Screencastify is an amazing tool that can help your students with developing stronger communication skills. This online application allows you to create, edit, and share videos in seconds. I rarely used Screencastify because I had Camtasia. Once Covid impacted our world, and educators had to communicate with their students differently with the hybrid model, Screencastify became an amazing go to for me. Occasionally I needed to create a video on the spot and it became the perfect option. I also started to use it to provide audio and visual feedback on digital projects. It was much quicker than typing up the feedback. Students could then use that video feedback to make the necessary modifications to their products. The Youtube video example on this page demonstrates how a video was created to point out errors on a website unit. This feedback is intended to assist the students in creating a more attractive final product.

Considering not everyone wants to invest in video editing software, Screencastify is an amazing option to use to share projects, make how to videos, point out mistakes on a digital product, etc. Once I started playing around with Screencastify, I came up with a variety of amazing units. I created a lesson using Google slides. Each slide had several errors, including factual, design, and spelling and grammar errors. Students were given a prompt stating how many mistakes were on each slide. They had to fill out a plan pointing out the errors. Once the plan was completed, they were to record the mistakes, using the drawing tools of Screencastify to clearly point out where the mistakes were on the slide. This is an empowering way to give students voice, improve their digital and literacy skills and increase confidence. You can read more about the unit by clicking on this link.