Thing 20 - Jing It!

The latest tool I've learned about is called Jing.  Jing allows you to capture screen images and then narrate or illustrate how something happens.  You can use Jing to capture one screen shot or you can record several screens through a video feature.  I like the video feature because you can talk about what is happening and next steps as you go.  This is great for a person that really needs visuals to know how to do something on the computer.  I feel that this is a great tool for using with teachers in professional learning situations.  It's been very helpful to have these in the on-line portions of my grad classes so I could see how something was supposed to happen.  

I created a screencast for parents on how to access and subscribe to our class blog.  You can see it for yourself at http://screencast.com/t/aiDZDCbOwr4.

I found that I got very frustrated in the beginning because the tutorial provided in the site was not as specific as I wanted or needed. Thankfully, there were several more tutorials on YouTube.  The one I found most helpful was Jing Part 3.  The basic, free Jing subscription does not have an editing feature, so you have to make sure you have everything lined up correctly and have practiced so that you get what you need in one take.  If not, you'll have to start all over from the beginning (I won't even tell you how many times I had to start over).  I appreciated the pause button so I could catch a breath or organize my thoughts and pages before moving on.  This takes some planning in order to get a good product that you will be proud to use.  

Once you're finished recording or capturing, you can save it to your computer or to a site that holds your work.  The site gives you a url that can be posted in your blog or webpage.  You can also post your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Your creations will be saved on your personal channel that you receive when you sign up on Jing.  

I plan to explore Jing some more, but for the moment, I'm glad this assignment is finished.