Making Gifs Made Easy with Screencastify
Screencastify allows users to capture their desktop or browser tab and save the video file directly onto Google Drive. Alternatively, users can also save the video file as a GIF.
WHAT IS SCREENCASTIFY?
Screencastify is a Google Chrome extension that captures users’ desktop or browser as a video. It can also capture the user’s webcam and microphone, so that the user may provide commentary on a video or a slideshow. There are numerous screen recording applications that are available such as:
all of which provide the same service of recording users’ screens.. Both Screencastify and Screencast-o-omatic are very similar, both allowing users to export their videos as different formats (.avi or .mp4) as well as GIFs. Personally on a day-to-day basis, I have been using Loom to record my screen as I create audio commentary and using Screencastify to create GIFs, however I don’t have a preference for one over the other.
WHY GIFS?
Embedding GIFs have saved me and my students time during lessons.
Now that we have shifted to Online Learning due to COVID-19, I find myself having to pre-record videos going through my notes and problems so that my students can use them as an additional resource aside from their textbook. These tutorial videos are tedious and dry as it only features my screen and my voice, and most students don’t find a need to go through the entirety of the video. While I still have my videos in my slides, students now have the option to look at the GIFs that I have embedded. Most students are able to get the general sense through the GIF “highlight reel” format and can gain further clarification from watching the full video.
Another benefit to Screencastify, is that I am also able to create content-specific GIFs from videos or simulations online. This has saved me a lot of time during my lessons as I don’t have to share my screen to show simulations, which sometimes lends itself to technical issues such as audio lag.
For example, when I was teaching intermolecular forces to my students, I wasn’t able to find any appropriate videos or GIFs that were able to explain the phenomenon of hydrogen bonding to fit my lesson. Concord Consortium had a fantastic simulation , but lacked an appropriate handout which would’ve led to student confusion. As a solution, I used Screencastify to create a GIF, imported it to my slides, along with text, to describe what hydrogen bonding is to better suit my lesson needs.
What I love about using Screencastify is the fact that the user can change the mouse to different modes. For example, there is a mode called “Show circle on mouse click” which show a red circle around the cursor when the user clicks it. Using this mode, students can see how I am manipulating the simulation.
The above is a demo of how “Show circle on mouse click”works on the hydrogen bonding simulation GIF.
Pictured above is a screenshot of the GIF embedded in a slide.
Animated GIFs have saved me so much time in terms of creating more tailored educational resources for my students as I am able to summarize videos into more short digestible pieces . With screen recorders such as Screencastify, the GIFs created aren’t truncated between frames, they are smoothed as if somebody had simply made a video into an image. This powerful tool has made my presentations more engaging and informative and I hope you find it useful too!
And now for the Question of the Century: Are you Team #GIF or #JIF?
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Hi, I’m Isabella
I’m a chemistry teacher with a demonstrated history of working in the secondary education and non-profit industries. I have taught students with diverse backgrounds in three different countries. As a recognized Apple Distinguished Educator and Google for Education Trainer, I am skilled in educational technology, curriculum design and assessment delivery. Through this platform, I hope to share my expertise in using technology to help engage students in new ways.