My Paperless Classroom

Several years ago, I made a concerted effort to go paperless with my computer classes. I would like to share some of my success and failures. I have to admit, as time goes by and technology gets better, going paperless is getting much easier. In the beginning, I was either screen-checking assignments or having students email them to me. Now days, with Google Docs or the Share Point Site our school uses, things are a little smoother. Every student in each of my classes has an online drop box and Wiki. All projects and assignments are posted as PDFs or converted to graphics (for my DTP classes) and linked to student Wikis where I can quickly find them.

All of my assignments are linked to my three class Websites. Students can access them from school or home. Many of my lectures are captured on screencasts using Camtasia. Students can view most of them from home also. (Some are still stuck on the school's shared network). Most of the documents I am working on are in a Dropbox account where I can access them from home, school, Web, iPad, or iPhone. I have a classroom blog with Blogger to keep parents updated. My classroom is 99.9% in the cloud.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't hate paper. We did typed letters to former teachers that had made an impact on our lives a few months ago and we did print them. Some of the students didn't realize we have a laser printer in the back of the room because they had never used it up until that assignment. :)
What has going paperless done for me? First, I am more organized. My assignments are linked and available. No copies. I also don't carry papers back and forth to school and home. Assignments are in the cloud. I carried a briefcase for a few years, mainly out of habit or so I would have a spot to keep my school keys, but stopped earlier this year. My wife doesn't like it. She is a teacher also and does carry a lot of papers back and forth. But, it is working out well for me and my students. Once they are in the practice of uploading documents to their dropbox and linking to the Wiki, they do it without having to be told. It is great.

I enjoy being paperless!
If you are thinking about trying it, checkout such tools mentioned above as Google Docs, Google Sites, Weebly, Dropbox, Share Point, and others. Search my blog. I have talked about many of these tools as well. Start small and work into it. You will enjoy going paperless also.

Screencasting in the Classroom Part 1

This is the first in a three part series on screencasting in the classroom. First of all, many of you are asking what is screencasting? Well Wikipedia defines it as, "a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration." I have used screencasting in my classroom for over five years, and love it. All of my major lectures are saved on video. If students miss class, they can access my lecture at school the next day or from home (Example). This is great for me and my students. If students miss a 20 minute lecture on using Excel formulas, I don't need to repeat that lecture for one or two students. They can watch it on their own at home or when they return to class. Students can also revisit my lecture if they need to go back review a portion of it. They can simply fast-forward to the part they need to watch again. It is a win-win for everyone involved.

I am going to start at the top of the mountain with this first post. Camtasia Studio by Techsmith. I have used this program the most over the years to record, edit, and publish the majority of my screencasts. Here is an overview:



The great thing about Camtasia Studio is that it is full-featured. You can record, edit, and publish in one place and to multiple formats. You can use the Pan and Zoom feature, add titles and transitions, and it even has a PowerPoint add-in. It is powerful! There is stuff that I have not even used, and I have using this product for a long time. It is good (did I mention that?) But, the drawback is the price. At last check, it is $299 per license. Camtasia Studio is the leader in the market when it comes to screencasting. If you can afford it and will use it, I would get it. The next couple of posts will explore some less-costly options if you want to dive into screencasting with your classroom. Until then, thanks for visiting!

Use YouTube in the Classroom

By now, everyone has heard about YouTube. If you haven't, get out from under the rock you have been hiding and go check it out. YouTube has videos for almost any topic you can think of; some are silly and some are inappropriate, but many of them are fantastic teaching tools. Current event videos, informational videos, and especially (my favorite) software tutorials are among videos that can be used in your classroom. For example. . .

After Spring break, our Intro to Computers classes are doing a brief unit on computer hardware. Using YouTube, I was able to find three great videos for that unit. Computer Hardware in Plain English, What Components are Inside My Computer, and one on How to Install Computer Memory. I found them in less than five minutes. Not bad! Now I can talk about the concept of computer hardware with my students, and also show them a video each day to help them grasp the concepts.

Like some of you, I am very leery about just linking to resources on the Web, especially if I really like them. You never know when someone is going to remove information or change an address rendering my link useless. So, if I find a video to use in the classroom, I use a great Web site called KeepVid to let me download and save videos from YouTube or Google Video to my computer. That way, I always have them. If YouTube is blocked at your school, you can use KeepVid at home and then take the videos into school to use in class. You can download a free Flash video player here.

I have included a video below that I made with Camtasia to show how easy downloading a video off of YouTube can be. Enjoy.



Now head on over to YouTube, find a video to use in class, and use KeepVid.com to download it. Good luck!

Todd

Edit:
I love to learn new things! None other than Kathy Schrock just e-mailed to let me know that "The YouTube user agreement clearly outlines use of YouTube videos are to be embedded or used on their site. There is no provision for downloading locally."

Furthermore, Kathy has "been in contact with the YouTube team, asking about the fair use guidelines, and they agree that the best thing to do is to ask the person who created the video for permission to "rip" the video as you suggest and/or ask them to send you the original, since it is of better quality anyhow."

Another great lesson to use with our students when talking about copyright issues and online materials. Thanks for the information Kathy!