How To Get Class Time Back:

Screencastify!

@LisaBerghoff

In education, we are working with finite resources, the most precious of which are time and space. Students are in school all day, we have tried numerous bell schedule configurations, and yet it is always a challenge to find enough time to do all the things we need and want to do.

The flipped classroom model was first proposed in the 1980s. It became popularized in the early 1990s as there was a push to get teachers away from being "the sage on the stage" to the "guide on the side". The idea was that by flipping instruction so that students obtain information via videos at home, students can then do the deeper more meaningful learning in the classroom when their teachers are with them.  In the flipped classroom model, classroom time becomes time for application and reflection. As with most educational models, there have been critics of this type of learning. Also, with most educational models that are researched, there are merits and lessons we can take into our own classrooms without becoming a whole flipped classroom school. 

Think about how your own classroom time is used. Are the adults in the room doing most of the talking? Are the students presented with new information in class and then expected to grapple with the new information on their own? One of the biggest challenges to flipping a lesson used to be creating the videos. Fortunately, that is no longer a problem because we have Screencastify, which means creating videos is a breeze. If content creation is not your thing, Screencastify now has a premium library, which we have access to since we have a premium license in our district.

What Is Screencastify?

Screencastify is a browser-based screen recording extension that works with Google chrome. It allows you to easily record, edit, and share videos for lessons, how-to's, assignments, and assessments. Screencastify is also available to our students and it has a built-in assign feature all while integrating with Schoology's gradebook. 

How Do I Use Screencastify?

We all have the extension because our district tech team has pushed it out to all student and staff devices. Just look for the little orangey-pink arrow in the extensions bar and click on it to get started. 

To record:

• If you have never used Screencastify before you will need to log in using your school credentials. From there, make sure Screencastify has permission to use your microphone and webcam. 
• Depending on the type of video you are recording, you will choose what you want shown. You can choose a browser tab, a window, or your entire screen.

• Click record to begin and when you are done, click the extension to stop recording. Your video will automatically open so you can preview and edit. You can always go back and find your videos because they are housed in "my library". 
• When you are ready to share, just click the blue share button in the upper right corner to get the link or the embed code if you want to embed it into a Schoology page or assignment (less clicks!). 

TEN More Things You Can Do With Screencastify- Besides Record A Video:

1. Add interactive questions to your video and assign it to your students.
2. Add an AI voiceover if you want your students to hear the video in another language.
3. Add closed captioning.
4. Enable translation so students can see closed captions in another language.
5. Assign students to record their own video and submit within Screencastify.
6. Use the "live learning" feature to show a video in class and have the interactive questions pop up live.
7. Grab a professional video from the premium library.
8. Use the AI feature to create interactive questions for you.
9. Use AI enhance to improve your video.
10. Edit a video you already created. 

 Here is a video I grabbed from the premium library:

Are you ready to get started?

Click here for a 1 pager from Screencastify with specific resources just for you.

Let me know when you're ready to give Screencastify a go. I'm happy to help!