Screenr and I will be parting ways and it’s not because of their product. Screenr offers a convenient and easy method for taking screencasts. The screencasts are great for educators in the classroom, for distance learning educators, for students to share what they know, and for professional development. I’ve used them pretty regularly the last several months. I’ve used them enough to consider going pro. Here’s why: the free Screenr product offers allows screencasts up to 5 minutes in length, the pro versions allow for 15 minutes in length. The Lite premium version provides 250 screencast storage and the ability to have private screencasts to designate viewers. All screencasts in the Screenr.Com free version are public. The Lite Premium version is all great stuff for an educator and for that educator’s students. (Benefits of the pro version are noted here and pricing is noted here.) The Lite Version is $19 a month, though, and that is hefty for the average educator’s budget.
However I prefer to support companies that are educator-friendly. By that, I mean that they reach out to educators and support their tireless efforts by providing a discount, even a small one, or something to help them use the tool in the classroom. It’s simply a way of recognizing the incredible work that educators do every day for the smallest of incomes. (Heck, we all know we don’t teach for the pay!)
So, I often inquire about an educator discount so I can share that with my readers and, hopefully, share some educator-friendly sites with them. I did that yesterday with Screenr. One of the first things that threw me off was that there is absolutely no way to contact Screen other than their forum. Honestly, I would have preferred to allow the company to respond to my educator discount question privately for their benefit. However,that was not possible so I posted on their forum.
Over the next two days, a dialogue ensued which, I’m assuming, is visible there. They certainly have a right to decide not to provide educator discounts and I respect that. However, for me that means that I will look elsewhere for an application that does provide educator discounts and welcomes consumer email and feedback. After three requests for an email address to take the conversation off their board, and after three total lack of acknowledgement of that question, I will simply report that Screenr only wants feedback on their Board and is not accessible for any other type of consumer responses as far as I could tell. (I must note that responses on the Board were fast and that was appreciated.)
The result is I feel as if Screenr wishes to remain a Pro-Business only model. Again, this is their choice. My choice then is to look for a screencasting application (Jing’s Snagit for example offers educator pricing for $29.95) that feels differently about their approach and their focus.
As always, I welcome any change of heart and will gladly report if Screenr changes their policy on educator pricing. 
Carol Mortensen has nearly twenty-three years of educational experience. She began as a substitute teacher as she worked toward her degree. Upon graduation, Carol began teaching middle school Math and Algebra I and served as the technology liaison for her campus. She served as a teacher for 16 years and was lucky to have taught at Hillcrest Middle School, a 1:1 campus where every student was issued a laptop computer. She also worked as an Instructional Technology Trainer for her district providing training and technology integration support for campus and district staff, faculty and administrators. Currently, Carol enjoys her position as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist for Deer Park High School – South Campus. Before taking this position this year, she served for three years as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist at Fairmont Junior High in Deer Park Independent School District. In this position, Carol provides integration support and training to the students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the campus and district level. In addition, Carol is an online Math instructor for Aventa Learning and K12. The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) named Carol the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her innovative and creative use of technology to create a 24/7 virtual classroom using her classroom website. Carol has presented at school districts throughout Texas as well as state and local conferences on a variety of technology integration topics. Her article on the use of websites as an instructional tool was recently published in the TechEdge Magazine. In February 2011, her article, Lessons Learning In a 1:1 Classroom, was published by TechEdge. The article was republished in ISTE’s Learning and Leading magazine in August 2011. She was named Fairmont Junior High’s Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. Carol is passionate about the positive impact that technology has on student achievement. Her presentations are packed with real-life solutions, quality resources, and humor. She has an ability to connect with her audience and motivate them to take technology integration to a higher quality level.
I know I purchased Ink2Go so I could record without having limits like you mentioned. I post to youtube, so I still have to have less than 15 minutes of content. http://ink2.eyepowergames.com/
It was the best $19.90 I have spent with an easy to use tool. That fee is also only paid ONCE.
Thank you for the tip to and your comment! That is very helpful!!!