Using Camtasia

Another technology platform I'd like to learn more about is Camtasia. I bought this for school and I find it fairly user friendly. One of the things I really like about Camtasia is that I can record specific areas of my screen, so I can record a YouTube video only and leave out the often inappropriate comments people leave. Then I can take that recording and embed it other presentations, like Prezi or Piktochart. It gives the video a clean, uncluttered appearance so the viewer can focus on what I want them to see.

So I know a little about Camtasia, but there is more to learn. Sometimes I get frustrated with it, but more than likely that is related to my tendency
         
              to bypass reading the directions
                        
                                   and instead to just..... 

And now my secret's out! So I decided that since Camtasia has a whole set of Tutorial Videos that maybe I should take a look.  I found quite a few that were interesting. Camtasia Course covers the basics  - most of which I figured out on my own, albeit with some difficulty.  For those who like to read the directions first, these videos are well done and short - about 4 minutes each. There's also Cool Examples which cover some of the finer points, such as using the green screen effect on Macs. This looks really fun. I may play with this idea over the summer. Using the green screen effect allows you to interact with the presentation as if you are in the presentation itself, like this:

Some of the Cool Examples are just written out - no video. There is also information on how to share to iOS and Android devices. This is definitely something I want to explore, since students would be very interested in videos that are mobile friendly. There is also a Trouble shooting section called Common Issues. Finally, there's More Resources that has links to technical support, TechSmith blog, newsletters, the Camtasia product page, and of course the tag for social media. I found an interesting article about building instructor presence in an online course using the video feature of Camtasia. Access the article here.

Another blog caught my eye about using Camtasia to put together a video of recorded clips from students phones. I don't know if Camtasia would have any advantages over iMovie or other video software, but I like the idea of students creating an educational video as a collaborative project. Check out the article here.

Out of curiosity I looked for any journal articles about Camtasia and found one by Carpenter, Theeke, and Smothers (2013) in Nurse Educator entitled Enhancing Course Grades and Evaluations Using Distance Education Technologies. The authors used Camtasia to present course material in the classroom while recording the lecture. They then saved the recording as a podcast that students could upload to their mobile devices. Students appreciated being able to listen and watch lecture over and over. Carpenter, Theeke, and Smothers (2013) assert,

"These contemporary methods not only meet the expectation  of today’s learners, who are comfortable with receiving

and studying information electronically, but also can actually result in improved ratings of teacher effectiveness" (p. 116).  

The authors suggest further research to see how using Camtasia and other similar technologies impact student outcomes. Very interesting!

Lots to think about until next time!

Maryanne