As both an educator and content creator I have used many different solutions during my video creation journey. From powerful editors such as Premier and Final Cut, to CapCut on mobile. I have tried a fair few different ones. But none have really compared to my experience when using Camtasia 2024. ESPECIALLY when that creation involves any type of Screen-casting or Screen recording. I am thrilled to now explore the latest updates in Camtasia 2024.
I have used Camtasia extensively for my tutorials and videos on my YouTube channel. But also at school to create videos for students and teachers, as well as for professional projects with companies such as Google and AppsEvents (now known as AppsEdu). One such project can be found on the official Google onboarding website here—a project I am particularly proud of. The new features in Camtasia 2024 are clearly designed to enhance video creation and editing, making it an indispensable tool for educators and school leaders.
Key Updates of Camtasia 2024
Camtasia 2024 offers a host of new features that make video creation more efficient and engaging:
- Dynamic Captions: Automatically transcribe audio into customisable on-screen captions. This feature is perfect for creating accessible content and enhancing student engagement.
- Speech-to-Text Closed Captions: AI-powered speech-to-text capabilities on Windows make adding closed captions quick and easy.
- Camtasia Rev Workflow Enhancements: Speed up video creation with new sizing, layout, background, effect, and filter choices. (Camtasia Rev was part of the previous release, but many additional features have been added such as adding to a project rather than having to re-record and import later)
- Camtasia Assets Integration: Access over 100 million professional, royalty-free video assets directly in the Camtasia editor. (Many are free, but most will require an additional subscription plan)
- Progress Bars & Timers: Ready-made progress bars and timers add clarity and engagement to your videos. These are great do quiz styled videos or quick little explainer videos where you want to give parents and students context AND a time estimate.
- New Audio Visualisers: Transform static videos into dynamic onscreen audio animations.
- Dynamic Backgrounds: Choose from 57 new dynamic backgrounds to enhance your videos, all of these are fully customisable.
- New Cursor Effects: Add glow effects, editable cursor clicks, and click scaling to make your screen recordings more interactive. This is also one of my top favourite features of Camtasia when creating How-To content for Students as it allows you to draw attention to your cursor.
- New Visual Effects & Animations: Apply effects like tiling, text stroke, and new behaviours such as tremble and wiggle.
- New Transitions: Add flair to your videos with 19 brand-new transitions.
- New Recording Engine: Capture your screen, camera, and audio in even higher fidelity.
- Editing Efficiency: Customise shortcuts and reorder tool tabs for a more streamlined editing process.
Why Upgrade to Camtasia 2024?
Enhancing Accessibility with Dynamic Captions
The dynamic caption feature is a standout addition to Camtasia 2024. Automatically generating captions as you record saves time and ensures that your content is accessible to all students, family members, and colleagues, including those with hearing impairments. This feature also benefits students who prefer reading along with the audio, enhancing comprehension and retention.
Supporting Flipped Classroom and Blended Learning Models
Camtasia 2024 is ideal for educators implementing flipped classroom or blended learning models. Creating video lessons that students can watch at home frees up classroom time for interactive activities and in-depth discussions. This approach aligns with cognitive load theory, which advocates for presenting new information in manageable chunks. Students can pause, rewind, and review videos at their own pace, reducing cognitive overload and enhancing understanding.
Examples of Camtasia Use in Education
- As a Teacher: Use Camtasia to create engaging video lessons, tutorials, and interactive content. For example, I often create detailed screencasts to demonstrate complex software applications or illustrate difficult concepts, making them accessible to all. You can also use the Camtasia 2024 editor to edit your recorded footage and quickly produce professional looking videos using the Rev workflow. Recently I needed to record a video of myself explaining an upcoming Extra Curricular Activity(ECA) which would be sent to parents and Rev enabled me to polish this in no time!
- As a Subject Leader: Share best practices and instructional strategies with colleagues. For instance, I once created a series of videos outlining new pedagogical approaches to the teaching of Computing and shared them with my department, sparking meaningful discussions and improvements in teaching methods.
- As Senior/Middle Leadership: Provide context for new documents and platforms. An example of this was when a member of our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) introduced a new tracking system for Assessment results input. They used Screen-recording to create a comprehensive walkthrough of the platform, highlighting key features and functionalities. This video was shared prior to a CPD session, allowing staff to familiarise themselves with the platform and come prepared with questions.
Professional Growth and Sharing Your Expertise with Camtasia
Another way to use Camtasia is for your professional growth and sharing your expertise can significantly enhance your teaching practice and contribute to the development of a robust Professional Learning Network (PLN). With Camtasia, you can create high-quality instructional videos that not only showcase your teaching strategies but also serve as valuable resources for other educators. This fosters a culture of continuous learning and collaboration, key elements highlighted in the research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
Building a Professional Learning Network (PLN)
Creating and sharing video content with Camtasia 2024 allows you to connect with educators worldwide, expanding your PLN. By sharing your videos, you can demonstrate effective teaching practices, offer insights into classroom management, and provide professional development tips. Why not begin posting your videos on YouTube? If you are not confident on camera yet, or unsure who might watch the content, set these to ‘unlisted’ first sharing the links with a select few.
This not only enhances your professional reputation but also invites feedback and collaboration from peers, leading to mutual growth. I started sharing my own video as Unlisted and was persuaded by a good friend to make them public. A good friend of mine, James Abela, also actively shares his professional journey as a Computing Teacher and School Leader on his channel which you can find here: Link (If you are a Computer Science teacher, this is a must follow channel!)
Enhancing Professional Development with Custom Videos
Custom videos created with Camtasia 2024 can address specific professional development needs within your school or district. The EEF emphasises the importance of tailored professional development that revisits prior learning, manages cognitive load, and encourages reflective practice . By creating videos that revisit key concepts and model effective teaching techniques, you can help colleagues understand and implement new strategies more effectively. This approach aligns with the EEF’s recommendation for professional development programs that include mechanisms such as revisiting prior learning and providing social support (Link to EEF Guidance Report).
“We get 5 inset days of 6 hours. We release people if they’re going off to external, but particularly that time to cascade information down, there’s just not always the amount of time that people can do a quality job of cascading down. People are fighting for staff meeting slots all the time. They’re forever coming to me going, ‘Can I have a staff meeting slot?’ I’m going, ‘Well, you can, it will be July.’” – Headteacher of an early years and primary setting explaining that there is little time to disseminate learning from PD
Quote taken from: Higton et al. (2021), Teachers’ views on the characteristics of effective teacher professional development, EEF.
Aligning with EEF Recommendations
The EEF report(linked above) highlights that high-quality professional development can significantly impact teaching quality and student outcomes. Custom videos enable you to present information from credible sources, set and agree on goals, and provide ongoing affirmation and reinforcement after progress. This can go beyond the standard CPD sessions we all have at our schools. Additionally, videos can serve as prompts and cues, helping educators to monitor their practise and plan context-specific actions. This method ensures that professional development is not only impactful but also sustainable, as it integrates seamlessly into educators’ daily routines without adding additional pressure or the need for time during the already incredibly busy day.
By leveraging Camtasia for creating and sharing custom professional development videos, you can contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, ultimately enhancing the overall quality of education in your community. Here is a playlist(Now public) on my own channel that was originally created for the teachers at our school during the Covid Online learning period, when we transitioned from Google Meet to Zoom as our main platform.
Transform Your Teaching Today!
Camtasia 2024 is a powerful tool that can revolutionise the way you create and share educational content. Its new features enhance accessibility, support diverse learning models, and streamline the video creation process. In short, it saves you, and everyone using it, time to impact others, enabling them to make the best use of their time. Whether you are flipping your classroom, leading a subject area, managing a team, or simply creating content for fun, Camtasia 2024 provides the tools you need to create engaging, high-quality videos.
Don’t miss out on this incredible educational tool—order your Camtasia 2024 today through this link: https://techsmith.z6rjha.net/kjjeXx
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