Screen Recording
(sk-REE-n RE-kord-een)
SOLID
What is Screen Recording Software?
Screen recording software allows a user to use live-action recording to capture navigation or other movement on their computer screen.
Other Common Names
Other common names for screen recording include:
- Screencasts
Key Properties
While there are a variety of free and fee-based tools available, including Camtasia and Screencast-o-Matic, the principle properties that any screen recording software share include:
- records live-action images on your screen, including the movement of your mouse
- records voice narration while navigating the images on your screen
Popular Screen Recording Software
Insights Captured from What's Your Formula?
- "A cross between elements 11 (video) and 28 (screen capture), screen recording software is a specific tool that allows you to record what’s happening on your monitor in real-time to create short video tutorials or explainer videos that can range from navigating software and computer-based systems to simply walking people through an automated narration of your slide deck."
Elements that Bond with Screen Recording
Some screen recording software also allows you to edit your video, publish to the internet, or save the video to your local drive. Screen recordings can serve as stand-alone resources that provide short, on-demand bursts of information in the moment of need (also known as microlearning), which you can explore in more detail here), but they can also be important components of larger learning programs when bonded with any of the following elements:
Learning Boosts
Keep in mind that your learners won’t remember everything about your content, steps in a process, or the software program on which you’ve just finished training them. Sending short video tutorials to remind them about what they learned or that feature advanced tips and tricks can refresh their memories and recharge their desire to use what they’ve learned.
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
There may be times when an expert in the topic you’d like to expose your learners to isn’t available on a regular basis. Asking that person to walk through their slides while narrating key concepts can become a much more helpful resource than simply distributing a PowerPoint deck on its own. Screen recording software allows an expert to pull up their slide deck, advance through their slides, and talk to their key points as if they were giving a presentation; you can then distribute the recording to the masses.
Spaced Learning
Similar to learning boosts, some concepts, processes, or software tools are complex and require practice and exposure to new sequences over time. You may wish to queue up a series of short video recordings to distribute to your learners as part of a drip campaign, which can expose your learners to a series of tutorials and informative videos over the course of days, weeks, or months.
Elearning
Whether you produce a video tutorial to show your employees how to access your LMS or you embed screen-based tutorials in your learning program, offering screen recordings provides a more dynamic way to present information in your e-learning modules.
Collaborative File Sharing
Having text-based user guides to navigate organizational systems isn’t always enough. Sometimes you just need a widely accessible library of video tutorials that can help your employees perform certain functions or find out how to complete and submit an expense form.
YouTube
Some organizations have a private YouTube channel; some people may work with external audiences. Either way, if you want to broadcast and promote the screen-based video content you’ve produced, YouTube can be a simple-to-use platform to house your content and distribute links that anyone will be able to access.
Other Sources of Information on Screen Recording
- Use Storyline to Turn a Boring Process Video Into an Interactive Software Simulation
- 5 Tips for Better Screen Captures
