ALISON today continued the growth of its free online multimedia course catalogue with the release of a new screen capture course. The course offers a clear, succinct and entertaining introduction to screencasting and screen capture technologies.

ALISON, the free e-learning website, today released another course into its burgeoning suite of multimedia courses. On completion of the course, learners will have the skills and knowledge to record, save and share the content of their computer screens with students, friends and family.

The video-based tutorials are delivered by award-winning multimedia teacher and Warwick University teaching fellow Russell Stannard. The course offers an in-depth introduction to the tools and techniques to create screencasts – digital recordings of computer screen outputs. The lessons are delivered in a clear, easy-to-understand manner and examine a number of specific free online tools including Jing, Screentoaster and Screenjelly. 

Given the high cost of instructor-led training, screencasting offers a modern, affordable, high quality alternative to traditional training methods. For example, screencasts can be used to demonstrate how to complete a task in a specific software environment. Trainers can use the tool to examine software applications such as spreadsheets, word documents, video clips or photographs on their screen and then narrate the content. Screencasts, for instance, have been widely used as an effective tool for teaching computer-novices IT skills.

Educators too are finding benefits in integrating screen capture technology into the school curriculum. Students can record video and audio as they demonstrate the proper procedure to solve a problem on an interactive whiteboard and this can be sent to a teacher for evaluation.

The Screen Capture course is free, self-paced and self-assessed. The course is ideal for those looking to improve their workplace skills, those who wish to develop new skills in their spare time, or those looking to create learning resources to share with friends, family, students and colleagues.

To access the free ALISON Screen capture courses click on the following links