When you make a presentation for a lesson or set up a project, you probably expect students to read the instructions and information on the screen. But, somehow, for many students, it only makes sense when you explain it to them, even if all you do is just read what’s there. So, it can be useful to make videos of yourself explaining the material.
Screencastify
https://www.screencastify.com/ is a great tool for doing this. It is a plugin for Chrome, so it will work on any device. It allows you to:
- record what is happening on your screen - it could be a presentation, a picture or a project briefing;
- record your voice at the same time;
- have a small video of you (if you want) in the corner.
You can then send the video to Google Classroom, or download it to your computer and then add it to your class WhatsApp group. Or, you could…
Edpuzzle
You could send your video direct to Edpuzzle, and add questions to make it more active by adding questions to check for understanding as you move along. Go to http://edpuzzle.com to set up an account, then you can add Edpuzzle to Screencastify. Edpuzzle integrates with Google Classroom, so you can assign work to all your GC classes easily.
If this sounds scary, you can start with these ideas:
- Just take one simple concept; find a diagram or example online or in a textbook.
- Display it on your computer, then Screencastify it - speaking your explanation.
- Add an Edpuzzle question to check if the students understood.