I answer a lot of emails from readers who ask all kinds of questions about educational technology. One question that I answer more often than any other is about the screencast videos I post on my YouTube channel. People often want to know how I get the yellow circle to follow my cursor around the screen. The answer to that is, “I use Screencast-o-matic.”

Screencast-o-matic is available in a browser-based version and in a desktop version. I use the desktop version unless I’m using my Chromebook. There are three Screencast-o-matic service plans to choose from. Those versions are free, deluxe, and premier.

The free version of Screencast-o-matic offers everything that students and most teachers need to create a quick screencast video. The free version includes quick sharing to Google Classroom, video captioning, password protection of your videos. Those are just three of the eighteen features available to users of the free version of Screencast-o-matic.

The deluxe version of Screencast-o-matic is the version that I use. The deluxe version offers twenty-three more features than the free version offers. Those extra features are mostly found in the video editing capabilities which include greenscreen capabilities, hiding and revealing webcams, zoom features, and the removal of Screencast-o-matic’s watermark.

The premier version of Screencast-o-matic provides everything in the free and deluxe versions plus fifty times the storage space of the other plans and dedicated video playback pages.

If you have an educational technology question for me, join me on Wednesday for Practical Ed Tech Live!