Jing vs. Camtasia

I have created two screencasts this week using the programs Jing and Camtasia through the site TechSmith.  Both applications are very useful in any field, you will be able to record your screen with either one. Jing was very user friendly, there is a limit restriction so you can not create anything longer than five minutes. I wish this was a little longer, I felt as if I were speaking really fast and my video might be hard to follow because of that. Jing is a simple program and can be used at anytime with just a couple clicks on your desktop screen. Camtasia is not quite as user friendly but still simple enough to use and once I get a really good grip on it, I will be using this one for my screencast productions. I watched all the tutorials and felt like they put on a really great training, they want people to know what they are doing so they are successful with their creations. I like that there is not a time limit, you can talk all you want, I also like how you can include music, transitions, and the XL cursor. One con to Camtasia would be how it runs...at least on my computer. When I started the download the fan on my laptop started going crazy, then once I was in and was attempting a screencast it was extremely slow. I had to clear and clean the history and cookies and I even deleted a couple other programs just to make sure I had enough room. After all this, it worked fine. I am thankful I was able to have this experience, I now know how to capture a screencast and will be using the feature as often as possible in the near future.

Jing

I have always wondered how people record their screens while moving through it and talking at the same time. I am so glad I have been introduced to Jing. Jing was very easy and simple to use. I watched the tutorials and quickly figured out how to screencast. I chose to do my screencast on Twitter. The reason why I chose Twitter is because I had never really used it before and have always wanted to know what the buzz was about. I think I am hooked now and really want to use it for educational purposes rather than personal...until I have a handle on it. Some other web 2.0 applications I found very interesting were Blabberize, Storyjumper, and Voki. Each of these applications were very fun and students would be extremely engaged in the learning process. In Blabberize, you can use pictures provided or upload your own photos and make the mouth move and insert your voice. Learning activities, turning original kids artwork and being able to express themselves orally, and digital storytelling are just some of the features. One con to this was that I could not get it to play, could have been my computer. Storyjumper is where you can publish your own children's book online for free or hardback for a fee. Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them to blog, profile, or email messages. This program would help engage kids using technology.