Jing -- An effective electronic teaching assistant

Let Jing help you with your work!

Try Jing by downloading free version (http://www.techsmith.com/download/jing/default.asp)

What is Jing ?
Jing is a smart screenshot and screencast software produced by TechSmith. It can

• capture the image of your computer screen
• video what you do on your computer screen and record your voice at the same time
• the captured video can be edited by other softwares produced by TechSmith

The reasons for choosing Jing for ELT

• Users-friendly: it is very important for teachers!!

          Jing has two versions: one is pro version, anther is free version. If you are not too ambitious, the free version is already powerful enough.
        
          Jing is very easy to use: after you download it, there will be a yellow icon in your screen. By a simple click on the 'Capture' button, select the area you want to capture, then you can start making your own  'masterpiece'. More interestingly, when you finished your video, click the share button, your piece of work will immediately uploaded to you profolio in Screencast, and automatically the link for this video is copied and ready for paste. 

           Jing offers various tutorial vedios for the beginners.  And they are also free for download. Here is an example downloaded from this web address:  http://www.techsmith.com/tutorial-jing-record-video.html

• Teachers can personalise their teaching materials

By screencasting, the teacher can create many different kinds of teaching materials (such as vocabulary instruction, giving feedback, online learning resources recommendation, listening materials, etc.) and send the video links to the students.

• Time and energy efficient for teachers

Make a vedio, you can use it for as many times as you want!

Thinking about giving individual feedback to many students, it takes ages typing, editing or hand-writing the feedback. However, with Jing screencast, you can simply talk about it. It saves lots of time and energy.

Limitations?

• The recording time limit for the free version of Jing is only 5 min.
• For the teachers who have already has their own fixed teaching preference, it may difficult to promote them to use a completely different teaching tools.
• The free version Jing can only record the speakers' voice, the image of the speakers is missed. It may difficult for some students, especially the students of lower language proficiency, to understand the teachers' instruction without seeing their face and mouth.
• It may be weird for some teachers to do the monologue to the computer in stead of standing in front of students and having interactive commuication with them.

Suggestions for Teachers

• Teachers are suggested to use Jing to give feedback to students' written work.                           (More information cencerning giving feedback by Jing, visit Russell Stannard's website: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/) 
• Teachers can also personalise their own teaching materials, making the teaching materials specially targeted to their students.
• Teachers can ask the students to do the reading-aloud practice with Jing. In this way, the students can send their reading practice to teathers, so that the teachers can comment and correct them. Meanwhile, the students can keep the reading recordings by themselves, so that after a period of speaking, pronunciation and reading practice, they can monitor their process of progress!
• The teachers' Jing vedios can also serve as the authentic listening materials for the students.