Screencasting for Enhanced Teaching and Learning in Blended and Online Creative Writing Classes

Authors

  • Laura Valeri Georgia Southern University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v7i1.27497

Keywords:

online course, creative writing, enhanced learning

Abstract

Screencasting is a technology that enables the user to record screen activity on video while also capturing audio or video narration of the lecturer demonstrating that screen activity. This technology has improved over the years, and has now become streamlined enough to be integrated easily in popular learning platforms like Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Moodle. The technology’s high usability factor and the varieties of screencasting software now available as open source makes screencasting appealing to writing instructors, not only as a means to improve teaching, but also as a tool for students to create and engage with multimedia texts that facilitate the acquisition of contemporary literacy skills. In the United States, the National Council of Teachers of English proposes that 21st century definitions of literacy must, among other things, include the ability of writers and readers to analyze, create, and interact with multimedia texts and to gain proficiency with the use of modern technologies. I argue that screencasting is a practical and creative technology that can be used for a variety of purposes: to address 21st century literacy requirements in writing classes, to improve teaching effectiveness in both online and “flipped classroom” learning, and to enhance the instructor’s social presence in online learning environments. I give examples from my own teaching experience using Camtasia and ScreenFlow software, as well as review some popular applications of screencasting technology currently in use in academic environments.

Author Biography

  • Laura Valeri, Georgia Southern University

    Laura Valeri (MFA Fiction, Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa; MFA Creative Writing, Florida International University) is Associate Professor of Writing & Pedagogy at Georgia Southern University. She is the author of two prize-winning story collections, Safe in Your Head (Stephen F. Austin University Literary Prize) and The Kinds of Things Saints Do (Iowa/John Simmons Award). She has presented on the pedagogy of online teaching at numerous conferences nationwide. She was the first New Books Editor of Writing & Pedagogy and is now is the founding Editor of the online literary journal, Wraparound South.

Published

2015-06-13

Issue

Section

From the e-Sphere

How to Cite

Valeri, L. (2015). Screencasting for Enhanced Teaching and Learning in Blended and Online Creative Writing Classes. Writing and Pedagogy, 7(1), 153-174. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v7i1.27497