The Making of a Short, Simple Tutorial

If you scroll through this blog, you’ll come across my post and video “Introducing Google Docs” from April 2011. While the video is merely three minutes long, the work put into its creation spanned quite a few hours…mostly due to my inability to find a worthwhile tool for the tutorial. The assignment sounded simple enough: create a three-minute professional development video. I could have done anything, but I wanted a tutorial that I could use a resource for my career/business-education high school students.

Like most projects, my research began online. I knew what I’d envisioned as I mapped it out on my storyboard. My goal was to walk my students through the process of signing up for an e-mail account via Gmail and then use the interactive, collaborative services of Google docs. At the start, my concern was trying to work within the time constraints.

I made my first attempt on Screenjelly as it seemed a perfect fit, in theoretical terms. It was a free, screen-capture program that allowed my video to be shot online and it had a three-minute time limit. More importantly, users may upload work to different social-media tools like Twitter, personal websites or even via e-mail. Sadly, after a few attempts, it was evident that this program was not for me. Although the audio-visual features were decent, the final product would always remain as video within the site’s layout. I didn’t want my piece to look like an advertisement.

I also tried to use Screentoaster as it was a suggested link in my search. Alas, it has been shut down.

As I was working on a Mac mini, I reexamined my options. I finally decided to use Snapz Pro X as it is a reputable program featured in Macworld, “Snapz Pro X is a nicely wrought utility that puts all other screen-capture methods to shame. If your Mac OS X work requires precise screen captures, Snapz Pro X is a must-have tool.” And it could be shared in all the ways I'd mentioned before as well as directly to other equipment i.e. PC, iPad, smartphone, etc. Who was I to argue?

Moreover, it is perfectly suited with movie-maker and player: QuickTime Pro. A glowing review on Apple.com actually called this program a “‘the multimedia master” and stated “you can also use QuickTime 7 Pro to record video and share everything you make with friends and family.” The decision was made final as my dear husband had previously downloaded both programs on our computer. And while my final product is not going to win any rewards, I was pleased that I could actually create my own video and that it’s something that I can provide to my students. In fact, after my professor and classmate reviews, I’ll be tweaking it so that it can be used as a resource for other ed-tech students here at the University of Guam.