Episode 294: Shaun Conway

Episode 294: Screencastify Transforms Classroom Communication

[00:00:30] Fonz: Hello everybody. I welcome to another great episode of my ed tech life. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day and wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world.

Thank you as always for your support. We appreciate all the likes, the shares, the follows. Thank you so much for engaging with our content. Thank you so much for following us on all socials and obviously on our YouTube channel too, as well. We thank you and we welcome all our new subscribers. So thank you for the love guys.

We do what we do for you so we can bring you some amazing conversations and bring you some amazing guests. And I'm really excited for tonight's guest. We're going to be talking about video. We're going to be talking about creativity. We're going to be talking about what this company has been doing. From the beginning and also what they're doing now and the, the wonders that they can do in the classroom.

And it's one of my favorite platforms to use. So today I would love to welcome to the show, Mr. Sean Conway from Screencastify. Sean, how are you?

[00:01:31] Shaun: Oh, I'm doing great fonts. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:33] Fonz: Well, I'm excited to have you here too. Like I said, we talked a little bit about pre chat and, you know, considering my current role plus years in classroom, like I mentioned to you, it's been like about seven years, eight years that I've been using screencastify.

So I feel that I've seen it grow. Right along well, actually I've seen myself and my students grow right along with it. And obviously our teachers now, since I get to do a lot of trainings on screen, castify sessions and everything. So it's just been wonderful. And it's been one of our main staples in our district.

So I'm just thankful to have you here. To tell us a little bit more about the great work that screencastify is doing. So before we get started though, however, for our audience members that are not With you personally yet and the work that you're doing, can you give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space?

[00:02:27] Shaun: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and just before I do that, I just wanted to say thank you know, the, the long time users bonds like yourself have been. So important both to the work that we've been able to accomplish at Screencastify. And it's really critical and core to our mission that people like you who have seen the tool from its kind of infancy as a, a, what we refer to as a, like a simple record extension that has now grown and evolved from a full, full blown kind of video platform.

So we thank you for your use and kind of consistent kind of preach of not only the tool, but the way in which video works in the classroom. So thank you. Along with everyone else listening, we do deeply appreciate it. My name is Sean, as Faz mentioned. I am the Director of Customer Solutions at Screencastify.

So I've been at Screencastify for over four years now in a variety of roles. Originally was, I was the 10th person hired at Screencastify in June of 2020. And so, At that point, as you all remember March of 2020, a few things happened really changed both the kind of context and trajectory of learning in general, although we maybe didn't know it in its full scope at the time.

But at that point, right, video had grown immediately between Really April and then the following August kind of in that unique few months of COVID. And then of course, in the years beyond. And so as Screencastify grew both in terms of size and kind of functionality, my role internally evolved. And so now I oversee our team of success managers.

Before the show found we were catching up about your work with, with our teammate Liz, who is fantastic. And then prior to coming to Screencastify, I was a high school teacher department chair and middle school assistant principal for a few years. So I spent about 10, 11 years in public education.

In and around the suburbs of Chicago. My wife is still a second grade teacher in Schaumburg who is also a proud user of screencastify. She started her career in downtown Chicago, and then we have a second and fourth grader. So the way in which education and kind of screencastify in general encapsulates our life is pretty significant.

[00:04:27] Fonz: Absolutely. And you know, that is such wonderful also to hear, obviously we know how important, at least I know to myself being serving in this current role as instructional technology specialist. And during that time of March, we definitely saw at March, 2020, we definitely saw the great advantage that screencastify had not only for myself.

Creating tutorials and bringing the district up to speed and sharing content with our teachers so they can help get them on boarded to several of the platforms that they may have not been very familiar with. But then now, all of a sudden you had to flip the switch and now you're on full time and then.

Going back to showing them how to create videos and all of that, it really was one of the best tools that we have used and continue to use here within our district. So it's obviously, it's great that to kind of hear a little bit about your story coming on that, what did you mention? June, 2020.

[00:05:24] Shaun: Yeah. So it was a couple of months after everybody kind of got sent home and go home for two weeks.

And it turned into, as we all know now, a little bit longer than that, unfortunately.

[00:05:33] Fonz: Yeah, I know. It was definitely quite an interesting time, let's just say, to say the least. But, again, I'm just very thankful for the fact of just amazing tools, such as Screencastify, that were out there to help so many.

I know that during that time, there was just definitely an overabundance of tools, and Everybody's trying to help teachers. Everybody's trying to do what they can to help support our educators and continue to keep them online, but also in ways that they can use tools such as Screencastify to be able to still provide instruction.

As you know, I mean, that was very difficult during that time, but, Before we kind of dive into all of that and just the power of video, uh, just, I want to kind of dive in as far as what some of the updates are that screen castify has done, because I definitely want to make sure that we amplify the platform because like you mentioned myself and my students and my teachers growing up kind of right along with it, seeing from year to year, the, the new releases and, The platform and just how robust it has become, but with just some amazing touches that can help not only just in video creation, but also in that lesson delivery and communication with students and parents in different languages.

Tell us a little bit about what Screencastify is doing, Sean.

[00:06:54] Shaun: Yeah, thanks for for that. And I think that the context there is super important. And that if you remember, as I know, you do from being a user is that we did start off, we were a single Chrome extension where you could record your screen and then share video.

And then over really from 2020 to about 2022, maybe 21, we added a editor. And so there was a web based editor, which still exists, although it is far, far better now. And and then shortly thereafter, we had our first version of screencast by submit. And so that's now going back a couple of years. So we had had these three core tools, which were record, edit, and submit, which many of our, of our users are familiar with.

But what's happened is that as you know, and you cited it, there's, there's a fair amount of tools out there, both that are kind of in the. Peripheral to the space that we're in, but just in general, that really do genuinely want to support teachers. And so part of what has really been core to our mission all along is that we, if you ask teachers, which we've obviously do frequently what do you like most about screencastify?

Usually in the top couple reasons is that like you get a version of it's easy to use or it's simple or it's straightforward or it doesn't take a lot of time to really learn. And that is something that is always really something we wanted to stick true to. And so we were able, I think pretty successfully over the last, I would say six to nine months is where users now, if you go in and use screencastify, it looks significantly different, both in terms of UX and UI.

But also, as you mentioned, tool functionality. And so when you think about those common core tools, record, edit and submit, those are, of course, still there, right? Like they still work the same, but they're just a lot better now. And so when you mention updates, there's several really significant ones. The first one being to screencastify submit.

We were, we were talking a little bit before the show, as many of our, excuse me, as many of the folks out there may or may not have been Flip users. And then there was some news over the summer that maybe it was not as ideal as you're coming back to school. And so Screencastify Submit is a video submission component to Screencastify where teachers can create assignments that then prompt students based upon a certain set of stimulus to then send a video version of that back to the teacher.

And then it ends up in the teacher's Google Drive, and then now in our new grading workflow for Screencast by Submit. That is probably where if you go click on it, you're going to see the most change. There's a new grading workflow, there's integration with Google Classroom, you're able to see and comment, and then there's even more things coming with student interactivity.

For screencast by submit that I think a lot of those folks that had certain components of flip that they really liked are going to go to submit and really be pleased with what they see. But even beyond that, you mentioned a couple of things about communication, the way in which folks interact. In a day to day basis.

And what we all know it's happened is a big trend is that just the way in which language has impacted the way that students and families can engage with the students learning experience. And so what we have really thought deeply about is that are there parts of the school day that. That people want to engage with and can't, and if that's true, which we all know that it is, how can we make that, uh, can engage?

And so one of the biggest updates, and I'd say that has been most, uh, exciting for me as a person who's been here for a long time, but also as we've shown it out is our new Screencastify world language. And so what now users can do is that if you go into your video, you can enable captions. And then if I'm a teacher and I have 30 students, hypothetically, let's say that those 30 students, families at home spoke 30 different languages.

When I send that video home, the parent can, or adult or guardian at home can click on captions. They can then select from a dropdown of 50 plus AI based generated languages that are languages of their choice. And then they are going to get instant captions in that language that is going to then help them engage to a degree that maybe they were not able to before.

And that's, I'd say, a wraparound component that we have been working on. Really, I'd say careful about how we are thinking about engagement, because the way that students and their families are accessing learning has changed, and we want to make it as least barrier ridden as possible. Anytime we can take a challenge or an obstacle away, we want to do that, and that's true both for the way that the tool is used, but also the way that video is consumed, and that's, I'd say, as you continue on with some of the other updates, which those in itself are pretty significant.

There's now a premium content component to Screencastify where Ditchers can choose to add on YouTube for education. So which is an ad free curated experience for teachers to be able to then push YouTube based videos into Screencastify. This is on top of the enhancements to quizzes and analytics and a whole bunch of other good stuff commenting.

You can now no skipping as students are watching video. So, The list is on, but I don't want to keep kind of rambling on here.

[00:11:51] Fonz: No. And, you know, it's, it's great to hear the work that you've been doing. And just because again, like you mentioned it, and I'm kind of, kind of go back a little bit just to kind of move forward and, and, you know, just really make that connection because.

For me being in the classroom and living in an area where it's predominantly Hispanic speaking, you know, me being bilingual, the communication is very easy, but like you mentioned, some of the things that I really loved when implementing video in the classroom. And again, this is pre, you know, captions and, you know, it would have been great to have those back then, but you know what, they came at the right time.

I have a lot of teachers that are definitely interested and are seeing the potential in this, but going back to when it was just. The extension. One of the things that I love too, is to create video content for parents at home. So with the ease of use of being able to record myself in Spanish and share those messages with parents, and like you said, really keeping them in the loop way back when, in like 2014, 2015, 2015, 16, and so on.

I mean, to be able to do that was so powerful to have students be able to connect and feel connected to the classroom. Luckily I lived in a, in a, excuse me. I worked in a school where there was a lot of parent parental involvement and it was great. So they absolutely loved to see the student creation aspect of it, where I would go ahead and say, okay, guys, this is our lesson for social studies.

Here's our lesson for math. Here's our lesson for science. All right, let's go ahead and get into groups and, you know, but that was one of the main tools because I would give them a choice and say, okay, you can You know, your, your PowerPoint or your Google slide presentation, or you can go ahead and do a screen record of yourself, you know, presenting something and demonstrating something and then, you know, gave them different options.

So one of the things that I do want to share, and I do want to share with you because this really made a big impact and the listeners of the show have heard the story probably a thousand times, but it's because it's one of those moments where you realize how a tool. Like screencastify that started off as a simple extension made a huge difference and an impact in a lot of my students.

And now to be able to see what it's grown into and see the potential impact that now it has not only for students, but for teachers and parents now is something great. So I had. We had in fifth grade a set of twins. One twin was in my pod. The other twin was in the other pod. So they were split up into two separate groups.

I was that one teacher that would sign out the Chromebook cart at the time. We only had two in our campus and I signed it out for the whole year. I was using the Chromebooks each and every single day. And one of the mainstays and tools that we used was screencastify. So we had, uh, one of the twins was in my class and she was very, uh, self conscious because she's an emergent bilingual, she was very, very shy.

But when you put a Chromebook in front of her, Wow. Through the presentations and slides and, uh, graphics that she would create. I mean, she spoke loudly, boldly, and demonstrated, uh, content mastery in that way, but as she started playing around with, uh, Screencastify a little bit more and just kind of. Kind of quietly put, putting herself to the side and recording and so on.

She was very shy and never wanted to present until the end of the year. She raised her hand and she wanted to present in front of everybody. And the language acquisition and the confidence was just something that was. The whole class was very quiet and then just let out just a big applause and congratulations because they saw her grow.

Now the other twin was in a different pod where it was just worksheets, worksheets, worksheets, and the difference in the level of language acquisition. Was very noticeable, but again, going back to, uh, the impact that I have seen screencastify have on my students in building up their confidence, their speaking skills, uh, being able to present in multiple modalities.

And now. With the added tools that you have given teachers, I find that it's the now there's really no limits to what can happen. So I'm very thankful for that because that communication piece, like we were talking about right now with the parents is also something that for teachers. Is, uh, just a wonderful addition to be able to communicate with somebody at home, the, your learning partner at home, you know, to help the students and just keep them up to date of what's happening or just to share just a great story or share the students content and they're able to listen or watch it in their own, uh, content by using those captions.

That is so powerful because now you're really bringing the learning community together. It's not just teacher student. Now it's teacher student parent. And to me, that is one of the most important partnerships that can be when it's the teacher partner student. And now you have that communication that is available.

And so that's very, very powerful for sure.

[00:17:09] Shaun: Well, a single story like that honestly all of the work worth it. I think that to hear that type of very real example, which we are feel very fortunate and lucky to even play a small part and roll in, but it's a testament to you and right. And like, the way in which you and other teachers out there.

who are listening, which are doing similar things and making those similar efforts to really reach and engage students. And so if we can help and support that even a little bit like that, that's all we need. I mean, really, and I think that it's to hear the way in which the consideration for that particular student, where they may be felt a certain way in your classroom, but you found the way to reach them and then As you go through and, and the, that kind of experience of being, as you mentioned, emergent with the way in which language acquisition is occurring is like, I, that is gotta be incredibly difficult for those young people to deal with.

And I think that when we can provide certain tools to make it a little bit easier, that that's the purpose. And so when we think about how Screencastify is existing if students are benefiting and their families are engaging more that's what we want to continually engage in here from our users with.

And so many of these things that we've made and created are because of people like you that have been able to really tell us, Hey, I had these experiences and it'd be great if we had something like this. All the stuff we build, all the things that we're creating are direct results of teacher student feedback in order to, as you mentioned, really.

Bring together that learning community because it takes a village. And I think as we've learned, especially over the last couple of years, education has changed dramatically. And so the more we can engage, engage folks at home, the better off everyone's going to be.

[00:18:53] Fonz: Yes, absolutely. So, and that's one of the things now, like you were talking about submit, and I want to, I want to touch base on a little bit of that.

And then where I, I mean, there's so much to unpack with all the new updates that, uh, as you can see, I'm very excited to just be having this conversation because of, uh, Okay, at the beginning of the school year, we already had our, uh, We had our teacher PD and that was one of the presentations that I did was on submit and the teachers that showed up were, we already have some power users within our district and as I was talking to Liz on Friday, she was already pointing out some of our teacher power users that are using it and it just so happened to be that the teacher, she is a French teacher, so she's using the video aspect to have an assign.

You know, specific, like you said, stimulus to the students, whether it's read this paragraph or, you know, just for that language acquisition and so on, or a presentation, and they're working on the language. So she is easily assigning that to the students, the students record themselves, and then they just go ahead and submit it back to her and she's able to capture.

Those moments and just have a, uh, a learning artifact that is evidence of content mastery or evidence of growth. Or maybe sometimes it could be that evidence of, well, maybe there just needs to be just that a little bit of more additional support to help the students succeed. And that's one of the things that I love about video because you're actually, you're documenting this wonderful.

You know, whether it's presentation or just you're capturing the knowledge that is being shared. But most importantly, for me, it's the thought process of the students. And that's the power that I always share with teachers that as a tool would screencastify having a student record themselves and you hear them out.

And hear their thought process that can help you as a teacher not only give you feedback as far as okay, maybe I need to go back and maybe reassess or go back and maybe fix a misconception or you know what the student is showing mastery. But not only that, now they've made this connection to something that.

I would have never known about and then that helps you as a teacher learn a different way of presenting things to help the students out as well. And I think that that's something that has always been one of the biggest. I guess assets with having Screencastify and presenting that to teachers is just the beautiful artifacts that you have.

You're capturing data, you're capturing the student process, and then you have evidence of learning. I mean, how much, what more do you want? And that's be, that's so powerful now. So that's what I love about the submit portion and how the teachers are definitely using it and enjoying it.

[00:21:45] Shaun: You just touched on so many, so many important things and in terms of like the evidence of learning and artifacts.

And when we talk to teachers, and so I'm fortunate enough to engage with our users on a pretty frequent basis, whether that's through webinars and PD sessions, or just having conversations. And I think at a core purpose, like a teacher wants to know, like, do my students get it? Just straight up. Do they get it?

But the reality is, and you know this, and others know it far better than I do, at least it's been a few years, it's the time constraints on teachers now are, it's very difficult to describe how many more things teachers have to do now than they've ever had to do before. And they, they don't have time to ask students every day, do you get it?

And they wish they did. They want to talk to students one on one every single day, but there's just a finite amount of time, and when you add that back up, Responsibilities into that reality, it makes it really tough and that's where submit comes in. And it is that really authentic example of do they get it?

Because what better way to be able to watch a video, see a face, hear the words and what they're doing, you know, like, you know, they get it or they don't. And, and that at a core level gives teachers that ability. As you said before, at an even more important level, it gives students that ability and that that way in which they can provide an explanation and express themselves.

Because that kind of artifact does live. And then we have seen these wonderful users of SubmitTakeThings to levels that in our, in my, certainly my most creative way would never have imagined. You have, as student led conferences have, you know, You know, picked up. We now have folks that have taken all these submit artifacts.

The students have submitted. They've dropped them into the editor, and then they have produced a video. That's a compilation of that student work that now becomes a really core component of their student led conferences. And so it's just the creativity in the way in which teachers are using submit is, is really impressive.

[00:23:44] Fonz: Yes. No, and I absolutely agree with you. Just with that ease of use and just like you mentioned that, you know, for me it, it is probably one of the best low lift platforms for teachers to really understand and the way that you have laid out the user experience and the user interface cannot be any simpler.

And so one of the things that I do love is that aspect of just having that built in editor. Like you mentioned, putting those artifacts together and even, you know, creating, uh, something for a portfolio as the students are getting ready, like, you know, in the higher level classes, you know, I talked to them, I did a mentor group with some of our career technology students and mentioned to them the importance of having video and learning artifacts to be able to put that into your portfolio to give that visual appeal, you know, and sometimes that those things can definitely make a huge difference and impact whether you may get hired or not, because you're, you're standing out from the rest based on that creativity and you're showing a lot of those soft skills that you develop through video creation.

So I think oftentimes that's something that is, uh, Kind of overlooked because we all always focused on that final product and we don't focus so much on the process, but if you think about it, you know, the process that goes into creating a video is you've got to definitely work on your draft. Maybe you're working out, you know, editing.

You're doing what you can to get, get, uh, keep your message concise. You're explaining or you're summarizing. So there's the language acquisition, the communication skills. Maybe you're working as a team. So there's definitely a lot of things that get hit within creating a video. And that's something that I really enjoy doing that.

It doesn't have to be. Just a solo activity, but this can be done with a partner or with a group and you just, uh, show and master the learning there or show mastery of the learning, I should say, in those different ways. And, uh, you know, kind of make yourself stand out. So, I mean, that's something that has been amazing.

And the way that we see teachers, like you mentioned, like yourself, that you get to see, like. A big scope here. I get to see my wonderful teachers using it, using it week in and week out. And, uh, I know one of my favorite things to do with teachers too, is just letting them know that, Hey, all of that content that you created during COVID, like you can keep it evergreen by using the editor.

Now you can keep it evergreen by using the captions portion. You know, you can keep it evergreen because these could be your short little tutorial videos or your FAQs. Maybe you have an FAQ little video playlist based on maybe covalent bonds. Well, where's your content on covalent bonds? Let's do these little short tutorials to, uh, you know, tutorial clips to help out and share it with your students.

And so that's just amazing. It's just micro learning that's content's evergreen.

[00:26:42] Shaun: It's such a good tip. What you just said. And that in addition to being easy to use, we want to save teachers time. And that goes back to, I think what we were talking about previously. It's like, you're all dealing with enough.

Like if, if we can save you 15 minutes a day, plus or minus that's a win. And then, so to your point about making content evergreen is that we very much so have wanted to really champion that idea of video content being renewable, being reusable, the bill, I was a high school teacher, the bill of rights.

That's not changing. Like, I mean, if I, if I do a video on the bill of rights, I'm safe to say, I'm probably going to be able to use it for a little while. And I think that the more we can coach and help, help teachers create with that in mind, it's good. It's just going to be a continuous payoff covalent bonds.

I mean, there's things that are, as you mentioned, evergreen, they're not going to change. Then you drop it in the editor. You can make a custom intro that you can then insert that before. And there are so many ways in which you can make this content while saving yourself and teachers time that really is, I'd say a help to the day to day, which is, is always again, always good to see.

[00:27:46] Fonz: I love it. Yes, absolutely. Well, I mean, I know Sean, like, I know that you're here as a guest to tell us how amazing this is, but I feel that I just have so much to share in the sense because I've seen what it can do. So it almost seems like you're interviewing me and I'm just like sharing this, but I genuinely am excited and I did want to share with you.

Think like our biggest power user has been our math content specialist, uh, that we had because of just really the innovative ways that he's been able to use screencastify again, like you mentioned to help save teachers time. But he also saves himself time in having to answer some of those questions that are.

Frequently asked when he goes from campus to campus. And so just to kind of let you know, like our, our, our content specialists at the time, it's one P one position K through 12. So that's a total of 14 schools. So imagine having to be at 14 schools all at once, you really can't. So he really took to, he, he came up to me and he said, Hey, what can I do?

To multiply myself and, and do this because if I'm at one campus, I can't be at another campus. So I said, okay, so we set them up with Google classrooms. So he created a Google classroom for each grade level. And then he started using screencast to find, he said, okay, I went to go visit this school. They had some questions on this particular standard.

So he'll create a video for that standard addressing it, but he does it in a generalized way or general fashion where he uploads it into Google classroom and he has a folder there for tutorials and he sends those to teachers essentially. It has become a library where if we have somebody that is new to the district or maybe new to the subject, they can easily go into the calendar.

They can go into the resources and they find the videos. So if they themselves need like a quick refresher, they'll know exactly how they can go ahead and teach that, uh, specific standard. But also what he has created and he's done is he's used and leveraged the QR code feature in that what he'll do is he'll create a paper worksheets that he'll like, maybe there's some campuses where they'll do some tutorial, create a little five, uh, Five problem review.

And then what he'll do is here's the problem, gives the student time to solve it, and then the student can go ahead and scan the QR code with their mobile device and watches him teach it step by step in a way that's going to make it easy for the student. And especially for those students that need to do either are retesting for the state test and so on.

So. He's been able to leverage that screencastify in amazing ways and building up that library and just being very innovative with it. And like I mentioned, even teachers that are coming in are like, Oh my gosh, like this is all here. Like, like essentially he's like, well, you can actually just play the video almost like that.

And then that really will teach the concept to the students. So it's been, like I said, for our district, it has been. A wonderful asset and it's definitely it has paid off not only for for the math component, but also for myself as being the only one also in the district for 14 schools having to create videos and have that content evergreen and create a video library for those frequently asked questions at the beginning of the year.

So that has definitely been amazing for sure. I

[00:31:20] Shaun: think as I was listening to you share that, you know, shout out to you all and all the teachers, of course, students in your district. But I think it's, it's so neat to hear that use where you have these content specialists that are supporting teachers in schools, which are far greater than what maybe one individual should be tasked with.

But I don't have to, of course, tell you guys that I think it's unique to hear that use because if I'm a teacher who's getting resources from this content specialist, you're modeling it like you're modeling what I can then go do with my students. And so it's, it's, it's just such like this, this cyclical benefit that exists where you have folks like you QR code, dropping in the header, you know, Teacher scan it with your mobile device.

Well, now it's like, Hey, did that spark an idea in someone's head? We're like, Oh, I could do that. I could put a QR code on the top of a sheet of paper that I send home, where instead of getting emails saying, I don't understand how to do this, well, Hey, I just dropped a QR code. And now it's the same level of accessibility where you then have those folks at home that maybe do want to support their student that can scan it on their mobile device.

And now they're watching the teacher and at home on the kitchen table. Reviewing it with the student going through that video. And so that setting that example, I think is just, is so clutch. And I, and, and as you were sharing about that, it really just continued to kind of, I think reinforce the things that are continuing to kind of pop up within screencastify.

And so you may have noticed like, uh, the folder organization component that when you are making this content, we had teachers for a long time. They were like, can I just have folders to organize my stuff? Well now they're there. And I think that. We wanted to take it a step further. And when we think about guys like you that are making this, this evergreen content, when you have 14 buildings, if you make a singular video previous to the copy video feature existing you had to reproduce it.

If you wanted to segment data amongst any, any group of students or teachers for that matter, in this case. But now when you go to your videos and there's the shortcut little three dots in the bottom of the video and you click on it, now you can copy a video and that's going to copy all of the settings minus the data.

So I could send a single video again, high school teacher example, first period US history, make one video, send it out and then I can copy that same video. It's going to clean the data and then I can resend that exact same without having to reproduce it. And it's this idea of, like you mentioned, making it just easier for people to engage and sending it out so that we are creating this content that is then going to save people time in the long run.

[00:33:50] Fonz: Absolutely. And just again, going back to the video, and I mean, like, you're absolutely right. As far as kind of education shifting, it's, it's definitely a lot. of video that is involved, a lot of that interaction, and I know that there are a lot of parents that are concerned about screen time, and so on, but I mean, when it comes to the classroom, and when it comes to something like Screencastify, I think for that kind of screen time, where you're actually getting that additional support, whether it's for the student, or just communication at home, For the parents and making those connections is something that is very powerful and that I really enjoy.

And so again, just having a tool like Screencastify that not only does that, but is now stepping it up and listening to teachers and getting that feedback and offering the captions, which is very powerful as now, even here, I live in, you know, the Southern tip of South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Now we are getting, there's a lot more diversity now where here at the beginning of the year, we've had a lot of students, uh, from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and so on.

So a tool like Screencastify now where the teacher can feel a little bit of relief as saying, okay. I have a tool that can help me communicate with my students, but not only that, but a tool that can help ease some of the student frustration, because at the beginning of the year, I was getting calls and saying, Mr.

Mendoza, I don't know what to do. What can I do? How do I communicate? This is something that's very difficult. And they're like, I mean, I just have my cell phone here right next to me, and we're doing this back and forth. And I said, well, let me show you what you can do and what is available. And so, like I said, that those tools, uh, definitely take the learning and, and not only the learning, but just again, the ease of use and brings a peace of mind to teachers, but also easing that frustration of somebody who is completely new and getting immersed in the language.

But still being able to hear, uh, or read the, the communication in their own language is something that is so powerful and can bring some of that peace and ease. And, and I think that, that's one of the, the bonuses that I really love that, and the teachers are definitely enjoying, uh, because it, the, you took a lot of, uh, consideration into that.

And that's something that's paying off for sure. Well,

[00:36:13] Shaun: thank you for saying that. And I think it, it, we tried to even take it a step further. And once voice overlay starts to get traction more widely, I mean. Brand new, but it is a similar type belief in that we want people can to be as engaged and comfortable with that content as possible.

And so, in addition to captions as AI based voice overlay comes up, so not only will I see captions in my language of choice, but teachers can enable voice overlay. So now I will hear an AI generated voiceover. Of that same language of choice. And so now you have parents that are going to be able to read and hear in that language.

And so it's actually funny. I, I mean, it took us about 37 minutes to mention AI. I'm surprised, but, uh, but it was that, it was that dual piece that you mentioned about the way in which the engagement happens, but then your first comment about screen time that actually kind of sparked the AI thought in a, in a strange way for me, it's that we, for a long time with screencastify Wanted to encourage user generated content.

And we still do, of course the idea of teachers and adults connecting with students, them seeing their face and their, their mouth move for language acquisition, their mannerisms and, you know, teachers are irreplaceable and nobody wants to. We want to replicate. We want to expand. The ability for teachers to connect.

And so that idea of user generated content has always been so important. But we also acknowledge that sometimes teachers are busy, right? Like we said before, sometimes they need to pull a YouTube video and throw it on a screencast. Fine. So I think that the dual kind of purpose of both of those things currently existing is in conjunction with AI.

We've been really thoughtful and intentional with the way that we have introduced AI into Screencastify in that it is a supplement to the user generated content that exists and that we want to continue to really encourage and drive the way that teachers can connect with students via video. But we also want to use AI to make it easier for you.

So now, When you click AI Assistant in Screencastify, you're going to see the title auto generated, the caption auto generated, captions, translations, in addition to some things that are coming soon like auto generated questions, graded short answer questions, submit grading of the videos. All these things are very much so coming In very quickly to screencast my initial already be there because it's not we all know is here and I think that the presence of it to support the user generated content and make that way the teachers can engage and connect with students even more so is just going to be a win win.

So we're excited about that, too.

[00:38:45] Fonz: Excellent. That is wonderful. And again, you know, just Thank you. Loving to hear just from extension to now what Screencastify has become and what it is becoming. And I'm sure that this is definitely not the end as far as growth. And there's so many other things that are coming.

I'm just really excited just about, again, going back to from where it was. To where it is now and the capabilities. And like you mentioned, it's a tool that is there to help make things easier. Because as you mentioned, it's all about time. And that's something like today. I was doing a professional development at one of our campuses.

And it's so difficult when we have these conversations about tier one platforms and things that we need to do. And it's it all comes down to time. And so we're always looking to For low lift, uh, approaches as far as platforms and things that don't feel like you're getting something else added onto your plate.

But like you mentioned with screencastify my goal, not only with screencastify, but with any app. And when I go. Do some training as always. Like if I can give you back some time, which I know for a lot of them, they're like, how, what, how can you give us back time? I told myself, look, if I can give you backs at least five to seven minutes, just to sit down, turn the lights off and decompress at the end of the day.

Then I've done my job. And so I always will find the best ways to help teachers do that. But with screencastify, like, I mean, it's pretty much kind of just built in that that is going to happen in the sense, because again, one of the things that we talked about is you create once, but you can use it multiple times.

And if it's content that is evergreen. But one of the last things that I kind of wanted to touch on, and I wanted to share with. Is the feedback that I get from teachers when I create a video for them has been something that to me makes this platform very special in the sense that when I get an email or I get a phone call from a teacher asking Mr.

Mendoza, They're like, I know you came and did this training yesterday, but can you go over this component or this piece or share? And then they'll say, can you send me a video? I'm like, absolutely. So whether they send me an email or they call me, I'll create a video and. They absolutely love the personalization.

You know, when you use their name, I once got an email, not only to myself, but to my immediate supervisor, my boss, they got an email stating, I really love the way that Mr. Mendoza sends us videos. And just because of this, the title. I put their name on there. So I'll put like, for example, I'll just use, I can't remember who it was, but I'll just put like Mrs.

Reese and then I'll put there like the, I guess the specific thing that I was helping with. And she just emailed back and she's the way that he makes it so personal and everything. And going back, even just from that's from adult to adult, but me seeing it from adult to student and giving that feedback.

That, to me, has been one of the biggest things and most impactful things going back to the teacher student use case, uh, because of that connection. And so, I really love, and not to take away from just how great you all are in the new stuff, but to me, it's just those connections that are being made, that is huge.

And, you know, so I just wanted to emphasize that. Because there can be some amazing connections being made between teacher, student, student, teacher, teacher, parent, and then the learning community as a whole. And that's the one thing that I always come back to when talking about screen castify.

[00:42:35] Shaun: Well, once again, I think it'd be remiss without acknowledging like the example that you're setting, right?

Like you, you're using the tool. And if an adult, as you just said, If an adult feels that way, imagine how a nine year old or a 12 year old is going to feel when they get that personalized video from their teacher. It is, it is profound the effect that it has. Two minutes of saying, hey Vons, good job, and then feedback on a video, like it's different.

PD sessions use the example, I was an AP US history teacher for several years. I vividly remember. Even though if I want to get rid of the memories of the, the grading, the DBQs and the FRQs and the time and the, the marks and the comments on these pieces of paper and like, honestly, like, right, like how many students read those comments?

Not all of them, but what if there was personalized video? That we were giving to these students in terms of feedback. And I think that your example, adult to adult, highlights that connection, where if they hear the teacher giving feedback, they know the inflection in their voice, the authenticity, and how genuine the person's being when they're sharing that feedback.

It's just different. And so, The way in which teachers, we've seen teachers hyperlink, you know, Google Doc, insert comment and then drop the hyperlink of the video in the students Google Doc. They click on the student clicks on and then they all of a sudden they pop up with their Google Doc and the teacher talking about it.

It's, it's remarkable what, what people like you are doing with Screencastify. I think, So much of what we are able to do again, just to is just because of you all. So we are eternally grateful for that.

[00:44:12] Fonz: Absolutely. And just, again, going back to just importance of that human connection and, and like screen castify, definitely the tool.

That can help you achieve that in just multiple ways. Like we just talked about. So I absolutely love it. Well, Sean, it's been a wonderful conversation. Just thank you so much. And like I said, I think this is the first time where just my excitement really took over and again, to all our audience members, you know, my apologies if you didn't hear Sean as much, but this is really like authentic excitement because I have seen it, I have used it.

And just to be able to share this with Sean and then. Of course, Sean telling us about all the great things that Screencastify is doing and, you know, what it will do in the future too, as well, is something that's very powerful. So thank you so much, Sean, for joining us on this wonderful episode today and having this wonderful conversation, but we're still not done.

Hopefully you did get to glance at the calendar invite.

[00:45:11] Shaun: There you

[00:45:12] Fonz: go. So we always love to end the show or I always love to end the show with the last three questions just to kind of like, you know, give a nice little lighthearted, uh, feel to the show at the end. So let's go ahead and get started here. So question number one is really a listener favorite.

And so my question to you is, as we know, every superhero has a point of weakness or something that weakens, uh, you know, as their superhero. So for example, for Superman. You know, the kryptonite kind of weakened him. So I want to ask you in the current state of education, what would you say would be your current edu kryptonite?

[00:45:51] Shaun: Yeah, this is probably the, of the three, definitely the one I thought most about because I think it is, it's such like a. I mean, it's a, it's a serious question to a degree, right? Like, and I think for me, I'd say the, the kryptonite component right now, there's really two that come to mind. And the first one's what we've already talked to time.

There's just never enough time. And I think when, when we see students and teachers in the current atmosphere that they're in, is that everybody wants to do well. And, and so often you hear about, I didn't have time to do this or teachers are, are always rushing because they have another meeting to go to, or they have.

A new student joining their, like all these things that are that we wish we could change or somehow bring a solution to. And so, That I'd say is probably the number one is that we just wish that the teachers were not quite as busy. And I think that that really does contribute to district calendars when, when we want to work with districts on P.

1. And they're like, we do too, but we just don't have any days. That's, that's hard because I think it limits the way in which teachers are able to really experience different things and really grow. And then what ends up happening is that teachers are still gonna grow. But now they're just having to do it at eight o'clock on a Wednesday night or on the weekend.

And that's, that's something that I personally struggle with. I wish that was not the case. I wish that the teachers had all the time that they deserve to be able to do those things. So that's one. And then the second one is, is budget is similarly. And I think we hear these stories about districts being in positions that we just don't ever want them to be.

And that's absent of, of people buying or not buying screencastify. That's just far beyond this. When you hear stories of what teachers are having to deal with in terms of, of employment and how districts have to close schools and things that have such a significant impact on students. Those for me are definitely the top two.

[00:47:42] Fonz: There you go. Good answer, Sean. Thank you so much. All right. Question number two is who is someone you'd like to trade places for a day? And why?

[00:47:53] Shaun: Also thought a lot about this one. At first I was going to tell you that I wanted to be with myself like 20 years ago. But then I actually changed my answer like an hour ago.

And I, I would love to trade places with each one of my kids for a day. There's seven and nine, and I think it's, it is unique to consider what they, what they go, what any student goes through on a daily basis, regardless of where you go to school or what you're encountering. Every student is viewing the world from a very unique lens.

And I think as parents, as adults, sometimes we all get caught up in our day to day and it's, it's easy to forget that, that they're of a certain age. They view things a certain way. And so I think just from like a perspective I think it'd be really helpful for a variety of reasons to just see the world through each one of my kids eyes for a day.

[00:48:46] Fonz: Nice. Great. Great answer. All right. And the last question Sean is if you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it be and why?

[00:48:58] Shaun: So this is actually I kind of chuckled when I saw this question. So I don't know if it's a cop out or not You But we've actually done this at Screencastify. Four years ago or so, we actually did purchase advertisements on 20 billboards throughout the country.

It was as, as you all, as you know, it was 2020, 21, teachers were dealing with a lot. So, and I'll, I can actually send you pictures after, if. But like Buncombe County comes to mind, North Colony, Baltimore. And it was just basically, uh, teachers, we love you. It was, it was this message from Screencastify to teachers and what we ended up, which was not intended is that teachers were taking selfies with these billboards all throughout the country.

And so it would be that it would be, I would put just our appreciation for teachers. It is. Something that is talked about daily at screencastify Because without without you all without students it would nothing we do would matter

[00:49:55] Fonz: that is wonderful That is such an amazing story. And yes, please do so if you can share some pictures I would love to see that as well, but that's wonderful that's such a positive message and just for those times for as a teacher just being out there on the road or just finding those signs and just You know kind of going back to that human connection just that somebody put this up here for me for us Us for everybody.

That's something that's very powerful. So thank you so much for sharing that story. That is awesome. Well, Sean, thank you so much for today. You know, this was an amazing conversation. I was very excited and very, I, in a very excited way, I shared so much of the way that I have been able to experience Screencastify and my students have been able to, to experience it along with teachers.

And again, Authentic excitement, but hopefully that too for you all is just a great sign that feedback or those stories are a great sign that you guys are doing an amazing work through Screencastify. And of course, as you continue to grow, it's only going to get better. So thank you so much for the work that you and the rest of your team.

Big shout out to Liz also, uh, who will be catching the show. So big shout out to her. She's always been great in helping us in our district, you know, make sure that we are taken care of. So thank you for all you do, Sean.

[00:51:16] Shaun: Thank you. We appreciate not only you having us here tonight, but I think the work that you do just to reciprocate, I think it is so important to us that we consistently thank and show gratitude for the teachers who are using Screencastify and, and I'm, I'm pumped that you were that excited.

I think I'd much rather hear from you. All these stories and anecdotes that are, that are real examples of the work rather than, than, than me talking. I, it was far more interesting to listen.

[00:51:41] Fonz: Hey, well, it was all great, but thank you so much. And for all our audience members, thank you so much for listening to this amazing episode.

And if you can, please make sure you jump over to our website. At www. myedtech. life, where you can check out this amazing episode and the other 293 episodes over these past four years, where you can find educators, creators, education professionals, we've got a little bit of something just for you. So make sure you check out those episodes and take some of those knowledge nuggets and sprinkle them on to what You are already doing great and please make sure that you're following us on all socials at my ed tech life.

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So we can continue to grow together and my friends as always, don't forget until next time. Stay Techie!