Screencasts: Are they useful in the educational community?

After my experience creating a screencast this week, my opinion has significantly changed about their usefulness. I first believed that they were just fancy tutorials and thought that I would probably benefit more from having a hard copy document to work from. However, I truly believe that having a visual guide to compliment step by step directions is of great benefit to my school community. Not only can my staff use this type of tool for application trainings (to learn the tool) but also, to assist students as they implement technology use in the classroom.

Good teaching practices tell us to focus on designing materials that can meet the needs of varied (audio, visual, kinesthetic) learners and a screencast offers the opportunity to do both. One thing that I would caution teachers about. Screencasts should not replace direct instruction provided by the teacher. These materials should be supplemental materials to support the continued growth and mastery of a particular topic.

In regards to design, I believe there should be some type of overview provided. As I've stated previously, I think of it like a good movie sequel. You want the viewer to be able to enjoy/learn from the material, even if they are starting from the middle. or, if they haven't had the opportunity to see the original movie. I believe the materials should also use a conversational tone where pacing is the focus. There isn't need to focus on two much at once. Chunk the material and make sure that a completed product can be produced with each screencast. This will ensure that the tool is applicable and that the students have a real life example to walk away from.

With all of this end mind...I believe I would choose to always use a screencasts vs. text instructions because of the interactive perspective it offers.

What are your thoughts, comments or suggestions?

AG