The first site I tried was Screencast-O-Matic. This program was really easy to use. I really liked the visual of the yellow circle to show what area I was discussing during the screencast. It really makes it easy for everyone to see what you are discussing and want them to be looking at during that time. It was also easy to download and save the file.
I created this example to show my student how to get started with Edmodo at the beginning of the year.
The next site I visited was Screenr. Screenr was also very easy to use, once I was able to use it! I had to update Java and change my security settings to be able to use Screenr...that took some time to figure out! After that was all sorted out, I was able to easily create a screencast. The format is very similar to Screencast-o-matic. One difference I noticed was that Screenr does not have the yellow circle showing where your mouse is on the screen. Screenr also allows you to easily download and save the video as well.
I created this example to explain how to use Padlet this year with our school book club students.
I also tried using Jing to create a screencast. I thought Jing was a little more difficult. It has a few more steps after you complete your video. It doesn't allow you to easily download and save the screencast. You can also use Jing to take a screen shot as well, that is what I used for the picture below. I created a short example to show my students how to search on World Book Online.
I found all the programs to be very similar and very easy to use. I think I really liked Screencast-o-matic the best, just because I could see the yellow circle around the area of what you are pointing to with the mouse. I think that would be better if you are creating something for younger students to follow. I also liked it because I could easily download and save the screencast.
Good point about being able to see where the mouse is! That's important for you while you are trying to explain things to viewers.
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