Category: Education

Top Screen Recorders to Record Lectures and Online Courses Safely

screen recorders

We are living in a modern era where most businesses have become digital. In the last few years, we have seen many instructors giving online classes to their students.  Any student who wants to learn any skill online will surely evaluate the course before enrolling in it. Those people who make high-quality courses with detailed information get maximum course enrollments.

To serve the courses or lectures online safely, we need to record them before uploading. Many people use PowerPoint presentations or some practical guides in their classes, and to record them efficiently, they need a screen recorder.

If you are also planning to make an online course and looking for a screen recorder, you are at the right place. This article will show you the top 3 screen recorders to record lectures and online courses.

How do Screen Recorders work?

There are a wide range of screen recorders available for windows. Most of them are paid, while some offer free features. They are becoming essential to make the most out of your online courses or classes.

A screen recorder is software that allows you to record anything displaying on your screen. Every screen recorder has its unique features. Before looking at the 3 best screen recorders, let’s look at what to consider before choosing any screen recorder.

What to Consider in a Screen Recorder

Before choosing a screen recording software, do consider the following things for efficient work.

  • Make sure that the user interface of the screen recorder is not much complex, and you can easily use it
  • Check if you can customize your screen area for recording either full screen or any specific part of it
  • Screen recorders with some basic video editing have a slight edge over other
  • See if you can integrate your microphone with the screen recorder
  • Always check the quality of video produced by a screen recorder

Best Screen Recorders to Record Lectures and Online Courses Safely

Based on all the necessary features to record a PC screen safely for kids, we have shortlisted the 3 top-performing screen recorders.

1. iFun Screen Recorder

The first screen recorder on the list that I also use for my YouTube videos is the iFun Screen Recorder. Although it is an free screen recorder, it is easy to use with all the premium features usually found in the paid screen recorders.

iFun Screen Recorder permits you to either record the complete screen or any portion of it in a high-quality resolution without any watermark. To protect your copyright, it also allows to edit your personal watermark. You can also record your audio and attach a webcam for a more professional look.

Besides recording your screen, you can also edit the video and directly upload it to your social media profiles. All such impressive features make the iFun Screen Recorder the favorite choice to record online courses.

2. EaseUS RecExperts

EaseUS RecExperts is a screen recording software that allows you to record your screen easily with just a few clicks. The software offers a variety of features that makes screen recording easy and fun. With EaseUS RecExperts, you can record your screen in high quality, edit your recordings with the built-in editor, and share your recordings with others easily. The software also supports a variety of languages, making it a great choice for those who want to use screen recording for language learning.

With its simple interface and powerful features, EaseUS RecExperts is a great choice for those who want to record their screen easily and efficiently.

3. Movavi

Movai is a screen recorder with audio that record screens and system audio. It also provides the ability to grab sound from the speakers and microphone.  Record only audio if you choose or create screencasts.  Capture webinars, your webcam, or online calls.

Individuals will find this screen recorder easy to operate for personal use, including students.  Teachers will find it user-friendly when creating educational videos and custom videos for teaching.  Use recordings for video creation when you combine with Movai’s Video Editor Plus.

There is a free download with upgrade options for a low annual fee. There is also an option to pay a slightly higher lifetime fee if you don’t like subscriptions.

4. Clipchamp

Clipchamp is an all-in-one online video editor and video maker which includes a video compressor, converter and screen recorder.

Just click the record button and then choose a tab, window, or screen to record. Once done, you may simply drag the recordings into the timeline for trimming or editing.

You can add text, effects, and music and combine, crop, and control the speed. The final recording can be downloaded at 480p for the free version without watermark and can be shared across all social media platforms.

5. Camtasia

Camtasia is a video editing software for windows that comes with a built-in screen recorder. Like other screen recorders, it allows you to record either full screen or any part of it.

While recording your PC screen to make instructional videos, you can either include or exclude the microphone and webcam. You can do basic to pro-level video editing in this software.

Although this screen recorder has fantastic features, you have to pay the money to use this software. Not everyone prefers to buy a screen recorder when a free screen recorder is already available. That’s why the iFun Screen Recorder leads this software.

6. OBS Studio

Whenever you talk about the screen recorders for Windows, you can’t keep the OBS studio out of your list. It is the advanced screen recorder that allows streaming as well.

This screen recording software is also free, and you can also record your audio along with the screen.

This recorder is not recommended for beginners to record the lectures. Its user interface is somewhat more complex as compared to other free screen recorders.

Final Verdict

All the screen recorders listed above can be used on windows. There are some online screen recorders, but you need an active internet connection to work with them.

You can choose any screen recorder, but we recommend the iFun Screen Recorder as the top screen recorder to record lectures and online courses after comparing all the features.

Additional Learning Resources:

Engage students with these top 10 PowerPoint tips for creating captivating online presentations.

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Top Online Courses for Kids

Best Online Courses for Kids

In this technologically advanced era, your child can learn anything from coding languages to editing photographs online. All you need to do is explore your kids’ interests and you are good to go. Once you find the subject your child wants to ace, all you need to do is go to your web browser and find the best online course that can help your kid in learning that skill.

In this article, we will list some top online courses available for kids.

What are Online Courses?

Online courses are interactive teaching sessions shared  in a video format. When you opt for a particular online course, you will be asked to attend either live classes or you’ll get access to pre-built videos and other information to learn that course.

Online courses can be both free and paid depending upon the platform that is offering that course. Most of these courses include regular quizzes, test sessions, and much more to assure users that they are learning something new through the courses.

What are the Benefits of Online Courses?

Online courses meant for kids have the following benefits.

  • Online courses help kids in learn anything and everything within time flexible environment.
  • Interactive sessions offered by online courses help in grasping the information easily.
  • It’s possible to master any skill, including coding for kids with online courses from comfort zone of home.
  • The availability of a number of online courses helps kids to choose one that suits them best.
  • Online trial sessions offer an opportunity to try as many courses as your kid wants.
  • Online courses are affordable and time-efficient solutions to learn new skills.

How to Choose an Online Course

There are plenty of courses available online. From hundreds of Edutech platforms to thousands of YouTube channels, the internet is flooded with several different types of online courses.

Choosing the online course that best suits your kid is indeed a difficult task. However, your task of selecting the online course can be made easy if you take care of a few points.

  1. Trial Sessions: Every online course whether paid or unpaid offers trial sessions. Take the few trial sessions of the course provided by different platforms and then choose the one that suits your kids best.
  1. Reviews: Most of the popular platforms allow students to write feedback about the course. You can go through reviews and feedback of various online courses before finally selecting one.
  1. Reputation: The quality of online courses highly depends on the reputation of both the teacher and the platform. Research thoroughly about the teaching skills and style of that particular teacher before enrolling your kid in any online course.
  1. Resources: Kids take time to grasp knowledge conveyed through online courses. Make sure the course you pick for your kid offers various resources like videos, worksheets, podcasts, and much more for a better experience for your kids.
  1. Affordable: It is a myth that only expensive online courses offers best learning experience. Even the free and courses with nominal fees can offer the best teaching sessions. Make sure your online course is affordable and won’t burn your pockets unnecessarily.

Top Online Courses for Kids

Based on the reviews and recommendations, we have listed a few of the best online courses for kids.

1. No-Code Development Course

Mobile apps are the future of the digital industry. Mastering the skills required to create and publish apps at an early age can help your kid in the future.

Appy Pie Student Developer Certification Program can offer your kid a user-friendly environment to learn how to create an app without coding even a single line. This program consists of 4 interactive sessions (one-hour each)

The No-Code Development Course offered by Appy Pie helps your kid to turn their imaginations into reality. Your child need not learn heavy coding languages to create their app based on their ideas. This course is meant for any child from K-12 levels who have an entrepreneurial knack and a basic understanding of what mobile apps are. Joel Perez, the instructor of the Program offers a seamless and smooth onboarding experience for kids.

2. Piano Lessons for Absolute Beginner

If your kid is interested to learn any instrument, you can easily go with piano. Piano is one of the easiest instruments to learn that even kids would enjoy learning and playing it.

If your kid has a knack to learn the piano, then you need not spend a huge amount of money on piano classes. You just need to opt for Piano Lessons for Absolute Beginners offered by Udemy.

It offers a free 58 minutes online course in the form of video session. This online course will you’re your kid to know about every key and its correspondent note. Your kid can also learn about major and minor scales along from a highly dignified piano teacher. And the biggest advantage of this online course is that your kid will be awarded by completion certificate also.

3. Online Language Learning

Those who understand an additional language other than their mother tongue have a great advantage with they grow up to explore various industries. The best age for learning a new language is between 3-18 years. There are English courses for kids that cater to specific age groups, which is beneficial when learning in a group session.

Mastering a language is indeed a difficult task, but is a lot easier for children. There are also online options for children to learn individually. Little Prim is a recommended educational platform that offers several online courses for 12 languages.  Little Prim follows the technique of play while learning to engage kids.

4. Codakid

Codakid is not particularly an online course but a highly efficient platform that offers interactive courses for kids. It tries to unleash the potential of young minds with its various online courses involving real coding instructions.

Offering highly affordable courses for beginners with monthly and yearly subscriptions, Codakid provides a fun learning process.  A team of friendly teachers will be available in every session of an online course.

With free trials and instant access, Codakid offers private online coding courses also. It offers more than 60 courses with over 750 challenges to test if kids can grasp something from online sessions or not. CodaKid assures your kid to master any coding language within a few months.

5. Introduction to Graphic Design

Graphics are nothing but attractive images. In this digital age, visually appealing graphics play an important role.

The graphic designing course is meant for all who have a creative knack and love to play with colors on a digital dashboard. This graphic designing course can help your kid to learn about logo designing, image editing, card making, and much more.

Appy Pie offers an interactive course Introduction to Graphic Design that is specially designed for kids. It will help create highly effective images, marketing materials, business cards, certificate design, and much more. This course covers the complete knowledge of Canva Tool and various techniques to create impressive graphics.

Summing Up

We hope you have enjoyed exploring this list of selective online courses designed to equip and educate young minds and make them better students.  Free trials allow you to try the course you feel will work best for your child’s needs.  Happy Learning!

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Elements of Digital Citizenship

digital citizenship

Being good citizens can mean connecting with others, exercising empathy, and forming friendships. The concept of digital citizenship is quite similar, but it involves using modern devices like computers to form those connections.

With the world spinning toward virtual gatherings and learning more than ever before, it’s never been more important to understand the concept of digital citizenship

Generally, this can be summed up with nine elements and there are a plethora of activities to teach digital citizenship. Here, we’re providing an overview of those nine tenets to ensure you — and your tech-savvy kids or students — are mindful of how you’re exercising digital citizenship.

Be sure to download the Digital Citizenship PDF
resources found at the end of this page.

1. Digital access

Not everyone can afford modern technology. We should strive to accommodate people with less digital access by providing alternatives to classroom assignments or making required technology available.

2. Digital etiquette

Those who aren’t used to computers may take online feedback personally. Anonymous online profiles can make people feel combative and negative. However, by teaching digital etiquette, we can learn to treat digital interactions the same as real ones.

3. Digital commerce

Digital commerce has become commonplace — people of all ages buy things online. Without knowledge of digital commerce, people’s personal information can be put at risk. Teaching online safety how to properly navigate the web can help us understand how to avoid putting our personal information at risk.

4. Digital rights and responsibilities

Using anonymity to bully people on the internet takes away their right to be safe online. Teaching digital rights and responsibilities means teaching that respecting people online is just as important as respecting them in real life.

5. Digital literacy

Digital literacy involves spreading awareness of these nine elements and helping others treat the internet responsibly. It also teaches people to recognize fake information. Tools like the Originality.ai Fact Checker can assist in verifying the authenticity of online content. Since so many vital social interactions happen online, staying safe and productive now includes understanding the difference between genuine and harmful content.

6. Digital law

The internet may appear abstract, but it has its own laws that everyone must follow. You can break copyright law by uploading someone else’s content or steal someone’s identity by hacking their email. And these crimes are just as severe as their real-life counterparts. We need to know and respect digital law so we can follow it and keep ourselves safe.

7. Digital communication

Everyone with access to the internet has a digital voice that they can use to express themselves. This freedom can tempt people to express anger or spread misinformation. Respectful, productive digital communication requires thinking of these communications professionally, rather than emotionally.

8. Digital health and wellness

Knowing when to unplug from a device or the internet is another element of digital citizenship. Monitoring the amount of time we’re eying screens and also our ergonomic setups all play into our health and wellness.

9. Digital security

Viruses, scams, malware, and other cyber threats exist. Being a digital citizen means understanding best practices for how to avoid them, including how to protect our devices and respond to digital security issues when they do happen. In some cases, relying on professional cybersecurity services can provide an added layer of protection and ensure swift responses to threats.

Downloadable Resources

The nine elements of digital citizenship teach us how to treat each other and how to stay safe online. The internet can be a productive, amazing place where people make new friends, find new jobs, and learn new things.  If we all exercise these nine elements of digital citizenship, that makes for a more positive digital world for everyone.

Norton Digital Citizenship for StudentsHere are some PDF downloads provided by Norton, who has created the following digital citizen resources for students.

Choose the resources that suit the age of your students.

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Trends in EdTech that Take Education to the Next Level

If you want to know more about already existing opportunities in education that you can take advantage now, join us as we look at the latest trends in EdTech.  Topics like eLearning, blockchain for education, gamification and AI are just a few sectors that are changing the education landscape.

The Next Level EdTech Trends for Your Education

Distance learning has already become just not another option but also a major rule for organizing the educational process. Recent challenges have pushed educators to adapt and respond to new opportunities and be proactive to stay ahead of the changes in education.  Many of these have become advantages not otherwise explored.

How Modern Technologies Are Used for Teaching and Learning

The main purpose of any technology recently applied in education should be for the purpose of facilitating the learning process and enhancing performance. This is achieved by applying technical means and Ed Tech tools. The use of new technologies for the most part was previously attributed to various courses and associated educational standards according to individual course activities. Now, it has become obvious that technologies can ensure the greater diversification of teaching methods. That is mainly related to arranging online classes and self-education.

The goal of applying advanced technical tools and arranging education online has been to bring at least the same results. Systems also need to be in place to ensure new types of learning can be measure results effectively. As we can now see that modern technologies can improve collaboration and performance, here are the main approaches to how this has been organized to the present.

EduTrends Enabling a Better Study Experience

Among all varieties of educational innovations, we have prepared for you a short overview of the latest ones and the most interesting, from our point of view. These are also widely-used technologies in modern education:

1. eLearning

Recent challenges that sent kids home from school have certainly opened our minds the idea that electronic learning can be effective.  For some students,  it can be even more effective than traditional classed.  This is only true if the process has been organized well.  When we speak about eLearning we usually mean any kind of education or learning process that is organized electronically.

Such courses enable the delivery of educational materials by using various computers, tablets, laptops, or even smartphones. The major advantage of this learning process is that students no longer need to have a passive role.  You may choose what course or material to take right at the moment. This may be through various podcasts, materials for reading, videos, and other materials. Delivery can be through Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or any other similar tools.

2. Blockchain for Education

The technology of distributed ledger has changed dramatically in many industries and it has also touched education. We can say even more – that is one of the most beneficial tech trends in education students may experience. It is used for arranging the so-called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that enable not only learning, but also the assessment of the gained knowledge and skills. Even more – the approach enables students to have extra benefits during the job-hunting process as they submit results of the completed courses to prospective employees.

3. Video-Assisted Education

Besides the fact that videos are more engaging, you can easily go back and review material or skip certain pieces to arrange your time more freely. Video assisted education is an ed-tech tool already common in school classrooms and not just select online learners. This approach can be very effective for distance learning. Videos, especially animated ones, can enrich any course or lesson dramatically. The resistance for online educators to use this teaching method if often due to a lack of knowledge of how to create or find educational videos for use in their online teaching.

4. Gamification

This current and possibly one of the most exciting trends in education enables learning to interact and be more engaging. This makes real fun of any educational process and can boost engagement and productivity. By striving to get higher scores in any game, the students strive to gain more knowledge and express such on time. And all these things are made in an atmosphere of fun. That can certainly sound amazing to any parent or educator, as long as they see positive results.

5. Artificial Intelligence

This is one of the primary trends in modern innovation in education that can help keep students from being left behind as other progress. It can make basic and other study activities automatic, for instance, in terms of grading. This tool is also effective for arranging the process of delivering study help by tutors. It is also possible to assess and monitor the performance that students have. It is predicted that the role of artificial intelligence in education will increase further, for obvious reasons.

The plagiarism checker is considered to be one of the manifestations of artificial intelligence. The plagiarism calculation algorithm finds non-unique lines in the text. This type of plagiarism check is constantly being improved. Many schools have already introduced plagiarism testing with artificial intelligence.

6. Social Media Networks in Education

Since the birth of social media networks, they have always been a way for students to connect with friends outside of the classroom.  When students are unable to get together in person, which is especially true for eLearners, they can use these same networks to create study groups.  Student to student connection away from school already becoming more widely used by many educational institutions and courses. There are also ways to integrate social media as a teaching tool.  This is more than reasonable as many students spend a lot of time there anyway. Such networks are also used at the moment as communication tools between the representatives of their educational institutions.

This approach enables the sharing of various educational materials, opinions by commenting on posts and arranging discussions. The success of using social media networks in education makes us believe it is possible to build a new culture of collaboration in the area of education and improve it dramatically.

7. Learning Analytics

The existing landscape for this type of tool has been expanded dramatically. Learning analytics has become even more relevant to higher education.  This tool enables the optimizing of the educational process and measuring the result of such by educators.

Learning analytics has been also used by various online tutors and similar services for obtaining relevant feedback on various matters. When teachers or tutors review the feedback for their students, this enables you to enhance the learning process and make it more productive. For instance, educators can see exactly what type of information (infographics, images, videos) work better. This technology can also identify students that are experiencing various challenges and assist them in overcoming learning difficulties.

Will Virtual Learning Remain Continue to Grow?

We presume that the trend will remain even after coping with the challenges the world is facing. There will also be the need for it in some form and this approach has presented many benefits for students and teachers alike. Virtual learning can save time, offer more freedom, and when done properly can produce the same results as a traditionally-organized education process. Only time will tell whether or not virtual learning will continue to grow or subside to previously normal levels.

What Does the Future with EdTech Look Like?

Regardless of the specifics, we believe the application of various online technologies will remain a trend and implement new aspects of developing technologies, including automation. Firstly, Edtech trends seek to bring better accessibility, more safety for online-learning, a focus on emphasizing the correctness of online-learning, enabling less but effective supervision, and ensuring other aspects crucial for effectiveness.

Last Words

Applying various online tools instead of traditional approaches has a good probability of gaining new benefits for managing time and performance. Independence and technical awareness are crucial aspects every student should explore for success in life.  Educators can help by also learning how to offer present new EdTech innovations in their classrooms to ensure no student is left behind.

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