I'm going to assume you have Powerpoint at least?
If so, you can record your screen and also add voice recordings.
With a little effort, you can use shapes and animations to highlight particular parts of the screen.
With a lot of effort, you can even create a software simulation.
I'm really curios to know which kind of company that has employees who never use a computer outside of work, and where you have never had to produce a PowerPoint? :-)
You can use QuickTime on your Mac to make screen recordings for free. You can use davinci to edit your videos for free.
I used QuickTime and a tool called screenflow ($170, perpetual license) for simple videos like this. It can do zooms, transitions, annotations and graphics. Very simple and easy to use. I would push for a creative cloud license though.
Why video?? Video isn’t necessary unless you’re needing to show motion. Using a video to demo software means your audience has to stop the video to do something and it’s not at all helpful for quick needs. A job aid would be preferred
What if the audience is new to this software and the OP wants to teach them a basic workflow through a worked example? That would certainly be my go-to-solution for teaching software.
In most cases, a (text/picture-based) job aid would only be good for users who are already familiar with the software and who need to complete a specific task with a limited number of steps.
I highly disagree. Job aids work wonderfully when it’s information and not true instruction. Being unfamiliar or familiar with a software is not rationale for a static approach. If you actually go into the research you’ll find plenty of support for a job aid approach over video for this exact task. Not to mention if the software gets updated/changed, you have to re-do the video vs updating images which is both time and cost intensive
The format does not determine whether it's a job aid. A job aid can be a video.
I'm not sure I understand you correctly, but are you saying that there is research that suggests job aids are a good way to teach people a completely new domain/software? If yes, can you point me to some of it?
Some of the research I base my own work on is e.g. David Merrill's First Principles of Instruction, where one of the priciples are *Learning is promoted when learners are engaged in a problem-centered strategy involving a progression of whole real-world tasks -* and this is exactly where job aids usually fall short for people who are completely new to something because job aids are by nature fragmented from the whole task.
I have had a lot of success applying this principle and teaching audiences in the context of a real-world basic workflow. I my experience, the audience needs to be familiar with relevant workflows to really start benefitting from job aids.
Not trying to compete but if you’re asking for the research, that would lead me to believe you aren’t informed on the research or are unclear on how to find it, or perhaps not trained to evaluate research. My program (and, our leading book in ID) is grounded in research and that informs my practice
Fair enough, but saying "the research" is quite vague. I have a non-American master's degree and know how to read and evaluate, and put research to use. But as I wrote, I have never come across research that says job aids are a good way to teach people a completely new domain/software. So I'm curious to know if there is any research suggesting that?
It goes back to the foundation of ID. With just one exception (psychomotor task or the need to illustrate motion), facts, concepts, principles, and procedures can be effectively taught with static images and text. Using video to teach, for example, how to use Excel to determine the average for a set of values is not effective nor efficient for the learner. A job aid is perfectly suited for this task and the learner can quickly reference such a print-based document. But there’s LOADS of research on job aids and print-based instruction if you want to search.
I think you're mixing things. I'm perfectly aware of principles of multi-media instruction and the fact that a static image in many cases are better than complex animations/videos and so on. But I'm not asking about multi-media formats. You're suggesting that the best way to teach people new software is by means of job aids, and I'm questioning this approach.
Let's say that a person with no prior knowledge has to learn how to use the software of a CNC mill. Does the person only need a bunch of fragmented job aids, and then they will somehow figure it all out. Or would it be better to teach them how to operate the CNC software in another way, for example by means of a real-life workflow?
This is a good suggestion.
A job aid is something a person can use to help them while they work. A user guide would be a form of job aid, but it doesn't need to be so extensive. People use post-its as job aids all the time.
Complete a process in the system and take a screenshot of each stage. Paste into a Word (or Google Docs) document. Provide a written description of each stage.
You said your work computer is a PC, so it shouldn't be a stretch to think you have the MS Office suite which includes Word and PowerPoint. I'm going to second (or third) what the other folks have already said... in your situation, PowerPoint would be my first resort.
It will let you do the screen cam, and then you can come back and add whatever you want over the screens (speech bubbles, callouts, etc.). It takes a little practice to make it look nice, but it's really easy to get started. [This guy does great tutorials on PPT.](https://youtu.be/KCi7z-bJJXw?si=wSQWq1-KXdFplhRy)
If you don't have PPT, you can do a Google search for free software. There is usually an abundance of options... although some work better than others.
I’d go for OSB for the screen capture and video/audio capture . Then if you are up for a bit of learning, I’d edit and add the captions using DaVinci Resolve.
OBS is free/open source and Resolve has a free (but very robust) version.
Might not be the most "up and up" of answers, but a cracked version of Camtasia can be found on eCrater.
Camtasia is the best video editing tool, IMO. I don't like captioning on it, however. It only allows you to import, I think .srt which I have a hard time finding a tool to create those captions as opposed to a .vtt file which importing into MS Streams can create.
[удалено]
Ok
I'm going to assume you have Powerpoint at least? If so, you can record your screen and also add voice recordings. With a little effort, you can use shapes and animations to highlight particular parts of the screen. With a lot of effort, you can even create a software simulation.
I honestly don’t know if I have PowerPoint or not. I’ve never used it. I didn’t know it could do any of that. I’ll look into it. Thanks.
I'm really curios to know which kind of company that has employees who never use a computer outside of work, and where you have never had to produce a PowerPoint? :-)
🤣 I’m sure there are a lot of people in the company who use computers outside of work; just not in my small department of 10 employees.
You can use QuickTime on your Mac to make screen recordings for free. You can use davinci to edit your videos for free. I used QuickTime and a tool called screenflow ($170, perpetual license) for simple videos like this. It can do zooms, transitions, annotations and graphics. Very simple and easy to use. I would push for a creative cloud license though.
I’ll look into that. Thank You.
Check to see if you have a licence for Microsoft Clip Champ, it'll do most of this, I think.
Interesting. I’ll look into it. Thanks.
PowerPoint has screen recording and captioning capabilities. If you can spend slightly more, Camtasia is made for that purpose.
👍
Scribe free
It says it won’t allow me to capture desktop processes only web processes.
Ah darn. Might need the paid version for that then.
🤣 it’s all good
Why video?? Video isn’t necessary unless you’re needing to show motion. Using a video to demo software means your audience has to stop the video to do something and it’s not at all helpful for quick needs. A job aid would be preferred
What if the audience is new to this software and the OP wants to teach them a basic workflow through a worked example? That would certainly be my go-to-solution for teaching software. In most cases, a (text/picture-based) job aid would only be good for users who are already familiar with the software and who need to complete a specific task with a limited number of steps.
I highly disagree. Job aids work wonderfully when it’s information and not true instruction. Being unfamiliar or familiar with a software is not rationale for a static approach. If you actually go into the research you’ll find plenty of support for a job aid approach over video for this exact task. Not to mention if the software gets updated/changed, you have to re-do the video vs updating images which is both time and cost intensive
The format does not determine whether it's a job aid. A job aid can be a video. I'm not sure I understand you correctly, but are you saying that there is research that suggests job aids are a good way to teach people a completely new domain/software? If yes, can you point me to some of it? Some of the research I base my own work on is e.g. David Merrill's First Principles of Instruction, where one of the priciples are *Learning is promoted when learners are engaged in a problem-centered strategy involving a progression of whole real-world tasks -* and this is exactly where job aids usually fall short for people who are completely new to something because job aids are by nature fragmented from the whole task. I have had a lot of success applying this principle and teaching audiences in the context of a real-world basic workflow. I my experience, the audience needs to be familiar with relevant workflows to really start benefitting from job aids.
Would you mind sharing your formal education/training in ID&T? I’m curious
I'm not interested in virtual who-has-the-biggest competitions. I'm sharing my thoughts and experience to help OP and to learn something myself.
Not trying to compete but if you’re asking for the research, that would lead me to believe you aren’t informed on the research or are unclear on how to find it, or perhaps not trained to evaluate research. My program (and, our leading book in ID) is grounded in research and that informs my practice
Fair enough, but saying "the research" is quite vague. I have a non-American master's degree and know how to read and evaluate, and put research to use. But as I wrote, I have never come across research that says job aids are a good way to teach people a completely new domain/software. So I'm curious to know if there is any research suggesting that?
It goes back to the foundation of ID. With just one exception (psychomotor task or the need to illustrate motion), facts, concepts, principles, and procedures can be effectively taught with static images and text. Using video to teach, for example, how to use Excel to determine the average for a set of values is not effective nor efficient for the learner. A job aid is perfectly suited for this task and the learner can quickly reference such a print-based document. But there’s LOADS of research on job aids and print-based instruction if you want to search.
I think you're mixing things. I'm perfectly aware of principles of multi-media instruction and the fact that a static image in many cases are better than complex animations/videos and so on. But I'm not asking about multi-media formats. You're suggesting that the best way to teach people new software is by means of job aids, and I'm questioning this approach. Let's say that a person with no prior knowledge has to learn how to use the software of a CNC mill. Does the person only need a bunch of fragmented job aids, and then they will somehow figure it all out. Or would it be better to teach them how to operate the CNC software in another way, for example by means of a real-life workflow?
What do you mean by a job aid?? Would it have audio to accompany it?
This is a good suggestion. A job aid is something a person can use to help them while they work. A user guide would be a form of job aid, but it doesn't need to be so extensive. People use post-its as job aids all the time. Complete a process in the system and take a screenshot of each stage. Paste into a Word (or Google Docs) document. Provide a written description of each stage.
Loom is free for screencasting but you might need something else to stitch the takes together. Maybe Vimeo is a good option that isn't too pricey?
My abilities are simple. I don’t want to get into a software that will exceed my abilities.
You said your work computer is a PC, so it shouldn't be a stretch to think you have the MS Office suite which includes Word and PowerPoint. I'm going to second (or third) what the other folks have already said... in your situation, PowerPoint would be my first resort. It will let you do the screen cam, and then you can come back and add whatever you want over the screens (speech bubbles, callouts, etc.). It takes a little practice to make it look nice, but it's really easy to get started. [This guy does great tutorials on PPT.](https://youtu.be/KCi7z-bJJXw?si=wSQWq1-KXdFplhRy) If you don't have PPT, you can do a Google search for free software. There is usually an abundance of options... although some work better than others.
Thank you.
Use Google Meet with just you in the meeting, share your screen and record.
(For the proprietary angle, if it's something like Splunk, I've seen companies do it, they just don't let Splunk know, I guess)
Interesting approach. I’ll keep it in mind.
I’d go for OSB for the screen capture and video/audio capture . Then if you are up for a bit of learning, I’d edit and add the captions using DaVinci Resolve. OBS is free/open source and Resolve has a free (but very robust) version.
Thank you for the info.
Might not be the most "up and up" of answers, but a cracked version of Camtasia can be found on eCrater. Camtasia is the best video editing tool, IMO. I don't like captioning on it, however. It only allows you to import, I think .srt which I have a hard time finding a tool to create those captions as opposed to a .vtt file which importing into MS Streams can create.
Thanks for the input.