Screenr looks like one of those new web 2.0 resources that could possibly skyrocket in popularity and use for educators. Time will tell in the end, but the following are some of its advantages and disadvantages –

Advantages:

• Free
• Online recording cuts out the need to convert a hard disk file to mp4 format and upload to a website
• Simple to use: record, speak, pause when you need to, then stop and save
• Works on both Mac and PC
• Works with Twitter

Disadvantages:

• 5-minute maximum recording length (for the purposes of downloading and audience retention, however, this is secretly an advantage)
• No editing features
• Doesn’t specifically work with Linux (unless a savvy Linux user could get around this somehow)
• Works with Twitter

The Twitter factor is listed here as both an advantage and a disadvantage, as it would be useful for instructors who are already using Twitter and a headache for those who have been trying very hard to avoid it. There does not appear to be anything to register for an account with Screenr itself; users sign in with a pre-existing Twitter account.

While it’s designed for instant sharing via Twitter, screencasts can be embedded into other websites. The official screencast demo does not offer embed code for some reason (which is why I’m not including it here) but I’ve embedded my own test of the system here, using the opportunity to show my online pedagogy / elearning links on Delicious:

After I recorded the screencast about online pedagogy links on Delicious, it created both a web version and iPhone version of the video. A page with the finished video and my “tweet” came up on the Screenr site. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it in my Twitter feed, even after refreshing a couple times (so of course I had to tweet about the Screenr tweet!).

Its simplicity makes Screenr geared toward instructors who are willing to sacrifice advanced features for the sake of ease and speed of use. If it gets someone who has shied away from screencast technologies to record short screencast lectures or explanations to students, it’s earned its sticker price (have I mentioned it’s free?).

If you start using Screenr and decide you are willing to purchase software that will give you more power to edit and share your screencasts, you might want to check out Camtasia, as it’s widely considered the best at what it does. There are, however, other free online screencast recorders with varying functionality. You can also find more resources and how-to guides for screencasting here.

Screenr

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Podcasting, Social Networking, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.