Introduction
A screencast is a video recording of what is displayed on your screen (e.g. laptop, PC, tablet or mobile screen), often including a voiceover. They let you present information in a way that can be more engaging and explanatory than, for example, simply sharing PowerPoint slides. Screencasting can be used in many ways including how-to videos, demonstrating a new tool and capturing technical issues. This section will introduce you to Screencast-o-matic, a free online screencasting tool.
Screencasting software
There are many screencasting tools available however we recommend Screencast-O-Matic.com as a great free option. There are a few limitations with the free version as it is limited to 15 minutes (although you could record multiple shorter videos), it doesn’t record computer audio e.g. audio from a YouTube clip you play during the recording and it displays the Screencast-O-Matic logo at the bottom of the final video.
Screencast-O-Matic allows you to add captions to the final video which helps to make the content accessible. You can type in your own captions or use the speech-to-text functionality which you can then edit if needed (automatic captions are not always accurate so it is a good idea to check them).
Screencast recording equipment