Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks

Soapbox is a new tool from Wistia that makes it easy to create great screencast videos on a Chromebook or any computer that is using the Chrome web browser. With Soapbox installed in the Chrome web browser you can quickly record your screen and your webcam at the same time.

Soapbox is a little different from other screencast tools. The most distinguishing feature is that you can have your video transition from your screen to your webcam to a combination of the two. Soapbox includes some simple editing tools for zooming in on an area of your screen and calling attention to specific parts of your screen.


Completed Soapbox videos can be shared via email or anywhere else that you want to post a link to your video. The shortcoming of Soapbox is that you cannot download your video. It lives on Wistia's hosting service.

Applications for Education
Soapbox is another option to explore if you aren't happy with the current options for creating screencasts on Chromebooks. The editing tools make it stand out a bit from some of the other screencasting tools that work on Chromebooks. Screencasts in general are useful in helping students learn how to navigate a new web tool.

Come to the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp to learn more about making videos on Chromebooks. 

Quickly Generate an Outline in Google Documents

Google Documents contains lots of handy features that often go overlooked. One of those features is the outline tool. The outline tool will quickly create an outline of your document. The outline is based on headers that you write in your document. The outline appears in the right-hand sidebar of Google Docs and lets you quickly jump to a section of a multiple page document. Watch my video below to see how it works.