It was quite easy to capture the video, including audio using my webcam. I could then save the video to my computer. However, I then started to encounter problems! I had to download a Shockwave Flash Player to view the video on my computer (outside the Jing program). I thought I could then insert the video into my Blog directly from where I saved it, but alas that did not work as Blogger encountered a problem processing the video. Then I decided I must have to upload it to the Jing web hosting application - screencast.com - and three attempts resulted in an error message saying the upload was not successful! The fourth attempt worked, though it took far longer the the "seconds" the promo video for Jing claimed! After spending a disproportionate amount of time trying to get this thing working, I finally did and have embedded it in my Blog.
I really like the potential of this application, and it was really simple to create the video. However I am disappointed (to say the least) with how difficult it was to get started with sharing videos. I got there in the end, though it took a very long time. If it was that unreliable every time I wanted to share a video screen capture with learners I certainly wouldn't make it a regular feature in my teaching!
The free version of Jing only allows you to save the videos in a .swf format, which requires a shockwave flash player to view and cannot be edited except with Camtasia Studio software (another TechSmith product). The Jing Pro version however, which costs $14.95 per year, allows you to save in a .mp4 format, which would be much more workable. Given the potential of the tool, if I was teaching new ICTs to learners often, I would seriously consider the Jing Pro version. Fairly inexpensive, and the videos shuld be much easier to work with and share in .mp4 format. Given the problems I found with the free version though, I would of course make use of the 30 day free trial before I subscribed!
I have completed an analysis of the use of Jing in teaching, using de Bono's six thinking hats to frame my reflections.
I have some thoughts about how I might use Jing in eLearning.
Reflections:
My learning: I have seen numerous videos like those created with Jing - videos capturing activity on a computer screen. I always find these really helpful, and I much prefer these to reading pages of instructions with screen dumps. I really liked creating the video, and the end result that is embedded in my blog. However for everything in between (trying to save it to my computer, insert it into my blog, upload it to screencast.com) I was tearing my hair out! In the end, out of all of the help forums I explored trying to solve the issue, I am concluding it was a case that there was a lot of traffic on the screencast.com server. It is useful to know that the process might not always be as straightforward as promoted.
Potential applications in eLearning: I think the most obvious application for videos created with Jing is to provide tuition to learners in different programs and applications they are learning. There are though other potential applications. There are also ways Jing could be employed in teaching by the teacher using the program or learners themselves using the program. Two examples of potential applications for Glogs in eLearning are:
Example 1: Learners submit digital items for assessment. The teacher used Jing to provide feedback to students on their assessment piece, making it possible to refer directly to aspects of the assessment and record audio comments. The url link for each student's feedback Jing video is then emailed to them.
Example 2: Learners produce Jing videos for any questions they have about programs, websites or other online applications the class is using. They post their videos to the class wiki. Learners are asked to review the class wiki daily, and where another learner has a problem or question they can help with, they can then produce a Jing video with a response for them.
Potential benefits for my learners: From personal experience, I feel videos such as those created using Jing are very useful in understanding how to navigate and perform functions in new programs and applications. It should prove an excellent tool for scaffolding working with ICTs.
Jing also has the potential to be used in ways to encourage learners to engage in higher order thinking. To illustrate this potential, I refer to one of the examples presented in my blog posting analysing Jing. When learning to use ICTs, learners produce Jing videos for any questions they have about programs and post their videos to the class wiki. All learners then review the class wiki daily, and where another learner has a problem or question they can help with, learners produce a Jing video with a solution for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment