Ed2go



1/27/14

Guidelines for Creating Screen Recordings

Would you like to demonstrate a series of steps or introduce software features, letting students see exactly what you're doing as if they were watching over your shoulder? Then screen recordings are the perfect tool.

Screen recordings (or screencasts) are videos that let you record what you're doing on your computer screen. You can create them with or without audio. For a few simple steps, you probably don't need audio. But for more involved tasks, narrating what you're doing is incredibly helpful. It's like you're right next to each student, explaining what you're doing and why. (If you create screencasts with audio, remember to provide a transcript of your narration so we can create closed captioning for students with hearing disabilities.)

We're very enthusiastic about the power of screen recordings, and we encourage you to use this tool as often as possible in your ILC or CTP. Many students learn so much better when they can see how to do something and have it explained at the same time. So be thinking of ways you can incorporate this tremendous teaching tool into each of your lessons!

Note

To spare you from going over instructions you've probably already read, we'll just jot down a few reminders here about your computer's necessary settings and how to install Jing. If you need more detailed instructions, please see the document "How to Create Screen Captures." It will walk you through all the setup and installation procedures step-by-step.

Computer Settings

Please make sure you're using the following color scheme, font size, and screen resolution settings for your computer's operating system.

|Operating System |Theme / Color Scheme |Font Size |Screen Resolution |

|Windows 8 |Windows |Normal |Recommended |

|Windows 7 |Windows 7 Basic | | |

Installing Jing

To create screen recordings, you'll need to have Jing installed on your computer. To get Jing, go to , and click the Free Download button. Follow the website's installation directions, and be sure to set Jing to start automatically so the Sun Launcher will appear at the top of your screen.

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Jing Sun Launcher

We'll walk you through exactly how to create screen recordings in the rest of this document, but if you'd like to watch a good video tutorial, you can access one on Jing's website: .

A Couple of Preliminaries

You need to do two things before creating your first screen recording: install Adobe's Flash Player and set up your microphone.

Installing Adobe's Flash Player

Since Jing records video in the Flash format (.swf files), you'll need to have Adobe's Flash Player installed on your computer. (Otherwise, you won't be able to play your screen recordings.) To install the Flash player, which is free and completely safe, go to Adobe's Flash Player website at , click the Download now button, and follow their site's directions.

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Adobe's Flash Player download page

Note: Unless you want to install Chrome as your default browser, make sure to uncheck the box next to that option before clicking Download now.

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Be sure to uncheck (deselect) this box

Getting and Setting Up a Microphone

To get the best sound recording, you'll need a microphone for your narration. We have USB microphone headsets available that we can mail to you (free of charge). Just let your DE know if you'd like to use one of ours. If you prefer to buy your own, please check with your DE for a list of recommended headsets.

Now let's walk through how to set up your microphone so it works with Jing.

1. Plug your microphone into your computer.

2. Hover your mouse over the Jing Sun Launcher so the three rays will appear.

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Jing's Sun Launcher rays (left to right: Capture, History, and More)

3. Click the More ray—it's the one on the right with the little gears.

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Click the More ray

4. This will bring up a big Jing sun, and you'll want to click the Preferences button (it has little gears on it too).

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Click the Preferences button

5. The Preferences options sun will pop up. Go to Audio input on the right side, and click the Select device button.

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Under Audio input, click Select device

A window will pop up, and you can choose your microphone device there.

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Select your microphone device here

6. Click OK, and the big Jing sun will reappear. Just click the Finish button (it has a check mark on it), and you're all set with your microphone.

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Click the Finish button

Okay, now that the preliminaries are out of the way, let's get to the fun stuff!

Creating a Screen Recording With Jing

Are you ready to create a screen recording? Then let's get going!

1. To start, you need to select the area on your computer screen that you want to record. So click on the left ray's Capture circle (the one with the crosshairs on it).

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Click the Capture ray

2. Jing's crosshairs will appear on your screen. There are several ways that you can select your area for recording. You can click and drag:

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Click and drag to capture recording area

You can also let Jing highlight an area and then click that to capture:

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Highlight and click to capture recording area

You can move the crosshairs to the edge of your application window (in these examples, the application is Word) and let Jing select the whole window. Then click to capture it:

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Move crosshairs to edge of application and click to capture recording area

Or you can hold down the SHIFT key while clicking the crosshairs to select an area with a 16:9 aspect ratio—you can see "16:9" in a red box in the image below. By the way, "16:9 aspect ratio" is just the technical term for selecting an area that will fit on a wide computer screen, which most of today's screen are.

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Hold down the SHIFT key, and then click and drag to select wide-screen dimensions to record

Feel free to experiment with the different capture methods, and use the one that's most comfortable for you. (If you'd like to learn more about capturing, here's a great little tutorial from Jing: .)

3. If you change your mind about which area to capture, just click the Redo selection button (it looks like a little arrow pointing left):

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The Redo selection button

This will let you start selecting all over again.

Tips for Selecting a Recording Area

• When selecting your recording area, be sure you don't show any personal information. For example, you most likely won't need to show the taskbar at the bottom of the screen that has all your programs pinned to it. Also, you don't want to show the date or time (unless that's important to what you're teaching).

• Try to avoid capturing unnecessary areas. One way to do this is to resize your application window to eliminate extra space before you take your capture.

• Make sure the Jing control bar (the bar that includes buttons such as Pause, Resume, Stop, and Cancel) is not within your recording area. We don’t want the students to be distracted by these controls. You should be able to move them to another area of your screen during recording.

In the rare situation that you must record your entire screen to show something specific, leaving no place to put the controls, you can start your recording with the controls in sight, then move the controls down below your toolbar and nearly out of site, and then move them back up again to stop your recording at the end. Your GA will edit out the front and back ends of your video where the controls are showing, so please do not begin speaking until you have moved the controls out of the way. If you are planning to do this and need more instruction, please ask your DE or GA for assistance.

• If it's practical, try to keep the areas you capture about the same size. For example, if most of your recordings in your early lessons are wider than they are tall (like the shape of most computer screens), try to avoid suddenly changing the shape to tall and skinny recordings later on. Consistency is helpful for students.

4. Okay, once you've selected the area you want to record, it's time to start recording! Click the Capture video button.

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Click the Capture video button to begin recording

5. You'll get a three-second countdown, and then you can start recording your mouse movements and narration.

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Three-second countdown to recording!

6. If you make a mistake while recording, you can press that arrow key, which is now the Restart key (instead of Redo selection).

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Click the Restart button to start over after a mistake

7. You can also pause while recording by clicking the Pause button—this comes in handy when you need to stop for a second and think about what you want to do next. And when you're ready to record again, just click the Resume button.

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The Pause button

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The Resume button

8. If you're not happy at all with your attempt, then just click the Cancel button and start over. No harm, no foul!

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Click the Cancel button to start over

Remember!

Even though Jing let's you make a recording that's up to five minutes long, ed2go's rule is to aim for around one minute (two minutes would be the maximum). One minute is the optimum length for screen recordings.

9. When you complete a recording that you're happy with, just click the Finish button.

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The Finish button

10. Then you'll need to name it with the same naming convention you'll use in the lesson. Remember what that looks like? You'll need the lesson number, chapter number, screen recording sequence, and a brief descriptive name. So if your recording is going in Lesson 5, Chapter 2, is the first recording, and the description is "Word Review tab," it would look like this: L05CH02-01-Word_Review_tab.swf. (And when you click Save, Jing will automatically save your recording as a SWF file.)

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Name and save your recording

11. Finally, save your screen recording in your Videos library, in a folder that will be easy for you to remember (perhaps the name of your program and "Screen Recordings").

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Saving your screen recording

As soon as you've finished your first screen recording, be sure to send it to your DE—an email attachment will work just fine for this first one. Later, we'll set you up with access to our folder, where you'll be able to upload all of your screen recordings and other videos for your program.

Your DE will forward your screen recording to the GA assigned to your program, and he or she will review it and provide you with feedback. Once the GA gives you the green light, then you can start making other screen recordings—and we hope you make lots of them!

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