Screencasts: Good, Better, and Best

What makes a  G R E A T screencast?

     In any instructional/learning setting a screencast is a wonderful tool to use to help engage learners in a timely and efficient manner. But, how does one create an effective screencast?

     Well, from what I have gathered, an effective screencast includes:

1. VISUAL AND AUDIO CLARITY: An effective screencast has clear digital images or videos and the sound quality is excellent with little fuzziness.
2. THOUROUGH EXPLANATION OF INSTRUCTIONS: Effective screencasts will ensure that the audience completely understands the process being demonstrated and how to execute the demonstration on their own. Each step is thoroughly explained, therefore, there is no room for ambiguity. The audience should be able to successfully complete the process being shown on their own after viewing the screencast with little to no trouble.
3. TIME EFFICIENT: Effective screencasts MUST be engaging. In order to keep the audience engaged, the screencast cannot be too lengthy (unless the audience is learning something that requires a lot of time). The screencast must be able to thoroughly explain each step to the necessary extent. The mission of an effective screencast: To deliver instructional information to the audience as thouroughly as possible in a timely fashion.
4. ENGAGING: Great screencasts are ENGAGING. If voice is used for instructional purpose, the speaker should be excited to teach. The learners will reciprocate and feel equally excited to learn material. It will be easier for the audience to learn material that is not only interesting to them, but presented in an interesting manner. In addition to this, the use of different texts, digital images, color, and sound, make the tutorial all the more intriguing. 
5. REITERATION OF PROCESS BEING TAUGHT: Great screencasts can also reinforce the instructions at a natural pace, at the end of the video. This element is not ESSENTIAL but I think it makes a strong screencast. By reinforcing the directions, the process will be further engraved in the mind of the audience. This way, the screencast is clear and fully explained t ensure that the audience has a good grasp on how to perform a certain task.

     These five elements can be noted in the screencast I found below. This is the BEST screencast. While this video is not necessarily short, the time length is necessary to fully explain figurative language to a fifth grade class. The teacher is engaging, explains the types of figurative language thoroughly, and uses examples of the different figurative language types to help her class understand the concept. The teacher speaks clearly, the transitions are not choppy, and the text/coloring used invited learners to pay attention to the material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs_F-XR5xGA

     Here, is an example of a BETTER screencast. The audio quality is OK. There was a fuzziness in the background. The time between each instruction was too long. Additionally, for some people, it could be hard to understand someone with an accent. Instructions were clear, the speaker was personable, and the screencast was short, sweet, and to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyMHUb0lFco

     Finally, below I have pasted the link to an example of a GOOD screencast. In this tutorial, the speaker has an engaging voice that is not monotonous. However, his instructions lack fluidity and clarity. The video is also over a half hour long. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr2VBRdRYak