Mr. Robert Leo

Model Schools Coordinator, Instructional Technologist at Central New York Regional Information Center

Bio

A super nice member!

Reviews

May 17, 2012

I frequently make screencasts to demonstrate how to use various web-based educational tools for an audience of teachers. In the past, I have used Jing and have encouraged teachers in school districts to do so as well. However, Jing requires one to download and install the executable file. This is typically forbidden on school district computers. In addition, schools oftentimes filter Jing's cloud-space. I still like Jing, but I recently discovered Screencast-O-Matic. It is just as useful, if not more so than Jing. First, you can create videos up to 15 minutes in length (Jing limits you to 5 minutes). Videos can be downloaded as .mp4. In addition, when you move your mouse, there will be a highlighter on the screen to draw the audience's attention to your actions. Great tool and easy to use!

May 17, 2012

Skitch lets you take mark up images on your iPad. I absolutely LOVE this tool from the makers of Evernote. I am always looking for ways for students to produce and share content on an iPad and Skitch has proven useful for a number of reasons. I have used it to take a screenshot or upload a photo from the iPad's Camera Roll and mark it up with annotations. For example, I wanted to show my Community College students the locations of the Hellenistic Kingdoms that arose after the passing of Alexander the Great. I took a screenshot using Google Earth, uploaded it to Skitch, and used the shapes and text tools to mark the locations of the various dynastic kingdoms. My marked-up image was then saved back to the Camera Roll where I could easily share it (the original screenshot remained intact in the Camera Roll). This is a great solution for districts that disable email on the iPads as the charging cable can be plugged into a computer and the images can be extracted without relying on email.

Shelves