BCS2000

School-Based Technology Goal
Our goal was to increase the use of “capture” technology this year. We planned to target screencasts specifically. We believed that this would increase instructional effectiveness and student achievement.

Students who had missed a class would be able to see the lesson at a time that worked for them. Students who had difficulty with the material were able to review the lesson a number of times and at their own pace, whether in or out of school.

Teachers would be able to provide instruction even if they were unable to be in class that day and had a substitute in the classroom. They would be able to refer students back to the information that had been taught in the screencast. Several teachers also wished to explore the idea of a “Flipped” classroom.

We used the SMART Recorder feature and connected audio out from our Soundfield systems into the audio in on the computer. The actual lesson can be recorded by using the SMART board or a computer.

We then created a SchoolTube account, with administrative permissions for the teachers to upload their videos. Then, students were given the links to the videos.

Highlights
The PreCalc 20 classroom became a hybrid flipped classroom. Some of the lessons were pre-recorded screencasts. The teacher who taught it is attending a conference this summer on flipped classrooms to hopefully set up the class completely flippe in the fall. Lessons were published on SchoolTube.

Screencasts were used in Information Processing 10/20 and Communication Media 20. They were published with Edmodo.

Screencasts were used for staff training with Google Docs. These were stored on the staff drive.

Challenges
Provide examples for teachers to demonstrate the value of this idea. Provide more teachers with the time and training to become comfortable using the technology and posting the lesson.

Recommendation
Screencasts work very well for demonstrating processes or sequences. 