Building How-To Videos - For Free!

One of the best ways to learn a subject or to demonstrate mastery of a topic is to teach it to someone else. So why not assign student projects that require making videos that explain the functionality of Microsoft Office, a Web site or another application software package. And then the students can deploy the videos they create on YouTube and share their knowledge with the entire world. Now that is Web 2.0 learning in action! But since many colleges don't have a tool deployed for the students to use, a free tool for recording on-screen activity is needed.

Fortunately, CamStudio is an open source software package that is based on the widely popular (and expensive) Camtasia Studio product from Techsmith. The software is easy to install and learn to use. They even provide a handy video on downloading CamStudio. The help files in the product will get you familiar with how to use it. The recorder has simple basic functionality similar to older versions of Camtasia Studio.



This is not as fully-functional as the current version of Camtasia Studio, but the basic functionality is similar. For pure ease of use, Camtasia Studio 5 does offer significant advantages, but saving the students $299 is a big bonus for CamStudio. So have the students download CamStudio and get them creating their first videos this week!