What is it? What does it do?
Camtasia is a sophisticated tool for recording, editing, and publishing your
screen videos. It is part of a group of tools used for
screencasting, in which you record whatever is playing on your computer screen,
to be played back, edited or embedded onto the net.
You can create software tutorials and
demonstrations in Flash and streaming video formats for your global audience.
Camtasia records all activity, including narration from a Windows PC screen,
edits clips, and then outputs files to RealMedia, Windows Media, Flash,
Quicktime, or other formats. Captions, text boxes, and graphics can be added
after the video is produced.
The latest version is Camtasia Studio 7 and it is
free to download and use for a 30 day trial period. Studio 7 has
enhanced caption support and a speech to text transcription facility.
You can Produce videos in Flash, send to
Screencast.com or directly publish to YouTube. The latest version comes with iPad compatibility
and a brand new iPad production preset.
There is a plug-in for Microsoft Power Point which I've tried already for a presentation on PLNs.
Other screencasting tools the are available are: Jing (see #12 link here), Snagit (both made by the same company, Techsmith) and ScreenR (TTV link here).
I only came across Camtasia a year ago, although
the company produced the first version in 2002. Since then I have
discovered Teacher Training Videos and the extensive use of Camtasia Studio to present training on web
tools for language teachers. This site is a total inspiration for
me as I have always been interested in creating and edited video – see my
separate page on this blog.
The Camtasia Studio 7 site has an extensive list of
training videos as well on its tutorials page. With the
iPad FastTrack app you can use the tutorials on the go.
 |
| Screenshot of the tracks and timeline |
Relevance to Language Learning: 'The
Flipped Classroom'
Camtasia has been used in Education in the US in
respect of the new methodology of the Flipped Classroom. As the name
suggests, the teaching model is turned around so that interactive,
teacher-created videos are watched outside of the physical classroom and 'homework'
moves to the classroom. Rather than instructing students at the same pace
within the class, students can receive the input/instruction at their own pace
and consequently can continue to learn with 1:1 tuition with the teacher back
in the classroom. Students have the opportunity to ask questions and work
through problems with the guidance of their teachers and the support of their
peers - creating a collaborative learning environment.
What are some benefits of this method?
- Gives teachers more time to spend 1:1 supporting students.
- Gets round the old issue of students learning in different ways and at different speeds.
- Avoids 'pitching' the lesson at the middle ability students - i.e. not boring the more able students and confusing the less able ones.
- Avoids time wasting in class and improves efficiency.
- Builds stronger student/teacher relationships.
- Offers a way for teachers to share information with parents.
- Produces the ability for students to “rewind” lessons and master topics.
- Creates a collaborative learning environment in the classroom.
- It is possible - it wasn't always!
- (adapted from Techsmith website)
A lot of the online material about the Flipped
Classroom namechecks Aaron Sams and Jonathon Bergmann, of Woodland Park, Colorado, who
were two of the first to 'flip'. For more information on them see this video.
Others argue that this began with Salman Khan and his collection of videos on Khan's Academy.
Click here for the TED talk he gave in March 2011. The feedback from Salman's cousins from 2.07 minutes in is interesting
for the idea of flipping.
How can it be used?
The traditional method of instructing students by showing a presentation, giving a talk, essentially teaching from the front is pointless. It is a waste of student time because students can do this by themselves in their own time, expose themselves to the content and repeat if necessary. When the students come to class the teacher is now free to work in smaller groups or 1:1 with them. The meaningful input, therefore, comes before class time and collaborative and constructivist understanding develops in classroom sessions. Questions and answers are much more manageable when the teacher is freed up.
Camtasia, as a screencasting tool, has everything a
teacher needs to develop online instruction/tutorial. Studio 7 is a more
sophisticated version of what was originally something quite similar to Windows
Movie Maker - which I have used zillions of times. Well, maybe
hundreds.
For my Professional Practice module, which followed
directly from my ICT in ELT module at Warwick, I have proposed to develop 6 hours
of instructional material using Camtasia but to show teachers how they can use
another tool, MyBrainshark (#6) with students. I have chosen to do this
for my project because of my strong interest in creating and editing
video. I have also put forward a dissertation proposal on using Camtasia
itself vis-a-vis the flipped classroom as there is not a lot of proper research
out there on using it within ELT.
SEE MY PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE PROJECT
PROPOSAL BELOW
To a large extent, flipping the classroom appeals
to me - not least, because my name is Philip and my nickname is 'Flip' !!
