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Free Online Screen Recorder and Video Editor

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

There are plenty of desktop, browser-based video recorders available to us today. So why would you need one more? What if, instead of a video recorder, you also had a browser-based video editor? And what if I told you it’s easy to add images and audio to it and overlay text on that video? Most people would say, “That’s WeVideo or Screencastify.” But those solutions come with a price. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a new, free screen recording and editing tool.

recordcast

Introducing RecordCast

RecordCast brings the functionality of Screencastify and Loom Pro. No browser add-ons or downloads are required. That’s right, RecordCast works its magic without a special browser add-on or extension. That, and its “FREE” label make it an amazing find. But that’s not all.

RecordCast enjoys a thirty-minute time limit for recordings. This makes it a perfect tool for instructional screencasts. It combines the ease of use with two important factors: a timeline that allows you to add audio tracks and overlay text. You can also record your screen, screen plus webcam, or webcam only. Be aware that, in order to use the program, you will need to create an account, as well as verify your email.

recordcast

As you set up your recording, you will need to decide whether you want to enable system audio. You will also choose your microphone. RecordCast offers a wizard that guides you through audio sharing.

recordcast

This screen is much the same as when you start a Zoom. That is to say, it will be easy to get started with RecordCast. It seems so familiar.

Downloading Video from RecordCast

Once you have recorded a video, you can save it to your device as a WEBM video file. This video format is compatible with YouTube, and it’s an easy matter to convert it to MP4.

recordcast

The downloaded or saved video appears in WEBM format on your device. At this point, you can upload (put) it into YouTube or a similar video sharing space. To get an MP4 video-formatted file from RecordCast, you will need to edit and export it in MP4.

Editing Video in RecordCast

The video editor is where RecordCast really shines. It offers a robust video editor that reminds me of Screencastify. It is quite easy to edit video, splitting pieces off to delete unwanted portions. What’s more, you can add an audio track. I often grab my music from the YouTube Audio Library. The main benefit of that Audio Library is that attribution is not required.

recordcast

One of the extra features that makes RecordCast’s video editor shine is image import. You can import images and place them on their own track. This is a feature my colleagues and I have used with Shotcut, but RecordCast makes it quite easy, as you may see below:

recordcast

Exporting Video as an MP4

Once your video edits are complete, you are able to export the video. RecordCast offers three options, as you can see in the screenshot below:

recordcast

One of the challenges of any browser-based video editor is how much time it takes to render video. Although I have not done any speed tests, RecordCast appears to take an equal amount of time as other video editors to render videos. It took about six minutes to render a two-minute and nine second video.

You can see the scratch video I made above. It was a simple matter to take a screenshot of the splash page in the Video Editor and save it as a thumbnail image to use for the YouTube video. And, if you’re wondering, this video editor far exceeds YouTube’s Video Studio capabilities.

Amazing Free Screencasting Tool

Working with RecordCast was fun. I loved the quick, responsive interface for adding text and images. What’s more, this tool is free. In the list of video editors, I am tempted to put RecordCast at the top of free tools educators need to be using. Here’s a video overview of working on a project with RecordCast:

Bonus Video

Need to safeguard your W9 tax form or encrypt any file before sending it via email? The video below, which runs five minutes long and took ten minutes to render via RecordCast, explains how to use the free FileLock encryption tool.

Feature Image Source

Photo by Recordcast.com

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Google Tips and Tricks

Adding Webcam Video to Google Slides with Screencastify

by Peggy Reimers
written by Peggy Reimers

Since the pandemic hit, TCEA has furiously moved our face-to-face professional development online. We now have 16 self-paced courses ready to go with more in the works. Check out the lineup here.

Just like many of you, I had to get up to speed on recording videos very quickly. My go-to screencasting tool is Screencastify. I started out with the free pricing plan, which included the five-minute maximum recording time. The rule of thumb for video creation at TCEA is to keep your videos between three to six minutes long. So the free version almost did the trick, but I decided to invest in the unlimited plan which is $49 per person per year. BUT wait, the education discount is only $29 with more editing features. What a deal!

Roadblock

webcam image displayed in lower right hand corner with Google Slides.
My hack solution for embedding my webcam with Google Slides

My video recording was swimming along just fine until I hit a little roadblock. When I tried to use my live webcam with Google Slides, the webcam video would disappear. Very frustrating!  I tried everything to make my webcam video appear in the corner of my slide deck, but it was simply not happening. So armed with my educator attitude, I knew I could come up with something. My hack was to leave Slides in edit mode, move the filmstrip view clear to the left side of my screen. Then the webcam picture would hang off the slide deck and onto my desktop. Not the prettiest and most professional, but it worked.

Help Arrives from Screencastify

But after a while, I decided to reach out to Screencastify support for help. Viola! I heard back within a day. And, of course, it came with the answer in the form of a video from Screencastify. It is a solution where you hit your forehead and exclaim, “Why didn’t I think of that!” Caution: This trick does not work for PowerPoint or Keynote.

Here is the YouTube video link Screencastify provided me. Or you can check out this handy-dandy graphic I made showing the magic remedy to embed your webcam with Google Slides in four easy steps:

Screenshot of steps 1-4.
Screenshot by author.

The Top Three Tips for Video Recording

  1. Follow the rule of thirds – keep your face and body in the middle of the screen.
  2. Lightning is SO important.
  3. Keep your video length to three to six minutes.

Become a Pro

If you want to get more comfortable with screencasting, check out the Screencasting for Educators online, self-paced course from TCEA. The course was designed by my colleague Miguel Guhlin and it is jam-packed full of content. Not only is Screencastify covered, but Flipgrid, Screencast-O-Matic, Loom for EDu, and OBS Studio are included. He also discusses a wide variety of key concepts, including high-effect size instructional strategies, tips, and video editing basics.  Knowing how to create engaging video screencasts, including audio and video components from a variety of copyright-free media, can make viewing better for students.

Featured image by author.

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Good TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Video Sharing in Google Classroom and Seesaw

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Need to share videos into Google Classroom or Seesaw? You’re not the only teacher who needs to put a quick tutorial video together for students. Here are some strategies that other educators recommend around the topics of video storage, sharing and creation tools and tips, as well as how to share videos in Seesaw and Google Classroom.

Storing Videos in the Cloud

With both Google Classroom and Seesaw, you can share links to existing videos. This means that you can make a video using any tool you want and then post it anywhere. That anywhere can be YouTube, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or wherever. One thing you need to be careful with is ensuring that the video is viewable by anyone with a link. This is an option when you put the video in a cloud storage space.

Did you know you might have almost unlimited storage in the cloud? Both G Suite EDU and Microsoft OneDrive offer unlimited (or almost) storage.

share video

A New Player? Loom Pro for Free

“Looms is my choice as a best option,” says TCEA board member, John Bimmerle. He goes on to point out that it is “super quick.” Loom Pro, which has gone free for teachers, is also open to students at K-16 education institutions. Loom Pro comes with a desktop version and Chrome extension.  Learn more about their COVID-19 Loom Pro free offer via their announcement. My experience? It lagged a bit in rendering the video on their website. After 10 minutes, I uninstalled Loom and opted for another tool. Let’s hope they improve and/or demand eases up.

Wait, Wait, There’s ONE MORE Newcomer!

Flipgrid announced on April 1, 2020 that they are adding screen recording to their amazing product. It’s a free, no-cost offering. Watch their announcement video via this Tweet (or see the unauthorized MP4 video I made of it):

The possibilities with Flipgrid screenrecording option are endless. You can now organize your screencasts, such as of your desktop and apps, into grids and allow others to contribute. What’s more, you can export those screencasts as MP4 video files to place on YouTube. What’s amazing is how easy it is to screen recording using Flipgrid. And, all of this is FREE and available at no cost to educators. It also allows you to start and stop video recording, which is an amazing feature.

Did You Know?

Sign up for one of our Google Certified Educator certifications. You’ll learn about more than Google Meet, as well as earn 12 CPE hours per course. Use these courses to get Google Educator certified. Find out more online.

Video Creation Tools

If you’re still looking for a good tool for video sharing, here’s a quick run down of other digital tools you can use to creating teaching videos.

  1. Screencast-o-Matic. Screencast-O-Matic is a fantastic tool that will let you record from their site. You can record up to 15 minutes, and it allows for webcam picture recording. Save your videos in .mp4, .flv, or .avi video format or you can upload them straight to YouTube.
  2. Screencastify. Screencastify is a Chrome extension that allows you to record, edit, annotate, store, and share video screen captures. Record a specific tab, or your whole desktop, at the click of a button. The free Lite version normally limits recording time to five minutes per video and has a watermark. Due to COVID-19, as of this writing, you can get premium version for free for 60 days. You may also want to look at some of their free e-learning resources. They are also announcing a new feature for students to use Screencastify. Find out more at Screencastify Submit. Watch a video intro.
  3. Nimbus Screencapture/Screen recording. Nimbus is a Chrome extension for capturing web pages, either part of one or the whole browser window. You can also edit your screenshots and screen record your desktop or a particular tab.
  4. Zoom. Available at no charge and in wide usage as a result of COVID-19, many people don’t know they can use it to record and share their screens. Using Zoom Basic, you can record webinars that feature picture in picture, play music as you share your screen, and save a video recording to your computer. Many videos you will create will be no more than five to 30 minutes, which fall into the free version of Zoom time limits. Of course, those time limits have been waived for educators during COVID-19.

Popular Screencasting Tools

Those are some of my favorite browser-based screen recording tools. There are also free screen recording tools that you can install on Windows. Of course, Mac users can rely on QuickTime, which offers free recordings. If you need to edit videos, Shotcut is a great editor for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux computers.

A Personal Recommendation

People often ask, “What do you use?” Until lately, I have relied on Screencastify. With its $29 price tag  for one year, it’s worth the investment. While I still use Screencastify when on a Chromebook, on Windows 10 and Mac I recommend another tool, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). I can’t tell you how amazed I was at the flexibility, versatility, and speed of this free (and no-cost), open source tool. Gamers (e.g. esports) use OBS to stream their game-play to various streaming services (e.g. Facebook LIVE, Twitch, Periscope). You can use it to record your content, too.

Look hard? It’s not as bad as you think. Here’s what OBS looks like when I’m using it to record videos for TCEA Remote Learning.

Highlight Tool: Open Broadcaster Software (OBS)

Instead of recording your desktop, OBS allows you to record anything your computer does (see sidebar image for a list). While not for the faint of heart, OBS continues to get easier to use every day. If you have to record video, it makes switching between different scenes and input sources (e.g. audio, video, webcam, browsers, and apps) easy.

Intended as a streaming solution, you can use it to record and save video to MKV or MP4 format. I am truly astonished how fast it is once set up. However, the setup can be confusing, and so I encourage you to read my upcoming guide on recording videos with OBS. In the meantime, be sure to read the the OBS Studio Quickstart guide.

Even More Video Sharing Tools

Looking for other powerful tools to use? Here are a few.

  1. Flipgrid.com – Flipgrid is a free, fun, and easy way to have a video chat. It is a great tool to get student feedback while incorporating student voice. There is an iOS and Android app.
  2. VideoNot.es. Have students use this Google Drive app with their Google account. That will allow them to take notes while they watch a video that you assign. Notes work as video markers. Click the notes, and you leapfrog to the matching spot in the video.
  3. Vialogues. Vialogues allows you to create conversations that revolve around a video.
  4. EdPuzzle. This is the premier tool for adding content to an existing video. It makes it easy to use what you need from any video. You can insert audio notes or record over a video with your voice. You can even add questions at any point in the video and track your students’ understanding.
  5. Educannon (Playposit). This is a great way to annotate existing YouTube videos for students to watch at home.

share video

Some Quick Tips for Video Recordings

Here are some quick tips for video recording you may want to keep in mind:

1) Storyboard your content first, then create a video about your lesson. All the tools are free to get started.

2) Keep videos short, two to three minutes or five to 10 minutes max (shorter is better). You can always create more videos. Think “bite-sized chunks” that students can nibble on their way to/from school, sitting somewhere waiting for an adult to do something, or during the gap in a basketball game on television or in person.

3) Plan for reflective, online classroom activities. Use tools like Quizziz, Kahoot, and GetKnowt to create some online assessments.

Recording Video on the Go

Need tools for recording videos on the go? You can use your smartphone and an app to get the job done. Need some solutions for Android? How about iOS?

Sharing Videos in Seesaw

Sharing content in Seesaw has never been easier. The steps involve creating an announcement and adding an attachment. Then you select the type of attachment you want (a link). Afterwards, paste the link to your “shared with anyone” video resource. For a visual overview, check out this animated GIF that walks you through the process. Remember, you can have a copy of that video saved anywhere so long as it is “shared with anyone link.”

If you want to share a message straight to the camera, you can record video directly into Seesaw using your device’s camera. Instead of choosing LINK in the Add Attachment window, choose VIDEO, as shown in the picture below:

share video

Sharing Videos: Google Classroom

Google Classroom makes it easy to share content by posting it into its stream or to YouTube. If it’s an instructional video, you can then add questions with EdPuzzle. Dropping your videos into Google Drive, then sharing a public link is easy. Drop the link to the video in the Google Classroom stream. You may like Eric Curts’ video series on Google Classroom.

Final Thoughts

Still not sure what’s the best tool for the job? Let’s review the options below:

  • Flipgrid user? Need an easy to use tool, then Flipgrid screen recording is so easy. You can save your screencasts as MP4 videos on your computer. Flipgrid works via your browser, making it the perfect tool on mobile devices. This is also an amazing feature for students to use.
  • Screencastify? If you are a Chromebook users, or want to use a simple, powerful tool, then Screencastify will make the job easier. As a veteran Screencastify user, it’s one of my favorite tools. They are also announcing a new feature for students to use Screencastify. Find out more at Screencastify Submit.
  • OBS Project? Not afraid of a little complexity? OBS offers a free, no-cost screen recording tool that works on your Windows or Mac computer. It’s super-fast since it’s running on your computer.
  • Mobile user? Try XRecorder to screencast your Android screen, YouCut – Video Editor & Video Maker, No Watermark to blend pictures and video with light editing. On iOS?

Need a video editor? Use the free, open source Shotcut for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux. Or if you need a browser-based web editor, WeVideo may be your only option (check here for more info).

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Google Tips and Tricks

Five Ways to Use Google Tools as an Instructional Coach

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

There are many advantages to using Google tools as an instructional coach. Not only can you manage your day-to-day activities, but you can also support your teachers more effectively. Below is a list of tasks and Google tools that will help you as an instructional coach:

1 – Set Up Appointments with Google Calendar

As an instructional coach, there will be times when you need to set up times to either meet with teachers or conduct an observation. An easy way to do this is to have teachers reserve appointments directly through your Google Calendar.

The first thing I recommend is to set up a new “Coaching” calendar. To do this, open Google Calendar and click on the plus sign (on the left-hand side) and scroll to New Calendar. Add a name and description to your calendar and click Create Calendar.

Next, you can set up appointments on your calendar that teachers can reserve. To set up appointment slots:

  1. Go your Google Calendar and make sure that you’re in Day view or Week view.
  2. Click on the day you wish to make an Appointment Slot.
  3. Drag down from your beginning time slot to your end time slot.
  4. Then click on Appointment Slots from the pop-up window.
  5. Enter the details, including a title, duration, and pick the calendar where you want the event to show up.
  6. Click More Options to add more information like a location or description.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Copy and paste the calendar’s appointment page link from your browser.
  9. Send this link to the teachers who want to book an appointment.

The great thing about appointment slots is that teachers won’t be able to reserve a time you aren’t available. Once a time is reserved, the time is filled in and unreservable by others.

2 – Conduct Walkthrough Observations with Google Forms

There may be times when you need to conduct informal walkthroughs to observe what is happening in a teacher’s classroom. Google Forms allows you to customize a personalized walkthrough evaluation for teachers. I’ve seen QR codes posted outside teacher’s classrooms that lead to a Google Form for the walkthrough. On her blog, Mari Venturino has great instructions on how to create a Form using Autocrat. Autocrat will allow you and the teacher to receive an email with the observation notes once you hit Submit on the form. The teacher can then follow up with you to discuss the notes and/or ask for specific support.

3 – Coach Virtually with Google Hangouts Meet

If you can’t meet with your teachers face-to-face, then Google Hangouts Meet is a fantastic tool to use to connect with them virtually. Meet is a video conferencing tool that lets you connect remotely with one or more teachers. With Meet, you can share useful ideas and resources using the chat feature, you can share your screen if you need to show or demonstrate something, and you can even record the meeting if you want to review the conversation afterward.

It’s easy to schedule a Meet video meeting in Google Calendar. All you have to do is just create an event and add your teachers to it. A video meeting link can be added to a calendar event either by adding one or more guests to the event or by clicking on Add conferencing. After you save the event, a meeting link and dial-in number are added to the event.

4 – Organize Professional Learning Resources with Google Sites

If you need a better way to provide and organize professional learning resources for your teachers, then Google Sites is your answer. There is so much you can share on a Google Site. For example, you can include videos, example lesson plans, articles, etc. You can even embed your Coaching Calendar on the site. Your teachers will thank you for the additional support you are offering them. Google Sites is so very easy to use. You can find instructions here. Kristen Houser has a sample coaching site on her blog.

5 – Create Videos or Tutorials with Screencastify

If your teachers have a question that requires a demonstration, then Screencastify is a wonderful tool to use to capture video. Screencastify is a free Chrome extension that allows you to record your screen and your voice. Once you download the extension from the Chrome Web Store, you can just click the icon from your Chrome browser. Then, you can either directly load your screencasts to Google Drive or upload directly to YouTube.

Try using all or some of the Google tools listed above to manage your day-to-day activities and to support your teachers more effectively. If you are already using Google tools in your role as an instructional coach, let us know how in the comments below.

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ChromebooksGood TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

TCEA Responds: Download YouTube Videos

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

Do you know of a simple and free way to download YouTube videos for Google Workspace for Education and/or show them without advertisements? Students are blocked from YouTube. The solution I was using is no longer available.

Thanks, Vicki

Dear Vicki:

Want to save videos from YouTube and bypass district policies that block YouTube for staff and students? This blog entry will provide you with three, no, six approaches to view YouTube videos ad free. You will also see proven tips for saving videos from YouTube.

Why Block YouTube?

Some school districts continue to block YouTube. They rely on technology to control and manage students. However, it’s important to engage students, parents, and staff in reciprocal dialogue about issues like poor content. This dialogue needs to go along the lines of, “Hey, we know there’s bad stuff on YouTube. There’s good stuff, too. Let’s build a culture of trust and openness that leads all involved to make better decisions.” If we don’t teach our students, who will?

Manage Your YouTube Settings

Why not show the following information to your Google Workspace for Education administrator with a kind request to unblock YouTube videos?

As a Google Workspace administrator, you can help restrict which YouTube videos are viewable by signed-in users in your organization and on your network using YouTube’s Restricted Mode settings. The settings help restrict which videos are available to your users. Learn more

What’s that? You don’t think that’s going to work? Before we go straight to how you can get the videos you want, let’s explore some other options.

NOTE: These quick ways to view YouTube videos will NOT work in an environment where YouTube is blocked. All these “view YouTube” solutions do is shield the viewer from extraneous content (e.g. advertising). They do not make a copy of a YouTube video and then stream it from their own servers.

Quick Ways to View YouTube Videos, No Advertising

One of the objections people raise about YouTube involves the advertising. Often, inappropriate advertising is put next to wholesome, educational videos. The solutions below assist you in blocking that advertising. The idea is you can watch YouTube videos through a protected window that blocks out unwanted content. In this case, unwanted content is the advertising.

Here are a few solutions that work, including my favorite, Wakelet.com. Did you know that if you put a YouTube video link inside of a Wakelet, all the advertising is removed? Wow, that’s amazing! The best part? Once you put videos in a Wakelet collection, you can share that with your students and they don’t have to visit YouTube at all.

The Wakelet Collection below, Videos in the Classroom, features some of the best solutions along with my recommendation.

YouTube Adblockers

View this Wakelet Collection to see YouTube Adblocking Solutions with Example

Getting (a.k.a. “Downloading”) YouTube Videos

Your only recourse with blocked YouTube videos involves violating YouTube’s policy. TechAdvisor has a whole article dedicated to the topic. They count the ways you are violating YouTube’s policy. Need a summary? You’re not supposed to download or save videos from YouTube. Period.

Ok, now that the point is clear, here are some ways to temporarily save videos off of YouTube so that you can share the useful content with your students. With the incredible amount of storage space available to Drive for Google Workspace for Education users, you can copy saved videos in MP4 or WEBM format. Here’s a short tutorial. Or, in lieu of cloud storage, save it to a USB flash drive and then move the video file to your school computer.

Save Videos Tip #1 – ATube.me

For Windows users, you can use aTube Catcher. The program is free and makes it easy to save YouTube video playlists (like fifty videos or more in a playlist). For example, if you wanted to grab all the top Lamb Chop’s Play Along songs, you would paste the link to the playlist into ATube Catcher. Below is what that process looks like.

Never heard of Lamb Chop’s Play Along television show? Be sure to listen to this unforgettable song.

Save Videos Tip #2 – Torch Browser

This approach is elaborated at length in the Simple Video Tricks blog entry. You can get the Chromium browser (works just like Chrome) Torch. This free browser has built-in Media Grabber (it’s a button on the tool bar). You just click that button. In a moment, the YouTube video you are looking at saves the video in MP4 format to your computer. MP4 video format is a standard type of video file, so you should be able to play the video with built-in video players on Windows, Mac, Chrome, or GNU/Linux computers.

Save Videos Tip #3 – Firefox Video DownloadHelper

Another go-to is Firefox’s add-on Video DownloadHelper. This add-on requires using the Firefox browser. You can save YouTube videos in various formats. You can also save videos from “DailyMotion, Facebook, Periscope, Vimeo, Twitch, Liveleak, Vine, UStream, Fox, Bloomberg, RAI, France 2-3, Break, Metacafe,” among many others. Since it works as a Firefox add-on, you can use this on Windows and Mac computers alike.

TCEA Responds: Get YouTube Videos

Vicki, as Uncle Ben Parker allegedly (Voltaire said it first) said to Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Now that you know how to get videos from YouTube and save them as MP4 video or MP3 video format, what will you do?

Charity Evans suggests these two approaches:

  • Screencast the video wanted. Add teacher commentary (fair use for educational purpose evades copyright issue). Host on Google Drive.
  • Screencast yourself instead of downloading someone else’s content. “Make your own personalized videos for your kiddos and share them with colleagues via Drive.”
  • Use EdPuzzle to annotate the video, add questions, and more.

Charity’s suggestions have merit. I like Screencastify as a screencasting tool. You can find a few more screencasting tools in this blog entry, Flipped Learning Tools. You may find these two blog entries of interest as well:

Of course, if you do not want to work with videos, simply create a playlist to share with students, give Wakelet collections a spin.

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