Screencast-o-matic - a Useful Tool and Platform for Video Homework

Screencast-o-matic is a tool that can be used in language teaching. It consists of two parts: software for editing videos and a web platform for sharing.





The Website of Sceencast-o-matic




The App of Sceencast-o-matic on Ipad



This software is available both for mobile and pc. This article will mainly introduce the mobile version of the software.

This software allows for screen recording and some relatively basic video editing, such as changing its length, adding background music, using filters and so on. A very useful function is that you can make a recording of yourself and add it into another video. Thus, a video with an introduction video by yourself is made easily. This is useful both for teachers to record a lecture video and students to make a presentation and share it with others.



Once the users have finished editing the video, they can upload it directly to their accounts on Screencast-o-matic's website. When they log in to the website, they can upload their videos to channels. Teachers could create a channel for their class and ask students to upload their videos for homework. With a channel, students can also access their peers' videos easily.



I have to say that, if Screencast-o-matic is considered as a video editing software only, it may not be good enough. First of all, only basic functions are free. Others require a paid subscription. And if you don't have a subscription, the software will often pop-up subscription ads, which is quite annoying. As there are many other free software which are better at editing videos than this one, if you just want a tool for recording your screen or editing a video, Screencast-o-matic is not the best choice. 

However, I think the advantage of this software is that you can post videos to its platform quickly and share them with others, which is helpful for encouraging students to interact with each other, such as watching others' pieces and making comments on them.




Comments

  1. Yifan11 March 2023 at 11:10

    Thank you Yuqi for sharing this tool for us. I've download it in my ipad after reading this blog. It's so convenient to use on mobile devices.

    ReplyDelete

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