Screencasting guildelines

I've always though the strength of screencasts was in their storytelling qualities. And a few searches on the keywords "screencast + storytelling" do take you to some sites and articles supporting storytelling using technology, in particular, using screencasting. In one paper titled, "Does screencast teaching software applications need narration for effective learning?" found that "the findings provide evidence that screencast with narration can be used for online self-paced learning that is not only effective but also efficient."

When I combine my belief in screencasting with my experience in creating Open Educational Resources (OER) I look to a larger picture where the preparation and artifacts created in the lead up to recording a screencast are also important artifacts for learning and reuse. And when you also consider the reuse possibilities and the localization needs that may occur, creating treatments for the screencasts and storing the raw multimedia files also become important.

For my current project work with Mozilla I have decided to create an Open Resources Wiki within the larger Mozilla Wiki. This open resources wiki will store guidelines, resources and artifacts for creating open resources. I believe these resources could be very useful as Mozilla deepens its commitment to digital literacy and webmaking. I believe that the resources I create will have the ability to be reused and localized and I need to be mindful of this possibility as I create new learning resources.

Preparing multimedia resources of reuse and localization takes additional work, but it is work that makes a better initial product. This occurs because greater thought needs to go into the resource before it is created. My recent set of screencasts have focused on the onboarding of open badges implementers where I have created screencast treatments and stored the related media in RAW format encouraging reuse and easing localization efforts.

• The step by step guide I am creating resources; https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/StepxStep
• The scaffolding and treatment guidelines for screancasts; https://wiki.mozilla.org/User:Prawsthorne/Scaffolding/Webinars
• The actual treatment for step 0 of the resource; https://wiki.mozilla.org/Education/OpenResources/Badges/0-Reading