Camtasia and Jing... 2 useful educational tools.

Recently, I was given an assignment to create a video by utilizing screen-capture. The 2 different programs that I used were Camtasia and Jing... Both products are created by a company called TechSmith. Each one of these programs give users the ability to capture exactly exactly what is on your computer screen at any given time. In addition to seeing the computer screen, you are able to narrate the video as you go along. Each one of these programs has some positive aspects, and each one has it's negative aspects as well. I am going to give you a brief review of each and share a few other Web 2.0 tools that may be utilized in a classroom as well.
     Camtasia is a full featured screen capture program. It is very advanced in the tools that it has to make your screen capture project look very professional. You have the ability to add a title, transitions, callout, and add artwork in your video project to help aid in making it interesting to your audience. Another very nice feature is the zoom/pan feature. Camtasia will automatically zoom into your cursor location when you are typing text, and it will automatically pan out when the whole screen is needing to be viewed. You can also add your own "zooms and pans" as you feel fit. The end result with Camtasia a moderately user friendly, screen capture software. The major drawback and limitation to Camtasia is the cost. For $299 you can purchase a single copy of Camtasia. Some will say, "that is a good deal"... and to many, it may be so. However, there is a free program, developed by the same company that does an acceptable job at doing the same thing... That free program is called Jing.
     Jing is a FREE program that does basically a bare-bones screen capture. (There is a pay option for $14.95 per year that gives you a couple more options) In Jing, you simply outline the section of the screen that you wish to record, or photograph, and record your screencast as well. Audio is automatically synced to your screencast. This is a magically simple program, simply click record, wait on the countdown, and then you are off! It records everything, and once you are done, it gives you a couple of options... You can download your video in a .swf file OR you can directly upload it to Screencast. Screencast is a free online host that is designed to hold your finished Jing file. Once uploaded, you can easily visit your screencast location by getting the link from Jing's "history" tab. You can copy and paste the link to anywhere, Facebook, a blog, a webpage, an email... ANYWHERE! However, Jing does have some limitations. First, your video is limited to 5 minutes in length. Secondly, and perhaps more important is that you can NOT add any special effects to your video. No title, no zoom, no callouts, no text, not anything. So, from an education standpoint... you get what you pay for (so to speak).
     In comparing the 2 and determining which I may wish to incorporate in the future... I think that Jing's free application will work nicely for the limited amount of screencasting that I would do in my classroom. If I were ever to change teaching disciplines and went into a technology education related field, then Camtasia would be a MUST. The ability to zoom/pan really lets you put emphasis on what you are trying to accomplish. However, I am in public education, and the $300 price tag is a turn-off for the time being. So, for the hear future, I am going to get to know Jing just a little better.
     To finish this blog entry, I want to share a couple other Web 2.0 apps that I stumbled upon. The first, and most fun would be Wordle. Wordle lets users create a "word cloud" very easily through an online Java Applet. I have included a screencast of how to use Wordle at the bottom of this blog entry. The second tool that I want to share is Schoology. Schoology is a basically a school based social network that incorporates learning into the social experience. Think of it as a Facebook for schools... Yes, I said a Facebook for schools. It is definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard of it. I signed up for an account, just to tinker with it, and I am wondering about approaching my school district with it. Basically, it gives students a chance to communicate with each other, their teachers, and staff in a monitored online environment. This would be great for a blended type of classroom. The third tool that I want to share is Coursesites. Coursesites is a free online classroom setup exactly like Blackboard. Teachers can "teach" up to 5 courses at a time and have unlimited access to all portions of the program. You can give tests, host discussion boards, quizzes, anything that students do on BlackBoard can be done with Coursesites. I also have registered for a Coursesite and will be working to mix one (maybe 2) of my 2011-2012 classes with some online course material.

Here is the video on Wordle that I promised... it was created with Camtasia.