Continuing on from notebooks, I want to look a bit deeper into this idea of representation and, in this case, engagement too—really, how we can create class routines that let us capture our teaching as it happens.
If we take a look at exactly what’s happening in this lesson—I’m recording a video, you’re seeing my screen, and down in the corner, I’ve got my little avatar. That’s something I think students really appreciate. It might seem small, but it gives a personal connection to what they’re watching. There’s a face, or at least a presence, so they know it’s me and not just some voiceover or text.
If I’m writing on the screen, students can see that, and it ends up being a real-time recording of my teaching. This isn’t anything new—you can see loads of great teachers on YouTube with the camera set up while they teach at the board. Those styles are popular for good reason. There’s just something about having a real person “there” that makes all the difference, because it humanizes the learning experience.
In the classroom, if I’ve got my pen tablet out, I’ll just click “record” and pick up those explicit teaching moments. To be honest, I pause the recording a lot—whenever I stop to chat with students, ask questions, or call out a name or handle something in class.
Over time, it’s become second nature—if I’m about to explain something to the whole class, I hit “record” while I do it. I only have to explain it once, and then I can just carry on with the rest of the lesson. At the end, I’ve got a video ready to go, which I can drop straight into wherever the students need it.
For example, this term there was a Year 10 Maths lesson on bearings, and now that video is there for them to refer back to—maybe right in the notebook app, or maybe (as I encourage) by opening it up on YouTube or wherever is most convenient.
There are loads of ways to share these: you might have them on a shared drive, or use something like ClickView if you want to add embedded questions. What’s important is that the lesson is now accessible to students, and this really supports that “universal design” approach.
For instance, students who struggle to process audio or need extra time can rewatch the lesson, slow it down, or even just skip to the bits they need. Most video platforms now do automatic captioning, which is a huge help, and even if you’re just using a basic recorder, you can pull the audio out and run it through a transcriber. Suddenly, students have access not just to what you said, but to the text too—at their own pace and in their own way.
Another big plus: language accessibility. Some of our students are still building their confidence in English, or might find it easier to check their understanding against captions in another language. Thanks to platforms like YouTube, students can open closed captions, go into the settings, and translate into almost any language they like. Auto-translations aren’t perfect, but they’re good enough to bridge the gap and help clarify meaning. Hearing it in English, then checking in a more familiar language, can make a real difference.
So, what do you need to get started? At the moment, I’m using ScreenPal because it’s what we have on site. But there are free (open source!) options too—one really solid choice is OBS Studio. If you scroll past the sponsored ads when you search, you’ll see the official link. You just download it, add your camera, and you’re ready to go: start and stop recordings as you need, and at the end you’ll have a video file ready to share or upload.
The big point here is: once recording your lessons becomes a habit, you only have to explain things once. Students can revisit them anytime, in the way that suits them best. You’re building up a bank of resources that put your teaching within easy reach for everyone.
Jak Baddams