Creating Student Video Feedback Using ScreenToaster

video feedback
video feedback
Originally uploaded by theLaika

In The RSC NewsFeed March Offcuts we highlighted ScreenToaster the free online application which allows you to record the activity on your computer screen with a single click. The concept of recording your screen is not new and there are various commercial (Camtasia) and free  (CamStudio) applications to do this. The advantage of ScreenToaster is that it doesn’t require you to install any software and integrates into their hosting service so you have somewhere to put your video files.
Uses for this technology include recording tutorials, training materials or even lectures. Another area you could use it is to record feedback on student’s work. Russell Stannard recently won a Times Higher Education Award partly for his work in this particular area (click here for a short example of video feedback). Russell has also prepared a case study in Using Screen Capture Software in Student Feedback for the Higher Education Academy English Subject Centre.
On the RSC Scotland N&E Higher Education blog we show you how you can generate student video feedback using ScreenToaster.

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comment 4 comments
  • Donald Maclean

    Haven’t used Screen Toaster, but it sounds very similar to the Jing tool, which does the same job. You get free space, and can go ‘Pro’ for a very small annual fee.
    These tools can save massive amounts of time for feedback and instructional purposes, and can also improve the student experience.
    Will certainly be looking at Screen Toaster to see how it compares to Jing. 🙂

  • Martin Hawksey

    The big difference, which might make it more attractive to teaching staff, is that you don’t need to install any additional software with ScreenToaster. It will be interesting to hear if you are a ScreenToaster convert 😉

  • Donald Maclean

    Martin,
    Have indeed had a look. Not sure if I’m a convert! It works well regarding ease of use and setting up audio etc, and I like the subtitles functionality very much. Not sure if there are space limitations; doesn’t seem to be made clear. I found the hotkey functions to be erratic and certainly not very intuitive (going back to the original page to stop recording).
    Still, it’s a freebie and I will use again.

  • Martin Hawksey

    Hi Donald,
    You’re right the size limitations aren’t clear. Confusingly Screentoaster say they don’t theoretically have any limitation in duration but you are limited to 20 megabytes per upload http://faq.screentoaster.com/record-my-videos#limitations-size
    I also found the hotkey was a bit ‘hit and hope’, particularly as I found the best way to end a screencast was to use the hotkey to pause the recording before having to navigate to the stop button.

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