ETEC 522, June 2016 Assignment 1

John Oswald
Executive Summary:
Upcoming changes in the BC Curriculum require more personalized learning activities and skill
development. Flipped and blended learning offer new possibilities for personalization and inquirybased learning where students will acquire and improve core competencies. Flipped and blended
learning require effective online learning resources. St. Patrick Regional Secondary has a robust elearning infrastructure with a Moodle learning management system (LMS) already in place. High
quality screen-casting and video editing tools will allow St. Patrick's teachers to leverage previous
infrastructure investments to create engaging learning resources for our students with maximum
efficiency.
The author of this proposal, a Masters of Education Technology student at the University of British
Columbia, is requesting funds for research and beta-testing of several paid and free resources for the
development of online learning materials. A team of teacher volunteers would use a sample of the tools
on the market, provide feedback to the author who will integrate this information with feedback from
the school's LMS supervisor, information officer and the financial services team to make a final
product/service recommendation to the school administration.
Objectives:
This report is the first stage of a proposal for the purchase of a screen-casting and/or video editing
software licence at St. Patrick Regional Secondary. Teachers and learners in blended and flipped
classrooms will benefit from the selection and effective use of the right digital learning tool. The
screen-casting, video editing and assessment possibilities that the products being analyzed will allow
St. Patrick's teachers to use online resources that open the door for more practical, hands-on,
collaborative inquiry learning instead of class lectures.
With their teachers developing online activities in-house, learners at St. Patrick's will have access to
personalized learning materials that reflect their local context. Online learning resources allow learners
to pause and rewind multiple times which is not always possible in a classroom lecture situation.
Student comprehension of the online materials can be assessed digitally and the teacher can check
students' understanding before coming to class and adjust the learning activities accordingly.
Learning in this way does not have to be limited to studentsstaff professional development and
school communications can also be enhanced with online communications designed using carefully
selected screen-casting and video editing tools. By using the same investment in learning technology
to transfer information before staff meetings and professional development activities, staff will have
more time for focussed, productive discussion and/or the clarification of misunderstandings. With the
right software and skills, educational leaders on staff will also be able to share learning activities and
tech tips online with other teachers and then assist with hands-on lesson planning, in-service training or
resource development during face-to-face meeting times.

Requirements:
When considering new technology for use in schools, particularly its effectiveness in enhancing
learning, it is essential that the product will be compatible with hardware and software at the local
level. St. Patrick Regional Secondary has developed a robust wireless network serving all areas of the
school and gym so internet access will not be an issue. Additionally, the school is a Bring Your Own
Device (BYOD) learning community so students will have devices to access their materials in and
outside of school. The school uses Moodle as its Learning Management System (LMS) and this open
source platform can integrate a wide variety of files and resources. The school is planning on adopting
the Powerschool SIS data management system in January 2017 so any software purchased will need to
be compatible with that platform as well.
Because most members of St. Patrick's staff work with their own devices, questions of operating
system compatibility (Windows vs. Linux) and platform (Mac vs PC) also matter. Ideally, the tools
chosen for screen capture, video and audio editing at St. Patrick's could be used on the operating
systems in the school and on all staff member's personal computers. As can be seen in Table 1, many of
the free or low cost options are optimized for PC or only work in Windows. This fact could limit their
feasibility on a staff where many of the early adopters of tech integration use Mac devices.
With students and teachers becoming more and more adept with smart phones, mobile access to
learning is another consideration. Most products in this category allow hosting videos on YouTube,
and/or their product plays in Chrome for Android devices. Some tools selected for this proposal also
have dedicated mobile apps for iOS devices.
Options, Extras and Upgrades:
The question of where to host videos and lessons is another one to ask before investing in a screen
capture and/or video editing tool. Free options include YouTube and other cloud-based providers. Some
companies presented here offer hosting with their product/service with limits or costs associated with
the varied options. In addition to hosting, some education service providers also offer stock videos that
can used as stand-alone lessons or incorporated into curated online learning activities.
Learning analytics is a value added service with many of the fee-based programs and services.
Programs and services like Camtasia, Zaption, Playposit and Office Mix allow quizzes and questions to
be inserted into the online video lessons and track learner responses and viewing behaviours; this
allows teachers to gauge student understanding in advance and adjust accordingly.
Usability:
After a selection of tools has been vetted for their potential selection, there should be a beta period
where the short list of products/services are vetted by the early-adopter tech integration teachers. It is
hoped that four or five teachers in the school will be willing and able to develop a learning activity with
two or three of the platforms to compare how they work in the St. Patrick's context. The feedback from
these users would then be used to help select a program or service that the school would invest in. User
interface, ease of use, finished product appearance and learner response will be of primary interest.

Table 1. Comparison of Features among selected screen capture and video editing tools/services
*Adobe
Camtasia
Zaption Playposit Office Mix
CamStudio Screencast-o-matic
Premiere
Call for Free PwrPt
Cost (US$)
$179 PC $35/month
None
Free
Free (15 min max)
Quote
Plugin
(5
(already
(open
$79 Mac
($15/year no max)
licences)
licenced)
source)
Features:
Video
Capture
Video Editing
Audio
Capture
Audio
Editing
Insert links
etc.
Insert
Questions
Response
Tracking
Viewer
tracking
Logistics:
PC
Mac
Moodle
Powerschool
Google
YouTube
Android app
iOs app

text only

PC only

PC only

PC only

sub-optimal

Fuse:
Records
Fuse:
Records

Viewing

Web-based
Web-based

Export w/out
interaction
w/out
interaction
w/out
interaction

n/a
n/a

Extras
Video hosting

$49/year

Stock videos

Other

2hrs/year
per licence

Free 5G
max/person

School-wide
Relay
upgrade
works on all
mobile
devices.

*St. Patrick Regional Secondary has a licence for a previous version

The Ask:
The author is requesting a CAN$750 research grant for an in-depth analysis of free and paid screencasting and video editing applications. The funds would be used to gain access to the paid platforms
(Camtasia, Zaption and a possible Adobe upgrade) and test them against the free ones. While the
Camtasia licence is permanent, the cloud-based licences for Zaption, Adobe and video hosting by
TechSmith (Camtasia's parent company) are billed annually. The other platforms being assessed are
free or low cost. The teacher responsible for the research would gather a team of staff teacher
volunteersincluding the school's chief information officer, the school LMS coordinator, the lead
learners and junior school Integrated Studies teachersto develop learning resources that include
screen captures, open source online videos and locally developed presentations and videos. By paying
for the services such as Camtasia, Zaption and possibly Adobe and Playposit, these teachers will have
access to the learning analytics and will be able to assess their value when it comes to student learning
compared to the low cost or free products without analytics. The author would develop a survey tool
for teachers and a separate one for students to collect feedback on the various applications.
In addition to teacher/user feedback, the author would work with the school's information officer and
LMS co-ordinator to assess any hardware and software compatibility issues between the various
programs and services and the school's LMS and SIS. Finally the author would also engage the
school's principal and bookkeeper to determine a realistic budget framework for any future purchase
and ongoing costs. The author would collect feedback from all these stakeholders, compile it in a final
report and make a recommendation based on the unique requirements of St. Patrick Regional
Secondary by July 2017.