Jing

Description of the Tool

Whether you use it at work, school, or for personal use, Jing allows you to easily create basic visual components to save and share with others. Jing allows the user to create and capture images, add text, graphics, and highlight specific areas you would like the viewer to focus their attention. The user can also use the screen casting feature to capture items on their screen, narrate, and share with others. However, Jing only allows the user to create a video up to 5 minutes in length; being clear and concise is your goal. Jing is free to consumers and can be downloaded online through TechSmith.com and works well on both PC and Mac devices.

How to Use This Tool

Once you have downloaded Jing from TechSmith.com, the fun begins! The user has the ability to instantly create visuals to save and share with others. To get you started, Jing is preset to appear at the top of your screen—you will notice a yellow half circle that transforms into a sun once you hover your mouse over it.

Note: If Jing does not automatically appear at the top of your screen, you will need to access it through your start button in the bottom left hand corner of your computer. If the program was successfully downloaded it should appear in your applications as Jing or TechSmith—once located, click to open and use program.

Setting up preferences. When you initially launch Jing, you can automatically begin using the program with little to no issues. Additionally, you can edit some features to help ensure your usage runs smoothly. For example, you can go to the top of your screen, hover over the Jing sun and click on preferences. From there, your screen will look like the image below and you will see several different options. Depending on how you use Jing and frequency, you can edit your preferences as needed. However, for initial start-up and basic usage, you will want to focus on 3 main components in your preference page.

Ensure your email address is correct. You will use this email address to log into Jing to access your stored images and videos.
You can choose to have Jing automatically launch when your computer turns on—note: having programs automatically launch when your computer starts can cause your computer to run slowly. This section also allows you to hide the Jing sun at the top of your screen if you find it distracting.
If you will be narrating videos, be sure to check your audio panel. Your microphone should be the default setting. To test your audio, begin talking and green sound bars should appear if your device is working properly. If you do not see any green sound bars, this means something is disabled within your sound options on your computer. You will need to take the time to explore and troubleshoot those issues.

Image capturing. Image capturing with Jing is very similar to using your snipping tool on your computer—all you do is click, hold and drag over the area you would like to capture. But unlike your snipping tool, you are able to add text, shapes, and boarders, highlight specific areas, or even edit the image in Snagit. Follow the basic steps below to capture an image.

Hover over the Jing sun at the top of your screen and choose the capture option.
Yellow gridlines will appear indicating you are ready to capture your image. Click, hold and drag over the section you would like to capture.

Do you like your selection? If not, redo the selection.

You can choose to keep the selection as an image, turn it into a video, redo the selection, or cancel.

If you choose, you can edit your image and add features, save and share with others.

Add arrows, text, boarders, highlight areas, change text/shape colors----or undo anything you don’t like.

Name your image, save or share with others.

Video capturing. Jing allows users to easily create up to a 5 minute video. The user has the ability to start and stop the video, as well as, change what the viewer sees.

Hover over the Jing sun at the top of your screen and choose the capture option.
Yellow gridlines will appear indicating you are ready to capture your image. Click, hold and drag over the section you would like to capture (same steps to capture an image).
Once you have the area selected, choose to turn the image into a video and begin recording.

The yellow boarders indicate the section you selected to record.

Jing gives you the ability to pause your video and change what the viewer will see. For example: if you are recording a PowerPoint presentation, you can pause and click on a different slide, then resume the video. Remember, your viewers will only see what is inside the yellow borders.

Optional: Pause video and select what you want your viewer to see

Once you have completed your recording, you can hit stop and have the option to watch what you have recorded.

Name your video, save or share with others

Saving and Sharing. Jing makes saving and sharing your images and videos easy; you can choose to save, to share, or both! If you choose to save your image/video, it will be saved to your computer, as well as, be saved within the Jing history button.

Remember: to view your history, click on the Jing sun at the top of your computer and choose history.

If you choose to share your image or video with others, Jing will automatically take you to screencast.com. Here you will be able to click on the share button to receive a shareable URL or embedded code.

How Can This Tool be Used by the Trainer/Teacher?

Jing is an easy versatile tool that can be used in numerous situations. For teachers and those in training professions, Jing can be manipulated based on individual or group needs. The following are some strategies for using this tool.

Tutorials/Demonstrations
- Discuss how to use search engines and libraries to find credible sources
- How to set up a document and site sources based on different formats
- Demonstrate how to use specific features within a program
- New employee training: a resource for how to complete a task and highlight items of importance
- Employee training resources: Submitting help desk tickets, troubleshooting programs, navigating and creating Share Points
- How to set up an online account for professional/educational use
- How to read and understand a report
- Demonstrate how to use/do various math problems and formulas
Feedback/Clarification
- Narrate how you respond to a peer’s paper, discussion post, etc.
- Provide feedback to an individual, group, or whole class
- Provide employee/student/parent feedback on a task/assignment, highlight strengths and areas for improvement
- Could be used in place of a conference/meeting—share ideas and thoughts
- Use the video recording option to explain and show something that could be difficult to understand in an email or over the phone
- Narrate notes from lecture or meeting

How Can This Tool be Used by the Trainer/Teacher to Support Student Learning?

Supporting student/employee learning is important for their growth and understanding. As an instructor, if your approach to something, whether it be word choice or method of instruction, is unclear and difficult to understand, student learning could come to a halt. In addition to the strategies provided in the section above, the following strategies are examples of how an instructor could use Jing to support their students learning.

Instructional
- Create recorded lessons/lectures: This feature could be used for online/distant educational courses, record a live lecture to provide a resource for those who could not attend or for students to access again.
- Create a follow up discussion to address/clarify any misconceptions about a topic or assignment
- Highlight important areas of a resource, assignment, website, etc.
- Address frequently asked questions
- Narrate images for a presentation
- Have students demonstrate their understanding of a topic
- Use the video recording option to assess oral communication, presentation skills, foreign language pronunciation, etc.
- Provide a narrative summary/recap of the previous day/weeks class, as well as, discuss what to expect in upcoming classes/week
- Demonstrate how to use/do various math problems and formulas

How Can This Tool be Used by Students?

As stated within the “How Can This Tool be Used by the Trainer/Teacher?” section, Jing is an excellent tool that can be manipulated to fit numerous needs; you just have to be creative! For students both in secondary and post-secondary institutions, Jing could be beneficial for personal and educational use. The following strategies are examples of how a student could use this technology tool.

Individual/Group
- Narrate a presentation
- Use it as a digital storytelling tool—possibly in another language
- Use it as a communication tool—narrate notes, reflect, think out loud, things to remember
- Create teaching tools for peers (Example: working through math problems, editing papers/formatting, etc.)
- Use it as a communication tool to clarify questions for instructor and peers
- Provide instructions or feedback to peers
- Use it to introduce yourself to the class/peers
- Create a story, comic or illustration to present, narrate, and share

Training and Other Resources

TechSmith.com has created a series of great tutorials and resources to help get you started and support your learning through Jing. Click on any of the helpful resources below or visit Techsmith.com and search Jing tutorials to get this full list of helpful training tools.

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Last updated 6 years ago