Screencasting @ Mason Libraries

Abstract

This poster session would highlight the creation and implementation of screencasting technology at George Mason University Libraries. The Educational Services department at Mason Libraries has developed a number of online tutorials that cover basic information literacy skills, and is in the process of adapting this content into brief video tutorials, or screencasts. Currently, two completed screencasts teach students how to search a library database and / >how to find the full-text of journal articles. In part, the screencasts are a solution to reaching the needs of populations whom we cannot reach solely via face-to-face instruction including distance students and freshman composition classes. However, the screencasts have also become a means of supplementing in person instruction. For instance, screencasts can be shown in the classroom and students take away the link to watch later if necessary; also, with the video format, we are able to easily integrate tutorials into online spaces beyond the traditional space of the library’s website. Once a screencast has been produced and uploaded, it can easily be embedded into the Blackboard CE learning environment for use by on-campus students as well as distance learners, or into LibGuides to help liaison librarians meet the research needs of their specific academic disciplines. The Educational Services department remains in the process of determining how to assess the impact of screencasts. This poster session would also highlight my own perspectives on screencasting including everything from software choice and best practices to instructional design and cognitive theory. As the creator of these video tutorials, I have learned a great deal about the instructional design process behind creating video tutorials since beginning this process – primarily that a screencast involves much more than recording the screen and adding narration. Producing a video or multimedia tutorial that fosters meaningful learning for the student involves far more than software skills and a microphone. Creating an effective screencast means incorporating knowledge of the cognitive theories relevant to multimedia learning, as well as planning and solid instructional design.

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