Assignment 4: ScreenToaster

Assignment 4 was due June 28, and we were required to create a screen-captured based video on ScreenToaster that was at least three minutes long and had audio and subtitles. We needed to post the clip to YouTube and provide Title, Description, Tags, Category, Date, and Map info for the video. Additionally, comments, video response, ratings, and embedding needed to be allowed.

I had trouble coming up with an idea of what I could use to teach others, since I didn't feel technologically-savvy at this point yet in the class. However, I decided to discuss how to find and download podcasts. Since I travel a lot, I enjoy podcasts, especially informational ones, and iTunes has several educational podcasts relating to topics discussed in this class. I wanted people to understand that they can download free podcasts without having an iPod or iPhone, too (but it seems like everyone today has an iPhone or iPod, especially according to my husband, who very much wants an iPhone). So I created a screen-captured based video describing how to find podcasts, how to download them, and how to listen to them with or without Apple technology.

I used Screen Castle since ScreenToaster was no longer available by the time I was ready to complete this assignment. At first, I was very frustrated because I'm used to understanding how to use technology fairly quickly, and I had difficulty with this, especially posting the video to YouTube. It wasn't hard creating the screen-cast -- posting it to YouTube and making sure all of the necessary information was there was the hard part. However, once I got past the technical difficulties and understood the assignment better, I was eager to use Screen Castle again.

I LOVE Screen Castle. I cannot WAIT to use this for my classes because I have so many examples where this could be beneficial. I have a lot of students, especially in my online classes (because I give a visual example in traditional classroom settings), who do not understand the differences between a news article and a column or where to find them online, and Screen Castle could be used for the online classes to help those students.

Thank you for introducing us to this technology!

By the way, my video can be viewed by clicking here.