SMART Board and Mathcasts - Step 2

I hope many of my readers had time to review the Math247 wiki and take a look at some of the screencasts that are being made by teachers and students.

Since my readers are users of SMART Boards, my solution for creating Mathcasts quickly and easily is to use your SMART Board and the Sketchcast website. Sketchcast will allow you to create, store, and share your Mathcasts. You don't need any other tools other than a SMART Board and a microphone (if you want to include audio).

Let's take a look at my Mathcast for using the distributive method of multiplication and then I'll show you the video of how I did it.

Mathcast: Distributive Method of Multiplication

Here is the video of me creating the Mathcast you just watched:

Go ahead and check out the Sketchcast site, I know you'll love it!

If you browse the Math 247 wiki, you'll find instructions for creating Mathcasts that include using various tools such as a writing tablet, a headset microphone, Camtasia Studio, Smart Notebook, VoiceThread, Jing, and/or Screencast. I think the advice is good and I especially like the VoiceThread application. However, writing tablets cost money, Camtasia Studio costs money ($179), Jing and Screencast are good but they have limitations. I also found it interesting that they recommend using the Notebook software without the purchase of Smart hardware. If you do not have a SMART Board or an Airliner tablet, you may be in violation of the software licensing agreement so be careful.

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Comments

[Tim Fahlberg]

Thanks for linking to our mathcasts wiki and for your kind words about what's on it.

Thanks for reminding me about Sketchcast! I look forward to linking to your work with it as another simple and inexpensive way for people to get started with mathcasting.

I'm now working to remove any notes on our wiki that suggest or encourage people use SMART Notebook software without a SMART product.

I'm very glad that InterWrite Learning has a much more open licensing system than SMART does since this will greatly encourage students in particular to use InterWrite Workspace software to create and share mathcasts, etc. Ah yes - It'll also be very helpful soon that InterWrite Workspace will work seamlessly with ExamView since ExamView dynamic questions that come with most math textbooks, etc make great starting points for mathcasts.

Tim Fahlberg
www.math247.pbwiki.com

[bdeamicis]

Hi,
Great blog--I hope you don't mind I have posted you on my smartboard wiki and blog for my teachers to access all your wonderful posts.

I am wondering why, if a person has a smartboard (with a recorder in the software) you would use sketchy? Is there something more there? Or is sketchy an alternative if you do not own a board? Just wondering. Thanks!

[Jim]

Great question about why I would use Sketchcast instead of Smart Recorder.

My answer is that using Sketchcast eliminates a number of the steps necessary to easily share the screencast. With Sketchcast, all you need to do is record the screencast and you're done. Sketchcast hosts the video and provides you with the URL or embed code to easily share what you've done. When using the Smart Recorder, you will need to find a place to host the video on the Internet and upload the .avi file. You may also need to convert file formats prior to sharing with others.

Since I'm focused on helping teachers new to this process, I'm recommending the use of Sketchcast to eliminate as many steps as possible. There is certainly nothing wrong with the Smart Recorder and I think it's a wonderful tool.

Hope that helps!

[bdeamicis]

Thanks! That explains a lot! So, even with my smart recorder, I am going through tow extra steps to get it posted as to just one. Great reason to try out Sketchy!

:)Bonita