When teaching hybrid or fully online courses, one effective teaching approach is to create screencasts to explain course content and concepts. Our friends at Wikipedia define a screencast as “a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration. The term screencast compares with the related term screenshot; whereas screenshot generates a single picture of a computer screen, a screencast is essentially a movie of the changes over time that a user sees on a computer screen, enhanced with audio narration.”

I typically create screencasts to either record a narrated slide presentation to share with students via the course Web site (or learning management system) or to create a demo of a particular technology tool or resource. Faculty who teach different types of quantitative courses (e.g., mathematics, statistics) might also create pencasts, which are video recordings that capture writing or annotating with narration. Screencasts and pencasts work really well to capture processes and to “make thinking visible.”

Screencasting tool options
I’ve written about creating screencasts with Office Mix, but there are a number of different tools you can use. Mac users can quickly and easily create basic screencasts using QuickTime Recorder. Windows 10 users can use the built-in screen recorder. If you want more features and editing capabilities, you might want to explore either Screenflow (my personal favorite) or Camtasia. There are a number of other possibilities as well.

So which tool is right for you? I always suggest finding the tool with the fewest features that will enable you to create what you want to create. So, for example, if you just want to make a quick recording of your screen to demonstrate how to use a Web site, I’d use QuickTime or the Windows screen recorder. If you want to record a narrated slide show with some checks for understanding, Office Mix is probably the best bet. If you know you’ll need multiple takes and want the potential to edit what you’ve recorded, you might want to opt for a more feature-rich tool like Screenflow or Camtasia. More important than the tool, is how you prepare for and actually record your content. The following tips will help you to address these points and get started.
 
Screencasting tips

1. Preparation is key. There are few things more annoying than watching a rambling, disjointed video presentation. While the content doesn’t need to be scripted or fully storyboarded out, you should at least begin with a careful outline of your content. This will help you to make sure that you cover all the key points you desire, ensure that they are appropriately sequenced, and that you stay with the program as you record your video. If you want to provide examples as you go, be sure to determine them in advance so that you’re not fumbling around for an example on the fly that might not help you make your point in the most effective way. Finally, if you’re demonstrating software or a Web site, be sure you have the appropriate login information and note and run through the steps in advance so that the demo flows smoothly.
2. Plan for interactivity. Even a series of brief videos can lose students’ attention. It’s critical to plan for different kinds of experiences and interactivity in the screencast. I typically break a longer screencast into short “chunks” that I intersperse with questions to consider, a diagram to complete, or some sort of quiz or input similar to what you can do with Office Mix. If you’re not able to chunk your content, I’d suggest either incorporating prompts that encourage the viewer to pause the video and consider an idea or provide some sort of companion worksheet or organizer that students can complete as they watch the video. Any of these strategies promote greater student engagement than just passively watching a video, no matter how well planned and produced.
3. Capture good audio. Speaking of production, it’s critical to capture good quality audio for your narration. While you might be able to capture decent quality audio from a laptop’s built-in microphone, I’d suggest investing in a good quality headset/microphone (I like the Logitech H390) or a USB condenser microphone (my favorite is the Samson C01U Pro).
4. Scripts help for clarity. This is maybe the most “controversial” tip in the list. Some would argue that the most engaging screencasts are more conversational and less scripted. This is certainly true when read in a monotone voice, but I think there are benefits to scripting your content. First, it helps to ensure that you stick to the outline of the content. More importantly, though, it gives you the opportunity to think through the best examples, illustrations, and nuances of what you’re presenting. It also helps me to be more engaging, I think, than if I’m having to think things through as I’m speaking. It makes the recording process go much more quickly. And it helps dramatically with the final recommendation.
5. Make your content accessible. If you’re creating screencasts for your courses, they should be accessible to all learners. This means that they should be close captioned – ideally word for word. You might also include an outline or script of your content with the videos, but this doesn’t technically meet the standards of ADA compliance.  This is one limitation with using one of the free software options above. To my knowledge, I don’t believe you can add captions with these. With Screenflow or Camtasia, however, it’s much easier to add captions. If you’ve scripted your content, it’s as simple as copy/paste.

 
I hope that these recommendations will help you to “up your game” when it comes to creating screencasts in the classroom. I’m still relatively new to the process and have a lot to learn myself. If you’ve been screencasting and have additional ideas and advice, please share with the community through a comment below.

What else do you consider in creating screencast recordings?
Please post your comments below. 

Like you, I imagine, I read a lot of documents, including journal articles, student assignments, documents from Web sites, and even digital books. For me to process the information effectively, I find that I need to mark them up. In fact, before I got my first iPad and nubby stylus, I preferred printed copies of documents for this reason. I felt like if I couldn’t highlight ideas and add my own notes, I wasn’t really getting the most out of them.
 
Of course, printed documents have limitations. First, there’s the simple cost of printing. You then need to organize and store the printed documents somewhere. And invariably, I always need to review my notes on a document when I don’t have it physically with me. For all these reasons, I prefer digital annotations and notes. Fortunately over time, apps that enable users to mark up and annotate digital documents have improved greatly. Then, either within the app, or via a cloud storage service like Box or Dropbox, you can organize your documents in folders that can then be accessed on any device.
 
My history with digital annotation
Over the years, I’ve tried a range of tools, devices and apps to annotate documents. One of the earlier tools I remember using for this purpose was the Kindle DX. The large format of the device (9.7 inches) and the ability to highlight text and even type notes was promising. Unfortunately, the rather clunky highlighting interface, awkward keyboard, and extreme difficulty in accessing notes later turned me off.
 
With the release of the iPad, though, the options and capabilities improved drastically. Dozens of apps are available – some for free like Adobe Reader, and others that cost anywhere from $2.99 to $9.99. Of course, each has different features and a unique look and feel. I'm sure I’ve used them all at one point or another. In fact, when I look back through my download history, it looks like I’ve tested about 12 different PDF annotation tools.
 
Key features
When you search for an app, particularly when there are a number of alternatives available, it helps to know what you’re looking for. You might have different needs, but for me, I want:

• a really intuitive interface that makes scrolling through pages easy and fast.
• the ability to make both highlights and handwritten notes.
• an easy way to share annotated files via email.
• connections with cloud services so that I can easily get documents into and out of the app.
• an easy way to see and review the annotations I’ve made and link back to the original text.

 
The following three apps both meet my criteria and I’ve found work very well. The reviews below are by no means exhaustive, but I hope they’ll help provide at least some guidance as you select one of these or begin to continue your search for the ideal app.
 
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Acrobat Reader is a simple, but effective free annotation app. The interface makes it easy to read documents and add simple annotations, including highlighting text and adding typed notes. You can also securely sign documents as well. Adobe offers a free Adobe Cloud service to store your documents. A variety of in-app purchases allow users to convert PDF’s to Word or Excel documents, create PDF’s, etc. All in all, while somewhat basic in its free version, Reader is a good app to help you get started annotating PDF’s.

LiquidText
LiquidText is a relatively new entry in the document annotation marketplace. In many ways it’s similar to Acrobat Reader, with a different approach to viewing your notes and highlights. One interesting feature is the ability to take a snapshot image of a portion of a document as a highlight, which is great for more graphic intensive documents. Each of the highlights you make in a document are “popped out” to the margin outside the document itself.

This view provides a great way to review the various notes and annotations you’ve made throughout a document. If you want to view the context for a particular note, just click on the bubble in the margin, and it takes you directly to that portion of the document. It also provides a nifty feature that allows you to “pinch” two portions of a document together to compare different sections. You can also reorder, arrange and even link multiple notes or highlights in the margin to help you to synthesize the content. Honestly, this one app I’m still trying to get my head around, but it’s a really innovative approach that’s unique to this app. To really get a sense for how LiquidText works, I suggest you watch this video overview.
 
iAnnotate PDF
In my review of the iPad Pro, I mentioned how much I enjoyed annotating PDF files on the device using PDF Highlighter.  I also really like iAnnotate PDF, a full-featured app that adds some useful additional features. It includes many of the features I mentioned in the first two apps above, plus several others. With iAnnotate, you can annotate not only PDF files, but also Word documents and PowerPoint slides. This comes in really handy for providing feedback on student work. You can modify the color and thickness of your highlighter or pen with a really quick and intuitive interface. You can open and save documents directly from a variety of cloud storage services including Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and OneDrive. One feature I find really useful that is unique to iAnnotate is the ability to email yourself a summary of annotations. All things considered, if you’re serious about using your tablet to annotate documents, the $9.99 price tag for iAnnotate is a real bargain.
 
What tools do you use to annotate and organize documents?
Please post your comments below. 

I try not to get too seduced by technology tools. It’s an occupational hazard, though, when your academic focus happens to be educational technology. I try to “keep my distance” in many respects, because my field has a long history of evangelism. Seymour Papert from MIT called it “technocentrism” to describe when one’s primary focus is on the technology rather than on teaching and learning. You have to be careful to avoid the “hammer in search of a nail” phenomenon.
 
When Apple announced the release of the iPad Pro back in November, I tried not to read the press releases or watch the introductory video. For the most part, I was successful in my avoidance. Then when it was actually released in December, I tried to avoid reading the myriad reviews. I didn’t fare as well there. And, when my Dean offered to loan me his iPad Pro setup, it was all over for me. I couldn’t help but dive in, explore the features and really try to understand how well this new device and related accessories would meet the needs of most academics. Please note, this won’t be an exhaustive or very technical review (find those here and here). I was just interested in seeing how it stood up to the main kinds of tasks academics might use it for.
 
First, what is the iPad Pro?
The iPad Pro is a really big iPad. So big it almost looks silly. If you have a standard iPad in front of you, imagine two of them side to side mashed together and you roughly have a sense of the size of this thing. It has a 12.9 inch screen, which is equivalent to “medium sized” laptops. If you’re used to working with an iPad (or especially an iPad mini) it seems “goofily” big. Interestingly, though, it’s still very thin and light – noticeably lighter than my 11-inch MacBook Air. The size certainly takes some getting used to, though.
 
One other way that it differs from either the iPad or iPad Mini is the power. This is a really, really fast device. You unlock it with a thumb scan on the home button. It’s so quick that you almost don’t need to consciously pause. Once logged in, an app like Microsoft Word launches instantly. Think about that. You can roll into a meeting, and in less than five seconds you can be logged in and typing in Word. Also unlike the iPad or Mini, Apple makes its own keyboard cover. I’m typing this review on that keyboard and I’ll tell you it’s almost as good as the excellent keyboard on my MacBook. I’ve been using a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year or so and this keyboard (and whole experience) is heads and shoulders above. More than just a handy device to play a game, read a book, or watch a video, this is a serious computer.
 
It’s almost a laptop replacement
Let’s get this part out of the way. Nearly every review published since December tried to answer the question of whether the iPad Pro could replace your laptop. Honestly, as powerful as this is and with as many Apps available in the iTunes Store, it would still be difficult for most people to replace their laptop with an iPad Pro. For one thing, while you can link up with your cloud storage services (I have Dropbox, OneDrive and Box all linked and working smoothly), it can still be difficult to figure out how to get a file onto your device if you don’t live in the cloud, or get an attached file out of an email, edit it, and then send it back. All these things can be done, but you have to want to figure it out. This is one of those areas that doesn’t “just work” right out of the box.
 
That said, the Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook) are great on the iPad Pro. You can, of course, get these on your iPhone or iPad, but the larger screen and the keyboard cover make them much, much more useable. In fact, the experience is so good, I find myself picking the iPad up rather than my MacBook most of the time. The App Store is great for Apple devices. Compared with the relatively minuscule offerings for the Surface, you can find just about any app for the iPad Pro. Though many don’t yet take advantage of the larger screen as well as they might, I’m sure they will in time. 
 
All in all, if you find yourself mostly living in email, editing Word and PowerPoint documents, browsing the Web and using apps, the iPad Pro would probably work well for you – if you’re willing to figure out how to accomplish some things that you take for granted on your computer. For example, if you rely on sharing a lot of files via flash drives, need multiple monitors, edit lots of video, or record podcasts, while you can probably make this work, I’m not sure it would be worth the effort.
 
Document reading and annotating is a game changer
Most academics read a lot of documents. In a given week, I refer to several books, dozens of PDF files, read over students’ Word documents, and explore Web resources. All are amazing on the iPad Pro. Unlike a Kindle or typical tablet, you don’t need to squint to read the text or do a lot of scrolling to fit a reasonable page size on the screen. An A4 (letter-sized) document fits nearly perfectly on the screen. So, when you’re reading a PDF of a journal article on this device, it’s the perfect size. Same for Word documents. And for me, it’s so much more comfortable to read on a flat screen than on the monitor of a computer. Assuming you read a lot, this experience alone almost makes it worth purchasing.
 
When you add the Apple Pencil to the mix, it is like magic. When I’m reading something, to really understand it, I have to mark it up. I’ve been trying different PDF annotation apps and different styli for years on my iPad and for the last year on my Surface Pro. Nothing comes even close to writing on the screen compared with the Pencil. You can write with such precision that you can make legible handwritten notes on a PDF document as easily as writing on a piece of paper. Using an app like PDF Highlighter you can change from a pen to a highlighter, adjust the colors, etc. with a single button. It is an outstanding experience.
 
The other experience I really enjoy is handwriting notes in meetings and just to capture my ideas. Using the Pencil with an app like Apple’s built in Notes app, Evernote, or Penultimate is a great way to take, organize and store handwritten notes on your iPad Pro. With MyScript Memo you can even translate handwritten text into printed digital text. Even with my chicken scratch, this works great. The Pencil and these apps also enable me to do some Sketchnoting – which is all but impossible with a typical nubby stylis on a tablet. For me at least, this ability to interact with an excellent stylus on a tablet has me sold on this device.
 
Is it right for you?
I’d argue that the iPad Pro isn’t right for everyone. First of all, it’s expensive (they range from $799-1079). You also have to buy the keyboard and Pencil separately. This combined cost quickly climbs up to MacBook Pro or a nice Windows laptop price point quickly. But, I think if you value really great performance, an excellent touch interface, the ability to read and annotate full size documents very comfortably, then you’ll have to weigh the cost.
 
I think given how much reading, annotating and note taking I do, it will be painful for me to return this device to its rightful owner. I’m just hoping I can scrape together enough grant money to buy my own.

What do you think of the iPad Pro?
Please post your comments below. 

I’m working with a team here at William & Mary to design and facilitate a faculty seminar series on personalizing learning in our teaching. I’m really excited to be working with a faculty colleague from Modern Languages and two senior academic technologists to plan what we hope will be an energizing and productive experience. Our goal for the participants is for them to redesign a course syllabus or project to provide students with more choice and opportunities to personalize the learning experience. For faithful Luminaris readers, you won’t be surprised to hear that I’ll be working to weave in Universal Design for Learning principles throughout.
 
As we plan out the sessions, I’ve begun to do some background reading on personalized learning in higher education. I recently wrote about what higher ed can learn from K-12 in relation to personalized learning, but I’m just now digging into the topic from the higher ed perspective. In this post, I’ll summarize a few of my key “ah-ha” moments and finish with a selected reading list if you’re interested in digging deeper into the topic.
 
Key points related to personalized learning in higher ed
It seems to me that personalized learning is typically conceptualized a little differently in higher ed than in K-12. It seems that there is less emphasis on the instructional design side of things, with more emphasis on tools and structures in higher ed. Specifically, as I read through some of the following sources, the following major assumptions or areas of emphasis emerged:

• Personalized learning efforts allow students to move through a course, program or degree at their own pace.
• Courses and programs should be competency-based; this helps, in part, to bridge formal and informal learning experiences.
• Learning analytics connected with the course learning management system can help instructors track student progress, identify areas for further work, and ensure that students master relevant competencies.
• Adaptive learning software, while expensive, is critical to truly personalize the learning experience for students in online or hybrid courses.
• Personalized learning should open up multiple pathways for students to earn their degrees.

 
If one or more of these aspects of personalized learning is of interest to you, I encourage you to explore the following resources that I found helpful in understanding the basics and different aspects of the topic.
 
Selected readings to explore personalized learning in higher ed
What is Personalized Learning from Northern Arizona University provides a nice overview of the approach that has been recognized by a number of groups including Educause, the Gates Foundation and Next Generation Learning Challenges as an exemplary model. The page provides a nice overview of the model, including how their approach to personalization goes beyond more typical online learning approaches to personalization.
 
The Coming Era of Personalized Learning Paths by Peter Smith for Educause Review traces the historical development of personalized learning in higher education. He goes on to argue how powerful learning analytics and adaptive learning tools provide us the capacity to scale these approaches throughout higher education.
 
The ‘Personalization’ of Higher Education: Using Technology to Enhance the College Experience by Louis Soares for the Center for American Progress overviews how technology tools can help to personalize the learning experience for college students. Specifically, Soares explores how technologies can personalize how students interact with and learn from content, how they can identify courses in which to enroll, and how they can motivate students to persist in college.
 
Adaptive Learning Technologies by Brian Fleming for Eduventures explores one key component of technology-based personalization efforts: adaptive learning tools. The post highlights the key features of adaptive learning and features the work of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon as an example.
 
The Personalized Learning portal from Educause provides an excellent jumping off point to explore key topics and concepts related to personalized learning. Of the resources posted there, I particularly recommend 7 Things You Should Read about Personalized Learning, The Coming Era of Personalized Learning Paths, and the very cleverly named, Bigfoot, Goldilocks, and Moonshots: A Report from the Frontiers of Personalized Learning.

What readings would you add to the list?
Please post your comments below. 

I wrote this post with a colleague of mine, Adam Barger. Adam is a Senior Academic Technology Specialist at the College of William & Mary and a doctoral candidate in the Curriculum and Educational Technology in the School of Education at William & Mary.

Instructional design models can make planning for teaching seem a bit like assembling a piece of furniture from IKEA – tedious and challenging. Many of the models we’ve come across distill the planning approach to a set of rigid tasks and procedures. In many models it’s hard to see any evidence of what many call the “art” in teaching. It can also be difficult to see any evidence of considering the needs and motivations of the learners as well.
 
Choosing tools and approaches to integrate technology in teaching can be challenging as well. It can be difficult to consider how the technology might add value to the lesson – particularly from the student’s perspective. One way to think about this is in terms of motivation. In what ways can the use of technology encourage students to engage more fully in their learning?

The ARCS model takes an approach to instructional design that can help faculty with both of these challenges. As faculty think through the different steps of the model, they focus on students’ motivation for learning. Motivation is enhanced and sustained by addressing the four aspects of ARCS: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Careful attention to these aspects helps instructors design instruction that motivates students to engage with the content in meaningful ways. In this post, we explore the model as well as ways that technology can enhance and/or support each of these elements in practice.
 
Overview of the ARCS model

• Attention: arousing perception and/or a sense of inquiry.
  -This aspect of ARCS is often addressed first as teachers seek to grab learners’ attention and pique curiosity. Examples include novelty or humor in the form of a story or real-life application of the topic. Other options include using multiple forms of content representation and active learner participation early in the lesson.
• Relevance: establishing the importance or usefulness of the content knowledge or skill.
  -A clear sense of value for newly formed knowledge and a clear connection to prior knowledge is an essential aspect for motivating learners to engage in new or potentially difficult tasks. For example, an illustration of how the new knowledge will serve the learner in the future will reinforce worth. Other strategies include modeling relevant skills and providing students choice in their learning.
• Confidence: providing an established path to success with teacher feedback and learner input along the way.
  -Learners benefit from incremental success as they work towards a clearly defined goal. Well-stated learning objectives and achievement goals shape the likelihood of success and help learners stay motivated. Success that is scaffolded and earned through practice motivates students as they enjoy some control of their learning.
• Satisfaction: attaining a meaningful sense of achievement.
  -Opportunities for using new knowledge, receiving constructive feedback, and rewarding rigor and achievement are all strategies for enhancing motivation through satisfaction. As learners find satisfaction in their learning experiences, they will more fully appreciate their efforts going forward.

 
Leveraging technology to support ARCS
The ARCS model can provide a helpful frame within which to consider how technologies can contribute to student learning. Below we offer a sampling of technology tools and resources that can support each component of the ARCS model.
 
Attention – Many different uses of technology can help to capture and maintain students’ attention. For example, targeted video clips, which can be created by the professor, can present content in a rich way that often complements course readings or presentations. Similarly, digital simulations, animations or demonstrations provide multiple means of representing the content that can support the needs of diverse learners in the classroom. 
 
Relevance – Authenticity and relevance of learning can be enhanced through the use of technology. Engaging students in problem-based learning and inquiry using real data and sources available online promotes deeper learning. Similarly, when students are able to create products of the learning and share them with a wide and authentic audience, as in this example of student-created TED talks, they work harder, complete more revisions and have a greater sense of ownership in their learning.
 
Confidence – When students can learn about and practice important skills and processes from their courses using technology, they develop their confidence. Video-based tutorials and short courses can help break down complex tasks and procedures and allow students to review them as much as needed. When students can practice procedures using online tools and supports, they can practice in a “safe” environment prior to class. By learning and practicing in an online environment, students can develop increased confidence in their own learning and capacity.
 
Satisfaction – Students gain a sense of reward and positive feedback through digital tools that facilitate discourse, community, and real-world applications. Learning management systems such as Edmodo have built-in rewards that provide positive feedback through badges. Also, teachers can provide specific written praise by posting comments on a student’s wall or sending a file with written feedback. Other examples include built-in assessments or self-checks in video module builders such as NearPod or Microsoft Mix. These strategies provide more immediate satisfaction by equipping the learner with immediate feedback and opportunities to apply their knowledge.

How do you try to encourage motivation for learning through the use of technology in your planning?
Please post your comments below.