Jing Screencast: Digital Art Demo

I used Jing to create a video in a similar way that I created the capture of the image using Jing. What is so cool about that? I just made a video without a digital camera!!! My video has sound too, even though I am trying to be as quiet as possible so I don't have to hear my own voice. I had always wondered how that was achieved and now I or anyone can do it, can access their completed products online, AND it is free!

What I Did

Well, this was an adventure. Mission: create an instructional video using a program or tool on the computer that you could apply in the classroom. This took me so long to figure out! I had to learn the capture tool AND learn a new activity on the computer for me to capture in video. First, I couldn't figure out how to include the whole window in the capture area and every time I would go to watch the video the filming would have cut out the whole picture except for a sliver. I wanted to use Photoshop as my instructional piece, but I would maximize the window view and the capture area would include the whole thing but wouldn't allow me to use the tools! Talk about complicated!

Finally, I did some experimenting and figured out how to maneuver the cross across the viewing area to select the screen capture. The cross highlights the areas in gray scale that will not show up in the final capture. Also, it is temperamental about how far you can stretch; you can't take the cross to the very corners of your screen and expect to capture the entire screen.

After exploring to see what Word really has to offer, I found a cool activity using the neat shapes and taking advantage of the creative options for the "drawing canvas" under "shapes." The result is a very rough instructional video uploaded to my Screencast library using Jing that is readily available to anyone with the URL. I had the option of saving my screen capture as a shockwave flash object (.swf) upon completion and saved it to my desktop for easy retrieval. I had to do this in order for my video to show up in Jing "history."

Unfortunately, I was limited to 5 minutes, so my video skips ahead through steps to save time. I never show how I change small things, like color or "gradient fill." These are things I might add in another video or explain to students on the side.


Note: I had to use "Print Screen" to achieve this image
because the "Brushes" drop-down would not stay open when using the Snipping Tool.

Some of the techniques I use are kind of unconventional and I would need to show more footage of how I got my result. For example, the image I chose to incorporate in the timeline was created in "Paint." I love the new version of paint because of the many brush options and I wanted to give my art timeline more of an artistic feel. I used the image of a brush stroke instead o
f a boring line for the representation of time.

 

The rest of my instructional video was basic, including copying and pasting to duplicate text boxes or shapes. I inserted images that I had Googled and saved to my desktop in preparation for my timeline. I would have to either redo the video a couple times to smooth out the rough edges. Not bad for my first time, huh?

 

What I Learned/Application



I know how to make an instructional video technology-related, or a digital demonstration, if you will. This is perfect for art because regular demonstrations are done so students can watch the skills in action. In a world where art is going digital to a large degree, how appropriate!Besides being introduced to an AWESOME teaching tool, I have discovered interesting new things to do with Microsoft Word. I explored templates available, which I didn't use for this activity, but maybe next time. When inserting images I didn't know I had the option of getting rid of the background until now.

This activity meets ISTE Nets-T standard requirement 3. From my experiences art is not the typical context for "demonstrating fluency" or applying knowledge to "new technologies," but it should be. Because the instruction is stored online, students can share their lesson with anyone, which promotes community involvement.