FAQ by Parents Video

This is a rough draft of a FAQ video for parents. I wanted to play around with the new "screen in" feature of Screencast-o-matic. I definitely need to rewrite some parts, and I think I will split it into two videos, one on what a flipped class is and a separate video on what mastery based grading is. I think in this I just skim over the grading too quickly. Having played around with the isight screen in feature I can see that I need to adjust my camera angle and lighting.

I think overall I probably won't use this feature for student lectures, I think it could distract them from looking at the actual slide. However, I think for introductory purposes it is a nice feature so parents can get a feel for who their student's teacher is. I also think I will use it for the first few student videos. I was reading up on student "trust" levels. Despite the fact that we are having students listen to videos via their computers it is really important that they buy into the idea that it is "their teacher" disseminating information. That is why I make my own videos, despite the fact that there are far more professional looking ones out there. I need students to trust me as their teacher. I wish there was a way to turn the screen in feature on and off, for example have it on to introduce the video and then turn it off for the lecture. Has anyone figured out how to do this?

Anyway here it is, again, rough draft:

Parents will receive an explanatory letter the first night of school and a link to this video. I have a separate blog for parents that I update each Friday so I'll house it there.

Has anyone found a better screen cast software? Right now I'm limited to using free software. I've toyed around with the idea of using iMovies but I like the ability to open websites within the screen.