Screencasts

Screencasts are an amazing tool that make it so easy for teachers and librarians. It changes the game however it also means you have to plan plan plan ahead to ensure you can use this tool appropriately. If you know you have something difficult coming up you can create a quick screencast for your students that shows them how to access a website or be successful with a concept. Screencast-o-matic was a little problematic for me in the beginning. It took me about an hour to get it all figured out and able to actually record my screen. I think the culprit was I am low on space on my computer, so I had to delete a few things to make it happen. That being said once I got onto the site it was user-friendly, easy to use, and straight to the point.

I chose to create one of my screencasts on Padlet because you can utilize it in so many different ways in the classroom/library. There are so many different templates to use, and they are visually appealing. I really enjoyed using Padlet because it was simple and straight to the point. I feel like the students could grasp it easily, the only part that may be a struggle would be sharing it and saving it. On the free account, it only allows you to save three Padlets. I can see how that would go quickly, so the students would have to learn how to archive their Padlets which would just take time. You can save the Padlets as a PDF or a JPG file which I really like. This would allow them to be posted in another forum for all students to see. Students are even able to collaborate on eachothers' padlets if they share them with eachother. I can see Padlet being utilized in an author study for a biography as a timeline of the author's life. I can also see the timeline being utilized as a plot rollercoaster where the students can type in important events from the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYiQVC5Erk: Padlet Screencast

I chose to create my other screencast on Flipgrid because it is interactive and so engaging for the students. Flipgrid is user friendly for the librarian/teacher and the students even when technical difficulties arrive. I love the fact that you can get student input constantly throughout the year about things that are going on in the library. I also really like the Book Recommendation grid that can be utilized all year. Flipgrid is a site that can be accessed both at home and at school, so they can contribute to this forum at all times. This means they may put more thought into it. I love it that any student from any grade level can see the grids as long as they have the access code that could be specific to the library. This opens so many doors for the students. This is also a great way to introduce yourself or talk to the students about things that are upcoming in the library. They have a board that you can write on and you can also make a video and the students can respond specifically to that video. There is also not a limit to how many grids you can create for the students to reply to. You can make different grids for different grade levels to only access. You can create a book club and each week ask the students a question and have them respond to it. The possibilities are endless!

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYiQVM5E0x: Flipgrid Screencast

All in all after comparing these two applications, I must say that although they are both great for different purposes I feel like Flipgrid can be used more often in a library setting. It is engaging for the students and a great way to get them excited about the library itself. Since we see the entire school population, this makes it easier to organize the students by grade level or as an entire school, but still keep everyone aware of what is going on in the library at all times. What a great tool that is flexible to meet the needs of all of its users. I highly recommend it!