Screencasting 101
For teachers who feel they never have enough class time to discuss/create/evaluate/dig/challenge/innovate/etc., there’s nothing better than flipping the classroom to cover content outside class to create space for another transformative activity in class. While I have flipped the classroom in the past with a lecture format, I recently found another way to diversify my flipped repertoire--screencasting. I wrote an article a few weeks back about how I used Prezi to teach the Revolutionary War. But then I thought, while that’s good, I can do even better. I went back to the drawing board and created a few screencasts to better explain how the Americans pulled out the ultimate upset to become an independent nation.
One key motivator for the diversification of the flipped classroom stemmed from student complaints that my flipped lessons were more boring than my classroom lessons--which makes sense, because I’m teaching to an empty room.
I used an app called educreations where I placed maps, and drew on top of them with different colors in an effort to show troop movements while I talked about the battles. I broke it down into five parts -- Boston, New York, New Jersey, the Campaign of 1777 and the southern sphere. I found this to be a much better way to teach the battles than I had in the past, which--I’m embarrassed to admit--was with powerpoint.
I’ve since used this tool again to to teach the Gilded Age. I taught Robber Barons with screencasts--specifically John D. Rockefeller. Then I taught the labor strikes--screencast coming soon. The students seem to enjoy the videos more, and this allowed me to spend class time on discussion. I’ve noticed high school students love to talk about wealth and income inequality. So, I rolled the ball out and let them have at it! I asked if we’re living in a second gilded age Gilded Age, then just sat back and steered as the discussion engulfed their attention.
