Screencasts

media type="youtube" key="3fvuTqmMJV4?hl=en" height="406" width="500" This is my first screencast, which was about what a major scale is, and how it is constructed. I targeted it at  a high school music theory student. The screencast takes some background knowledge for granted, but I feel that  it could be followed pretty well by anyone. I made this one in garageband, and I would not do that again. The problem  for me was not that it was difficult to use. I actually found garageband very easy to use and appreciated the ability to cut and paste different takes. For me, I found creating the visuals to put into garageband in Skitch somewhat time consuming, as this screencast took me the longest out of all of them. media type="file" key="screencast minor.mp4" width="676" height="590" This second screencast, as the watermark tells you, was created using screencast-o-matic. After using many of the  browser based programs, this one was my favorite. I think the ability to focus recording on one portion of the most helpful things about using this program. I also really liked that fact that I was not limited on time, and that I had the option of either uploading the video or saving the file directly to my computer. This would seem useful, especially if a student did not have internet access at home. In the creation of this screencast, I learned a few things as well. First, I learned that I really need to script it pretty specifically, as I started over more times than I would care to remember. Also, I experienced some issues with getting the volume from the notation website to be as loud and clear as I would like it to be. I really feel that I did cover the content, minor scales, really well in this screencast. I feel that writing the scale and playing it while I discussed it would be helpful to students. I also liked the piano picture that I used, I felt it was really helpful in describing what I was doing. If I had more time, I would have spent more time on some of the variations, like the melodic and harmonic minor scales, I really feel that they should be included, but felt that each could have gotten a bit more time. media type="custom" key="8198568" I found that using jing for making this screencast made the process easier for me. I really appreciated that it gave me the ability to pause my recording, as this gave me the time to collect my thoughts that I sometimes need. This problem was something that caused me to have to do several additional takes on some of the other screen recording tools, and I am glad that I was able to avoid it for this screencast. In terms of content of the screencast, I really feel that this is one of the the best ones that I recorded. I feel that I was able to use my different resources, like charts, notation, visuals, and audio very well in this screencast, and that all the elements seemed to work well. If I have one problem with it, is that I was not able to plug my guitar directly into the computer. media type="custom" key="8158994" width="280" height="280" media type="custom" key="8159158" width="270" height="270" I personally enjoyed using screenr for making this screencast for a few reasons. One is that is was another browser based screen recorded that gave me the option of only recording a portion of my screen. Another thing I liked about the service is that it makes it very easy to record and then send a video right to twitter. As twitter gets more popular, this could be a really valuable way to get information to students in a way that they are more likely to visit on their own. On a personal note, using screenr prompted me to re-activate my twitter account(@DPitnell), and I have already seen benefits as there are several article that the people that I follow posted I would not have read otherwise. On the downside, while the 5 minute limit fits the twitter format well, it is one that I do not like for the screencast. I prefer to do it in one take, and I feel stopping disturbes my flow a bit. As for the content, I feel this screencast has a lot of quality work in it. I attempted to engage many type of learners through the use of charts, notation software, visual aids, and audio examples. However, I feel that intervals is a particularly dry subject in music theory, and wish I had a few clever ways of making it more engaging.
 * Screencasts **
 * Major Scale Screencast **
 * Minor Scale Screencast **
 * Triads Screencast **
 * Intervals Screencast **