Camstudio - Open Source Alternative to Camtasia Studio

One of the best ways to learn a subject or to demonstrate mastery of a topic is to teach it to someone else. So why not assign student projects that require them to create videos that explain the functionality of Microsoft Office, a Web site, or another application software package? Students can then produce podcasts from their videos using Windows Movie Maker and deploy them on YouTube or Podbean. Now that is Web 2.0 learning in action! But, since many colleges don't have a video tool deployed for the students to use, a free tool for recording on-screen activity is needed.

Fortunately, CamStudio is an open source software package that is based on the popular Camtasia Studio product from Techsmith. The software is easy to install and learn to use. They even provide a handy video on downloading CamStudio. The help files in the product will get you familiar with how to use it. The recorder has simple basic functionality similar to older versions of Camtasia Studio.



Although CamStudio is not as fully-functional as the current version of Camtasia Studio, the basic functionality is similar. For pure ease of use, Camtasia Studio 5 does offer significant advantages and I prefer to use Camtasia Studio. But if your college doesn't have a site license for Camtasia Studio or your students don't want to spend $299 to buy the software for home use, CamStudio is the way to go. So have the students download CamStudio and get them creating their first podcasts this week!