ScreenCast-O-matic is video and audio screen capture software that can be used to create video from your screen (i.e. short lectures or course tours), that can be used online or downloaded and installed. (Note that the online version does not work well on Mac computers so it’s advisable to download) There are both free and subscription versions of this program. The subscription service, which costs 15euro/year, allows you to directly upload videos to Google Drive Drop Box and other cloud based storage facilities – in the free version you have to do it manually. The paid version has a wider range of tools including the ability to record webcam footage of yourself to embed in the screen cast, which could be useful for online teachers. The program operates on Windows and Mac and requires an updated Java plugin. For this review, I operated the program from a PC with Windows 7.
Usage
When users first visit the Screencast-O-Matic site, it can be difficult to navigate. The information is presented in a somewhat scattered way and is not linked very well. Simply recording videos, however, is straight forward. The website’s home page links directly to a two-minute instructional video that has all the information one might need to create a basic video very quickly. If the user has an updated Java plugin installed on his or her computer, he or she could easily record a video within five minutes of visiting the site’s homepage. Downloads, registration, and user accounts are not required, though there is an option to download the application to your computer.
Overall screen-cast-o-matic is a diverse and useful tool available to educators. Especially considering that the free features include such as screen and webcam recording, easy publishing features to YouTube as well as features that allow for the smooth transition from recording the screencast to saving as a video file. Then for those who are using the pro version they will have access to such feautres as recording software for computer audio, edit tools, draw and zeem, publishing features to Gogle Drive, Vimeo, Dropbox and a screenshot tool.
Tool Evaluation
