Screen Capture Tools

Why use Screen Capture?

Screen capture refers to the process whereby you ‘capture’ your computer screen, either the whole of the screen or a portion of it. A still image of your screen is known as a screenshot, whereas capturing your screen as video and audio is known as a screencast.

A screencast is a narrated video recording of your computer screen. Unlike a video recording of a classroom lecture, in a screencast, the person giving the lecture is not the primary visual focus — rather, their presentation is the primary visual focus.

Screencasts can include anything from still images with audio, to drawing and animations with audio narration, and can provide enormous value to your students in asynchronous learning.

See the links below for more information on creating great screencasts, and what you’ll need to get started.

• The EdTech Little Guide to Screencasting
• The JISC Digital Media Little Guide to Screencasting
• Infographic: Maximize Student Learning from Education Videos.
• The Remote Teaching Channel – lots of videos to help with teaching remotely

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Supported Software (Basic)

If you want to capture activity on your computer screen (e.g. Powerpoint slides with narration read into your microphone), there are several software options available:

Kaltura Capture

Our #1 recommendation for screen capture, Kaltura Capture is a downloadable desktop application (Windows/Mac only) that offers screen capture, voice recording, and webcam recording, stores your captures locally on your hard drive, and uploads your videos directly into your My Media library. From there you can do some basic editing to the video.  More information on using Kaltura Capture.

What is Kaltura Capture?

Using Kaltura Capture Controls

 

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ScreenPal

ScreenPal (previously Screencast-o-Matic) offers screen capture, voice recording, and webcam recording, with an interface that is very similar to Kaltura Capture, and is available on Windows and Mac (Chromebook and iOS/Android versions not currently supported). The free version of this application has a 15-minute time limit, but the Pro version is unlimited. EdTech maintains 25 Team licenses that renew at the end of each month.

You can find instructions on installing ScreenPal here. Please contact EdTech at edtech@langara.ca to request the ScreenPal login info.

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Other Software (Advanced)

Are you a screen capture power user, or looking to get serious about your screencasting? Camtasia is a full-featured screen capture application, and includes more advanced editing features. Please note: there is no free Langara license for this product, and it is not supported by EdTech.

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Screen Capture for Students

Students have full access to Kaltura Capture, the browser-based Kaltura Web Recorder, and several other free and paid options are suggested on the MediaSpace section of the Help with Student Learning Tools site.

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