clicked Start Recording, adjusted the screencasting window size and hit the record button.

After completing the required steps to create my curved text, I pressed the stop button, and was then given an option to upload to YouTube or Screencast-O-Matic.  I chose the latter, though I think I will definitely explore the YouTube option in the future.

I was amazed at how simple it was.  In fact, I was so impressed that I registered an account (free), set up a Photoshop channel, and even had a go at adding captions (which I then removed).

Things I learned:

• Screencast-O-Matic is extremely simple and quick to use
• The automatic highlighting of key actions (eg mouse clicks) is excellent
• The sharing options are very straightforward
• Whilst a mouse click shows, click and drag doesn't - something to remember when doing the commentary 
• I need a better microphone!

I will definitely start using this more in the future, as I think it will be an excellent tool for all my learners. You can see the results of my first attempt below or on the link:  Adding text to a curve - apologies for the poor audio, this is something I'll improve on in the future!