If a tutorial period isn't present in the school day teachers are typically overwhelmed trying to re-teach material to those who don’t understand it, challenge upper level kids, and teach the material to previously absent students. I got to thinking “why couldn't I just record my lessons?” So far it has been extremely successful.
What this allows me to do is record my screen, audio, and a webcam of myself. I go about teaching the lesson, in my case it’s usually some type of software demonstration, while recording. As soon as it is done, the software allows me to make edits, transitions, intro music and graphics, and immediately publish it to YouTube. When a student misses I just send them a message with the link and ask them to watch the video before returning to class. Most of the time they do and it saves quite a bit of time for me and allows me to help struggling students. Absentees get the same instruction everyone else does, just a day or two later.
You do not have to have fancy software to make this happen! Jing will screen record with audio for free! If you record your lesson and it doesn't go well, that's okay! Try it again. You will mess up. It's going to happen. How will you respond and what will you model for your students?
The software I am using is called Camtasia which is made by a company called TechSmith. They do offer a 30 day free trial but after that the educational price is about $180. Below is a video of a finished product. It is by far not the best lesson I've ever taught and I am just beginning the use of the technology but it is a start.
Beware, you will notice little things you do after watching and listening to yourself!
How do you reach the absent? Comment below.