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MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
CREATING GREAT SOFTWARE TUTORIALS
Make your own multimedia learning materials
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE WRITTEN TUTORIALS
What makes an easy-to-follow written tutorial?
Clear instructions • Plan your content
• Decide whether the instructions will be project-specific, or more generic in nature
• Run through the steps and write them down in order
• Reassure the reader by explaining expected behaviour
• Use minimal text. What can you leave out?
• There are often multiple ways to do things, but you don’t need to explain all methods all the time. Choose one method only
• Use bold sparingly to highlight specific instructions like shortcuts, or other actions
• Include great images. Visuals make a tutorial easy to follow and attractive to look at
Good layout • Start with a brief sentence to describe what you’re going to do
• Use point form or numbers for the step-by-step instructions
• Use some white space – don’t squish everything up!
IMAGES: SCREENSHOTS
Screencapture software allows you to take a photo of your screen, or part of your screen. You can then use the image in a written tutorial, or in a video tutorial.
There are free options for screencapture, but if you’re going to be creating tutorials frequently it’s well worth purchasing one of the professional programs.
Tips for images • Think about which images you should include in your tutorial
• You can take screenshots of windows, sections of documents or menus
• Only capture the part of the screen you need – it will be clearer (and bigger)
• Add arrows or boxes to highlight the part of the image you’re referring to
• Save your images in a single project folder so they’re easy to find (or in a photo management program such as iPhoto)
K a t i e W a r d r o b e
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
SCREENCAPTURE SOFTWARE
Free • Jing – best free option (Mac and PC) http://www.techsmith.com/jing/
• Mac inbult option http://guides.macrumors.com/Taking_Screenshots_in_Mac_OS_X
• PC inbuilt option http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm
Paid • SnagIt (the one I use). Excellent features including image editing, effects (torn edges,
transparency, annotations, image editing), mouse capture, capture of menus and sub-menus and much more.
IMAGE CAPTURE IN JING
Select the Region • Download and install Jing
• Look for the little sun at the top (or top right corner) of your screen
• Hover your mouse over the sun and 3 options will appear
• Click on the Capture option (on the left)
• Cross-hairs will appear and you can click and drag over the part of the screen you need
• Let go when you’re happy with your selection
Choose Image or Video • When you let go, you’ll see your capture like this
• Now you’ll need to choose whether you want to create a still image, or a video
• Click on the Image button on the left
Name and Annotate Your Image • Title your image in the white Name box
• Add annotations using the buttons on the left
• Click on the Save button
• Select a location for your image (it’s a good idea to set up a folder for all images related to one project)
• Click Save
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
ADDING YOUR IMAGE TO A WORD DOCUMENT
Insert Your Image Into Your Written Tutorial • Open your tutorial document
• Position your cursor where you want the image to appear (or at least nearby)
• Go to Insert > Picture > From file
• Navigate to the image you created
• Click Insert
• The image will appear in your Word document
Resizing Image in Word • Click on the image to select it
• Resize the image by dragging one of the corners in/out (dragging from a corner will avoid distortion)
Crop The Image • Click on the image to select it
• On the Formatting Palette, click on the Picture tab and then select the Crop tool (or go to Format > Picture)
• Click on the edge of the image and drag the mouse inwards to crop it
Position An Image Anywhere on the Page • Click on the image
• On the Formatting Palette, click on Wrapping and then choose one of the options next to Style:
o In line with text - image appears between 2 paragraphs
o Square – image moves freely around in document. Text wraps the image with a square border
o Tight - image moves freely around in document. Text wraps image and conforms to image shape
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
SCREENCASTING (VIDEO)
What you need: • Screencasting software
• Microphone
• A way to share the videos with your students
Software Options: Free • Jing (free) – limited to 5 minutes, not viewable on iPhone (creates Flash videos)
http://www.techsmith.com/jing/
• Screenr free, online limited to 5 minutes web-based, viewable on iPhone http://www.screenr.com/
• Voicethread – not a screencasting program as such, but a good straightforward way to add a voiceover to still pics http://voicethread.com
Software Options: Paid • Screenflow (Mac only – the one I use) http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/
• Camtasia Studio (PC only) - education discounts available, can bundle it with Snagit http://www.techsmith.com
• Camtasia for Mac (not the same as the Camtasia PC version) http://www.techsmith.com
Microphone options • Inbuilt mic in your computer
• USB mic ($100ish)
• A “regular” mic (ie. Shure SM58) and an audio interface
Sharing Screencasts Videos are generally too big to email. The best option is to upload the video to a website so that students can view them at home. You may be able to upload them to your school website. Other options:
• If you use Screenr, they will already live on the internet. You’ll just need to give the URL (web address) of the video to the students
• If you use Jing, you can use their free sharing site www.screencast.com
• If you use a paid software program like Screenflow or Camtasia, you can upload the videos to video sharing sites like Youtube, Vimeo or Teachertube
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE VIDEO TUTORIALS
• Decide what sort of style video you’re going to make and how much time you have to spend on it
• BEFORE you hit record Plan, Plan, Plan (an outline or script is useful)
• You MUST include a voiceover or onscreen instructions
• Be careful with mouse movements – don’t circle objects repeatedly
• Break instructions up into short videos, rather than create one long video. 5 minutes is a long time
• Your first video may take a long time to make, but it gets quicker!
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
UNSCRIPTED, UNEDITED VIDEOS
If you’re using one of the free screencasting tools, like Jing or Screenr this will be the type of video you’ll create because they don’t have editing options. Basic steps:
• Open the software program you’re creating the tutorial for
• Open the screencasting software (or go to the screencasting website if you’re using an online solution)
• Select the area to capture (if applicable)
• Press record
• Wait for the countdown and then carry out the steps of the task
• Describe the steps verbally as you do it. Don’t worry too much about ums and ahs or slip-ups!
• Re-record if necessary
SCRIPTED, EDITED VIDEOS
If you’re using a professional screencasting program and want to create a more professional video you’ll need to take some more time to create your videos.
There are numerous approaches to making tutorial videos. Here’s the way I do it:
• Write a script and practise the steps in the software program
• Record the audio in an audio editing program such as Audacity (free), leaving slight pauses between each step (this makes editing easier later on)
• Edit the audio if necessary (remove slip-ups, unwanted gaps, mistakes)
• Import the audio into your screencasting software program
• Record the screencast (the visual part)
• Edit the audio and video together so they match up
• Add effects such as call-outs, video actions and audio actions
• Add in titles and theme music
Optional Extras • Add onscreen text to reinforce any shortcuts mentioned
• Add subtitles (captions) for the entire video. Because I upload my videos to Youtube, I use a free online subtitling program called Captiontube http://captiontube.appspot.com/
SCREENCASTING IN JING
Select the Region • Hover your mouse over the sun and 3 options will appear
• Click on the Capture option (on the left)
• Cross-hairs will appear and you can click and drag over the part of the screen you need
• Let go when you’re happy with your selection
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
Choose Image or Video • When you let go, you’ll see your capture like
this
• Click on the Video button, second from the left
Microphone • Make sure your microphone is connected to your computer and that it’s not muted in Jing
Record • A 3 second countdown will show on your screen (get ready!)
• Perform the actions you want to demonstrate and narrate at the same time
• Click the Stop button when you’ve finished
• You can click on the Play button to view a preview
Save and/or Share You can either save your video to your hard drive, or you can save it to a video-sharing site.
• Use the Share on Screencast button to upload your video to Jing’s own video sharing site
• Use the Save button to save the video to your own computer
C r e a t i n g G r e a t S o f t w a r e T u t o r i a l s K a t i e W a r d r o b e
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE mtec2011
IDEAS FOR SCREENCASTS
• Record tutorial videos about software/websites for students ahead of classtime
• Students can record themselves doing exercises during classtime - save for revision
• Students create tutorials for one another (or for staff!)
• Mark student work verbally – record yourself speaking about student work on your screen
• Record yourself commenting on videos of student performances
• Have students record comments about each others’ work
• Students can record a verbal response to photos/artwork/videos/recordings
• Record students doing work at the interactive whiteboard
LINKS
Making Effective Tutorial Videos: Behind The Scenes of a Screencast
http://midnightmusic.com.au/index.php/2010/07/making-effective-tutorial-videos-behind-the-scenes-of-a-screencast/
Marking student work via screencasts
http://paulmcgovern.net/marking-via-screencasts/
Teachers Describe Student-Created Tutorials
http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/03/09/becoming-good-tutorial-designers
http://kimcofino.com/blog/2011/02/27/students-as-teachers-6th-grade-tutorial-designers
Jing Education Blog
http://blog.techsmith.com/edublog/
CONTACT
Contact details (questions and/or training enquiries)
• Email Katie Wardrobe: [email protected]
• Join the Midnight Music mailing list for tips and news: www.midnightmusic.com.au
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g!®
A
gui
de to
taki
ng y
our
first
cap
ture
©
201
0 Te
chS
mith
Cor
pora
tion.
A
ll rig
hts
rese
rved
.
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
2
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g H
eard
of J
ing
from
Tec
hSm
ith?
It’s
the
fast
est w
ay to
sho
w s
omet
hing
on
your
scr
een
to o
ther
s. J
ing
can
capt
ure
imag
es a
nd v
ideo
and
it w
orks
on
Mac
into
sh a
nd W
indo
ws.
Why
wou
ld y
ou w
ant t
o sh
ow s
tuff
on
your
scr
een
to o
ther
s? Y
ou c
ould
…
Th
is g
uide
will
sho
w y
ou e
very
thin
g yo
u ne
ed to
kno
w to
take
a s
cree
n ca
ptur
e.
In
stal
l and
set
up
Jing
Laun
ch J
ing
Ta
ke a
Cap
ture
(Im
age
or V
ideo
)
Sav
e or
Sha
re y
our C
aptu
re
A
dditi
onal
Ref
eren
ces
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
3
Inst
all J
ing
and
Sign
Up
for S
cree
ncas
t.com
D
ownl
oad
and
inst
all J
ing
from
http
://w
ww
.tech
smith
.com
/jing
.
Dou
ble
clic
k th
e in
stal
ler a
nd p
roce
ed a
s di
rect
ed. N
ear t
he e
nd o
f the
sho
rt pr
oces
s yo
u ar
e pr
ompt
ed to
sig
n up
for S
cree
ncas
t.com
.
Wha
t is
Scre
enca
st.c
om?
Scr
eenc
ast.c
om is
a h
ostin
g se
rvic
e fro
m T
echS
mith
, per
fect
for t
he
vide
os a
nd im
ages
you
cre
ate
with
Jin
g. Y
ou g
et 2
GB
of s
tora
ge
and
2 G
B o
f ban
dwid
th p
er m
onth
for f
ree.
You
can
als
o ch
oose
to h
ost y
our c
aptu
res
else
whe
re, s
uch
as F
lickr
or
you
r ow
n FT
P s
erve
r.
Is it
priv
ate?
Yes
. You
ow
n an
d co
ntro
l all
your
con
tent
. Onl
y pe
ople
you
ch
oose
can
see
it, a
nd it
’s o
nly
dele
ted
whe
n you
dele
te it
.
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
4
Find
and
Lau
nch
Jing
A
fter t
he in
stal
latio
n an
d si
gn u
p is
com
plet
e, y
ou m
ight
not
no
tice
anyt
hing
has
cha
nged
on
your
com
pute
r. Lo
ok c
aref
ully
ar
ound
the
top
edge
s of
you
r scr
een.
On
Win
dow
s, th
e Ji
ng
Sun
Lau
nche
r loc
atio
n is
at t
he to
p ce
nter
of t
he s
cree
n. O
n M
acin
tosh
, it’s
in th
e up
per r
ight
cor
ner.
As
you
mov
e ov
er th
e “s
un” t
hree
opt
ions
will
em
erge
. The
m
ost u
sefu
l one
is C
aptu
re.
Take
a C
aptu
re
Clic
k C
aptu
re. S
ee h
ow p
arts
of y
our s
cree
n go
dar
ker a
s yo
u m
ove
the
cros
s ha
irs a
roun
d th
e sc
reen
? C
lick
and
drag
to s
elec
t a p
ortio
n of
you
r scr
een.
The
hi
ghlig
hted
brig
ht a
rea
is th
e pa
rt th
at w
ill b
e ca
ptur
ed. L
et g
o w
hen
you’
ve g
ot th
e ar
ea y
ou w
ant s
elec
ted.
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
5
Ok,
now
it’s
dec
isio
n tim
e!
Do
you
wan
t to
capt
ure
an im
age
or re
cord
a v
ideo
?
I w
ant t
o ca
ptur
e an
imag
e!
I w
ant t
o re
cord
a v
ideo
!
Clic
k th
e Im
age
butto
n.
Clic
k th
e Vi
deo
butto
n.
Th
e im
age
appe
ars
in
the
Pre
view
win
dow
.
Mak
e su
re y
our
mic
roph
one
is c
onne
cted
an
d th
at y
ou’re
not
m
uted
.
Als
o, if
you
hav
e Ji
ng
Pro
, you
can
reco
rd a
w
ebca
m!
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
6
I wan
t to
capt
ure
an im
age!
(Con
tinue
d)
I w
ant t
o re
cord
a v
ideo
! (C
ontin
ued)
Use
the
imag
e to
ols
to a
nnot
ate
your
ca
ptur
e.
A 3
sec
ond
coun
tdow
n w
ill a
ppea
r, an
d yo
ur
scre
en w
ill th
en b
e re
cord
ed.
Per
form
any
act
ions
yo
u’d
like
to s
how
whi
le
narr
atin
g al
ong.
Not
e th
at th
at th
ere
is a
5-
min
ute
time
limit.
Th
e D
ate/
Tim
e st
amp
is th
e de
faul
t fil
enam
e. C
hang
e if
desi
red.
C
lick
Stop
whe
n yo
u’re
do
ne.
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
7
Save
, Cop
y or
Sha
re Y
our C
aptu
re to
Scr
eenc
ast.c
om
Onc
e yo
u’ve
cap
ture
d an
imag
e or
mad
e a
vide
o, y
ou h
ave
to d
ecid
e w
hat y
ou w
ant t
o do
with
it. T
he d
efau
lt ou
tput
opt
ions
are
Scr
eenc
ast.c
om (l
eft b
utto
n),
Save
(mid
dle)
, or C
opy
(rig
ht, &
onl
y w
orks
for i
mag
es).
Let’s
exp
lore
the
diffe
renc
es:
| S
ave:
You
r tra
ditio
nal s
ave
proc
ess
you’
ve d
one
doze
ns o
r tho
usan
ds o
f tim
es. S
ave
it. P
ick
a fil
e na
me.
Pic
k a
loca
tion.
Cop
y: T
his
only
app
lies
to im
ages
. You
can
clic
k th
e C
opy
butto
n an
d th
en p
aste
the
imag
e in
to a
doc
umen
t, em
ail,
etc.
Scr
eenc
ast.c
om: I
f you
clic
k S
cree
ncas
t.com
, you
r im
age
or v
ideo
is u
ploa
ded
to y
our J
ing
fold
er o
n S
cree
ncas
t.com
. Rem
embe
r it’s
priv
ate.
No
one
is g
oing
to g
et to
you
r con
tent
unl
ess
you
give
them
the
link
to it
.
Onc
e th
e vi
deo
or im
age
is u
ploa
ded
to S
cree
ncas
t.com
, you
get
a li
nk to
it. N
ext,
past
e th
e lin
k in
to y
our e
mai
l, do
cum
ent o
r onl
ine
conv
ersa
tion.
The
link
will
lo
ok s
omet
hing
like
this
: http
://sc
reen
cast
.com
/t/yK
Wyv
8hI5
. Whe
n pe
ople
clic
k it,
they
’ll s
ee e
xact
ly w
hat y
ou c
aptu
red!
To
past
e, y
ou c
an p
ress
Ctr
l + V
(Com
man
d +
V on
Mac
). O
r you
can
usu
ally
righ
t clic
k yo
ur m
ouse
in th
e ar
ea w
here
you
wan
t to
past
e an
d se
lect
Pas
te
from
the
drop
dow
n m
enu.
I wan
t to
capt
ure
an im
age!
(Con
tinue
d)
I w
ant t
o re
cord
a v
ideo
! (C
ontin
ued)
Tim
e to
sha
re a
nd
save
you
r cap
ture
.
Cho
ose
one
of th
e av
aila
ble
outp
ut
butto
ns to
sha
re y
our
capt
ure.
You
r cap
ture
sho
ws
up in
pre
view
w
indo
w. P
revi
ew it
–
then
sha
re it
.
Wel
com
e to
Jin
g
ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om
8
W
hy W
ould
You
Wan
t to
Use
Scr
eenc
ast.c
om?
W
hy n
ot ju
st s
ave
the
file
and
atta
ch it
to a
n em
ail f
or e
xam
ple?
Pos
sibl
e re
ason
s in
clud
e:
A
link
is m
ore
view
er-fr
iend
ly in
som
e ca
ses.
Exa
mpl
e: Y
our e
mai
l rec
ipie
nt is
n’t l
ikel
y go
ing
to b
e to
o ha
ppy
whe
n th
ey re
ceiv
e an
em
ail w
ith a
hug
e vi
deo
file
atta
ched
to it
.
A li
nk to
the
cont
ent i
s m
ore
vers
atile
: Exa
mpl
e: Y
ou c
an’t
atta
ch o
r ins
ert i
mag
es o
r vid
eo in
to s
ome
med
ium
s—lik
e an
Inst
ant m
essa
ge c
lient
or c
hat
room
.
The
view
er w
ill li
kely
hav
e a
bette
r exp
erie
nce
wat
chin
g th
e vi
deo
via
your
link
than
tryi
ng to
ope
n it
as a
raw
file
. Scr
eenc
ast.c
om ta
kes
care
of e
very
thin
g.
Lear
n M
ore
Coo
l Stu
ff A
bout
Jin
g!
We’
ve g
ot tw
o gr
eat r
esou
rces
you
sho
uld
chec
k ou
t som
etim
e. O
ur H
elp
Cen
ter a
t ww
w.te
chsm
ith.c
om/le
arn/
jing
will
sho
w y
ou th
ings
like
how
to m
ove
or
hide
the
sun,
how
to m
ake
cust
om J
ing
butto
ns a
nd m
ore.
Our
blo
g at
http
://bl
og.ji
ngpr
ojec
t.com
is a
gre
at p
lace
to le
arn
the
late
st n
ews,
join
the
conv
ersa
tion,
and
see
how
oth
ers
are
usin
g Ji
ng!