Week 9 Student Thoughts - new video format

So I tried out a new video format this week with my students just to change it up and try something new.  I used the EduCreations app on my iPad instead of my normal document camera.

Here is sample video with my Document Camera (I've used this type all year)

Here is a sample video with the EduCreations app


I asked my students to give me feedback on the two-day EduCreations trial.  Overall, it was a BUST. 

• Students said they were harder to follow and take notes off of than what they were used to. 
• The videos also took a lot longer to load and students had problems with both audio and video.  They had to wait a long time for videos to load and audio to sync.  
• Also, there was no way to get the videos uploaded to YouTube or SchoolTube.  
• There was also no way to get the videos offline, so students had to use the internet to watch them.  This meant my two computers that I have in my classroom without internet access (they just have all the videos offline) were pretty useless the last few days.  

I think that the app is great for short, quick videos, such as the ones the students made, or ones when I just need to record a quick explanation to something.  However, for the regular "flipped classroom" videos, I don't think I'll be using it again.

I will be trying out the ever-famous Camtasia Studios this week with a trial that I received. I was told I would still be able to record it with my Document Camera, but then have a lot of other features and tools at my fingertips.  I'm excited to see how that goes.

Here is the question I asked my students:
Compare the Unit R videos to those from the rest of the year (made on the iPad instead of DocCam). Did you like them better/worse/same? Give reasons.

• The Unit R videos on the iPad have their ups and downs. I like these because instead of just copying down the things you would write on the SSS on YouTube videos, now I take the notes you write and add some extra notes myself (such as important things you say). Also, I like the videos because there was more room for you to write and explain the problems instead of the limited space sometimes of the SSS. I didn't like these videos because I think YouTube is faster sometimes when loading the videos up.
• I prefer the DocCam. b/c we can actually see what you are doing and we don’t have technical difficulties. Some of us couldn’t even hear half the time, to be honest at first I thought there was no sound. & it was really messy; the writing was everywhere so I didn’t know where to write on our SSS. 
• I don't really like it. The thing i liked the most is that there were short videos butI prefer watching you doing it on the SSS that way i know what's going on.
• I think that the Unit R videos were quite confusing. They were sort of sloppy. I like the videos done on the DocCam better. The reason why is because they are more neater and you can see them being spaced out on paper? I don't really know how to explain it but I really like the videos from the DocCam rather than the videos from the iPad.