This article was updated on March 15, 2021.
Screencasts are an innovative grading tool for instructors to provide personalized feedback for students in online courses, especially for students who require academic accommodation.
As an alternative—or addition—to traditional handwritten feedback, instructors may send short videos addressing specific sections of students’ assignments while orally discussing areas of difficulty and how to manage them.
Think of screencasts as a video blog or online demo in which instructors record reviewing a student’s assignment on their computer screen while providing formative feedback. Screencasting is valuable for auditory and visual learning styles and allows instructors to expand upon the written comments they place in their students’ work. Screencasts can also be helpful to resolve achievement gaps.
The benefits of screencasts are particularly evident in online courses which lack lectures, tutorials, and office hours. On-campus students can engage with their instructors and seek clarification. While online courses often provide opportunities for both one-on-one and classroom-wide video conferencing, variances in time-zones and schedules make them potentially inaccessible for many students. Screencasts offer a solution, allowing students to feel connected with their instructor and receive formative feedback they may access at any time.
Additional benefits of screencasting include:
- Discussing fundamental errors at length and opportunities to improve
- Using multiple analogies to help students understand concepts they struggle with
- Walking students through a problem or process step-by-step
- Explaining reasons for giving a specific grade
While some colleges and universities may have screen-recording software available to instructors, there are many free and accessible options available. Windows 10 users may use the free and secure Xbox app’s DVR function, and Mac users have access to the capability through the built-in QuickTime Player. These files can be uploaded to a public video sharing platform such as YouTube and linked in a comment while grading in Crowdmark. This makes the screencast easily accessible for your students, as well as giving them a direct reference in their graded assessment.
Screencasting may not be the most useful method for providing feedback to every student in a sizeable on-campus class; however, it is a valuable way to connect with and support students in distance learning and those who require extra support in class.
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About the Author: Dustin is a senior account manager with DesignedUX, providing communications and marketing strategy to organizations in education and technology. Dustin is also a part-time faculty member at Centennial College and serves on the board of the Canadian Public Relations Society.