Record your screen: Screencast-O-Matic

See my demonstration of Screencast-O-Matic before we go deeper!

Introduction:

This post is aiming at teachers who are teaching students of middle schools or higher level. It includes six parts:

1.Why Screencast-O-Matic
2.How to start without confusion
3.How to teach English through it
4.Connections between screen recorder and English teaching
5.Advantages and limitations
6.Sources of information (Copyright)

Recording your online classes with your computer is easier than you expected. There are many online tools available, for instance, Jing, Camtasia, Mac screen recorder and Screencast-o-Matic. Today, I am going to introduce Screencast-o-matic.

Why Screencast-O-Matic

Among all the screen recorders, why choose Screen-O-Matic? Because this is the most accessible and cheapest screen recorder that does both screen capturing and webcam capturing.

1. It is FREE!

Usually, a screen recorder on a computer is costly.  Among all the counterparts of Screen-O-Matic that I mentioned above, only two of them have free versions, of which the functions of Screen-O-Matic outweigh those of the others. I will reveal these functions to you later. 

Mac screen recorder, being a free app, still cannot beat Screencast-O-Matic in terms of the functionality. 

2. It records both the screen and the webcam!

In line with what I said just now, Screen-O-Matic has more competitive functions than its free counterparts, of which the most outstanding one is its capacity of recording the screen as well as the webcam at the same time (Figure 1). You might argue that this function is very common in online teaching apps, for example, Webinar (Figure 2). Yes, it is commonplace in live online teaching apps, but it is less usual in a screen recorder.

Screen-O-Matic records both the webcam and the screen

Webinar also allows you to show the screen and the webcam.

3. The price of the Pro version of Screen-O-Matic is unbeatable.

The price for pro version is unable to be beaten by other counterparts. As shown below in the picture, the pro version includes 8 more advanced features than the free version and only costs $15 yearly. In comparison with apps with similar features, which cost at least $30 a year, it is invincible.

Price for all these features is rock-bottom!

How to start without confusion

I am writing this part merely to help you avoid the confusion I had in the beginning.

1. DOWNLOAD: Sign up in screencast-o-matic.com, and click on "start recording". This click will take you to the page when you can download the app. Yes. We need to download the app. The free version is a web-based app, which means when you pay nothing, you need to have both the web page and the app open. 

2. ACTIVATE: After you download the app, click on "start recording" again. This time, the app should be activated automatically. You should be able to see the interface as in my picture.

3. RECORD: There are three options as I have told you in my video. You could choose to record the screen or the webcam or both. Click on your option and click "Rec" and then try out a small piece of singing performance. Stop the recording when you think you have had enough fun from it.

4. SHARE: You have to process it right after your recording. As a free user, you can download it as a video file or upload to Screencast-o-Matic or to Youtube. I would strongly recommend you to upload to Screencast-o-Matic as it gives you more possibilities afterwards. I don't like putting it onto Youtube as I don't like the potential exposure. Downloading it seemingly is a good option, but you will soon find out that you have lost the chance of uploading it through the app, and most importantly, THERE IS NO GOING BACK. The only place you can find your video is on your device. You cannot upload it to Screencast-O-Matic again.

How to teach English through it?

These activities are made for Form 3 students who are around 13-14 years old in Hong Kong. Teachers can adjust activities in accordance to the need of different age group.

1. Learn through video: Apparently, learners can study English through the recorded video. It is good for teaching grammar, vocabulary. Speaking and writing would be better off learnt in live-time chat.

2. Students' speaking test: Students can be asked to make a video introducing a tool or describing an incident. In this case, students can practice their speaking  as well as asynchronous presentation.

3. Students' listening practice (as Homework): Teacher can make a video of she playing a recording and pausing the recording when she raises the question about that part she just plays. 

Connections between screen recorder and English teaching

Unquestionably, one of the basic purposes of people using screen recorder is to educate. As technology develops, some classrooms have changed to virtual classrooms online. Screen recorder enables people to learn without the restrictions of time and space and make it possible for people to have online class with both pictures and voice. I am an online teacher myself, before screen recorder, I only use audio or video to have class. Now, however, I can share my documents or even my screen with students. This is very useful for instructors as well as people who learn online,

Advantages and limitations: 

Pros:

It is obviously the best screen recorder I have used so far. The functions are unarguably good among all its counterparts. 

Cons:

 1. The fact that it is a Web-based app makes it impossible to use offline,

2. There is a watermark at the bottom of the video

3. You need to process the video right after you finish recording or else you lose it forever

4. The time for the process is long. It takes the equivalent amount of time as the video itself to process, which means you make a 15 minutes video and you have to wait for another 15 minutes for it to process until you can make the next video.

Sources of information:

Some points in "Pros and Cons" are from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hqVBBdBWg4

Screencast-o-matic website: http://screencast-o-matic.com/home