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Lesson Plans

Introduction to Screen Recording:
Creating a Whiteboard Movie

This lesson will show students how to make a very basic "whiteboard movie" as an introduction to screen recording.

Explain to your students that Camtasia Studio allows them to record any activity that they can create or see on their screen. For example, people use Camtasia Studio to create videos that show others how to complete a task or to demonstrate how a software product works. Show your students some of the "general use" videos on the TechSmith site: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/spotlight.asp

Next, talk about how students can use Camtasia Studio to create valuable learning tools just by recording themselves drawing and writing on their screen. These "whiteboard movies" let them demonstrate their understanding of a subject and, at the same time, teach others.

Tim Fahlberg has developed extensive resources about whiteboard movies on his site: http://www.coolschooltools.com/

For additional background, Tim's site offers a history of whiteboard movies: http://www.coolschooltools.com/wm/history-wm.html

For inspiration, you can show your class some of the student-made examples of whiteboard movies on Tim's site: http://www.coolschooltools.com/wm/students.html

Math is a natural subject for whiteboard movies. Have your students think about a simple math concept they would like to teach in their movie before they get started.

Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

Gain a basic understanding of screen recording
Learn how screen recording can be used to create whiteboard movies
Learn how to record the screen

Grade Level

Any

Materials

Computer

Software Used

Camtasia Studio

Instructions

Part A: Learning to take a screen capture

Instruct students to download and install the 30-day free trial version of Camtasia Studio from www.techsmith.com.
Help them create a whiteboard background on their computers by changing the display setting to white by following these steps:
- Right-click on the desktop, and choose Properties.
- Select the Desktop tab.
- Click the Color dropdown, and choose the white color chip. Then, click OK.
Give students these printed directions to follow:

Step 1: Open Camtasia Recorder

From the Start menu, choose All Programs.
Then locate Camtasia Studio > Applications > Camtasia Recorder. Select Recorder to open it.

Step 2: Open the Annotation Toolbar

Make sure the Annotation toolbar is in view by choosing View > Annotation Toolbar.
Notice where the ScreenDraw tool is located. You will need it later.

Step 3: Get your Pen Ready

Next, set up your drawing pen by opening Effects > Options. Choose the ScreenDraw tab.
Choose Pen from the Tool category.
Select a pen color from the Color dropdown menu.
Leave the Width set on 4. Click OK.

Step 4: Set up to Record

From the menu bar, choose Capture > Region. This will allow you to choose any area of the screen you want to record.

Step 5: Record your Whiteboard Movie

Click the Record button to start the recording process.
- To pause/restart recording, use the F9 key.
- To stop recording, use the F10 key.
Click and drag with your cursor on the screen to select the region you want to record. Flashing green corners will appear to indicate the area of the screen being recorded. Be sure to stay inside this area when you draw.
Briefly pause the recording by clicking F9.
When Recorder's window appears, turn ScreenDraw on by clicking on the icon on the toolbar. Now your cursor will become a pen.
Click the F9 key again to start recording.
Draw your equation or concept on the screen, within the green recording area.

To change pen colors easily during recording, use the following keys on the keyboard:

Black	K
Blue	B
Cyan	C
Green	G
Yellow	Y
White	W
Magenta	M
Red	R

Step 6: End the Recording

Click the F10 key to stop recording. The Camtasia Recorder Preview will show you what your video looks like.
If you don't like the way your video turned out, repeat the steps above to rerecord it.

Step 7: Save Your Video