TOM DACCORD

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Making Thinking Visible through Screencasting

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A screencast is a video recording of the action taking place on the screen of a computer or mobile device. Teachers can use screencasting to create engaging and simple videos to help with student comprehension. Screencasting also allows students to document their learning in real-time. Students explain their thinking as they analyze a graph, draw a picture, solve an equation, or write a story. After creating a screencast, students can share that documentation with others for feedback. Teachers (or students’ peers) can provide valuable feedback and generate questions for reflection. 

As I  shared in my last post, screencasting is a powerful tool for formative assessment. When students create screencasts, they make their thinking visible, which allows the teacher to assess how students engage with content and the learning experience (process), but also allows teachers to measure student progress over time. A screencast can also serve as an assessment of product, allowing students to demonstrate how they think, feel, understand, and engage with what they have learned.

Teachers can use students’ screencasts to reflect on student learning, answering the following questions about each student: What do they understand? What are they missing? Where do they need more help? What type of help should I provide? 

Here are just a few examples of ideas for using screencasting as a formative assessment tool:

  • Presentation practice. Students can use screencasts to practice presentations, or to share a draft of their presentation or work with their teacher or peers. Practice screencasts then become a useful tool for feedback, but also a way to self-reflect and build upon one’s own work.

  • Performances. Students can use screencasts to document and share performances of music, performing arts, or physical education. Screencasts can document dramatic performances, musical compositions, or demonstrate a proper yoga pose. In distance learning, screencasts can help students connect and share their knowledge with each other in typically hands-on activities.

  • Reading practice. Students can practice reading fluency by creating a screencast of themselves reading a story out loud. The teacher can then review the screencast and see what areas students need help with or note areas of improvement.

  • Reflection for deeper learning. Students can use screencasting to showcase and reflect on their own work, whether it be a piece of artwork, an essay, or multimedia presentation. Reflection is a critical component of measuring student process and progress throughout an instructional unit or project.

  • Teaching peers. Students can create screencasts for peers explaining a newly learned concept. This allows students to both demonstrate their knowledge and to learn from each other. Teaching a concept provides a product that demonstrates student learning in a more meaningful way than most traditional assessments.

  • Teacher feedback. Teachers can leave audio or video comments on screencasts, providing feedback connected to the learning artifact. Comments in screencasts establish a conversation between student and teacher, creating an opportunity for deeper understanding of how to improve and grow.

Through screencasting, teachers get a glimpse of what each student understands and how they are engaging with content. This provides valuable insight into student learning and allows the teacher to better meet students’ needs. As one teacher remarked on her own learning journey, “If my algebra teacher could have just gotten inside my head and understood what I knew, and more importantly what I didn’t know, maybe these days I’d be able to balance my checkbook”. Particularly during the challenges of distance learning, screencasting can be a powerful tool for incorporating student voice into the assessment process.

Here are some helpful links to get you started with screencasting:

iOS Screen Recorder

  • Device: iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch)

  • Price: Free

  • Features:

    • Built-in feature with iOS 11 and later

    • Narration possible with microphone activated

    • Saves to Camera Roll or Photos

    • Can be exported to Google Drive/cloud-based locations

  • Supplemental resources:

Screencastify

QuickTime

The COVID-19 crisis and rapid transition to distance learning has upended the educational system. Why not view this disruption as an opportunity to reimagine learning, particularly assessment? Instead of a reliance on traditional assessment methods, educators can take advantage of educational technology tools that facilitate formative assessment, like screencasting. Screencasting tools help make student learning more visible, including demonstrating what students know and understand, but also how they feel and think about their own learning. On a broader scale, formative assessment can measure the product of student learning, as summative assessment does, but it can also measure student process and progress during the learning experience, providing a more complete picture of student learning.

For more details about each screencasting tool, view a previous blog post I wrote for EdTechTeacher, Screencasting Tools & Tips for Beginners.