Coronavirus - Video / class conferencing options we should consider

Coronavirus - Video / class conferencing options we should consider

by Jerry Lau -
Number of replies: 4

Now that WHO finally declared it as a pandemic (2 months too late btw but that is for another discussion time), what options should we look at for our instructors to use class video conferencing for their class/students? Ideally, perhaps a video tile of all the students (if they have a camera) so the instructors can see all their student's faces on his (or maybe even the student's) monitors..

In fact, I think people would be more engaged as there is less distraction actually


thanks

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In reply to Jerry Lau

Re: Coronavirus - Video / class conferencing options we should consider

by Howard Miller -
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I'll wade in with my typical cynicism.... having a video of all your students seems like a load of hassle and bandwidth for next to no benefit (IMO).

I think the big challenge is going to be the increase in people working/learning from diverse locations and the strain this will put on infrastructure. I would consider ways to reduce that rather than increase it.
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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Coronavirus - Video / class conferencing options we should consider

by ben reynolds -
I'll second Howard's "don't use video" because the load is really big on people who are at the end of the bandwidth pipe.
Zoom is a good choice, but only use video when you need it, which is quite definitely not all the time. Otherwise, the computer audio function is much less bandwidth and gives really good sound (assuming the computer is relatively recent). A trick to audio with laptops is to tilt the screen back to prevent feedback echo: a bit more than 90 degrees works fine. Also, having spent more than half an hour trying to figure out how to get computer audio to work for one of my people, it's really worth a 1-minute recorded tutorial on how to make audio work.
As for wanting to see faces, use a round robin approach: Ask Daisuke a question and have him turn on his video while talking; next to Abraham, Daisuke turns his off and Abraham turns his on. And so on. This keeps the bandwidth at a reasonable level.
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In reply to Jerry Lau

Re: Coronavirus - Video / class conferencing options we should consider

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
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Extremely delicate topic: To fish in muddy waters could be OK, provided that the "mud" is not an pandemic. In plain text, the hope that this is not about capitalizing on a global tragedy. It is something different, if you are looking for ways for your students to learn from home - which is a nob-brainer the MIT doesn't have to tell us: https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/03/10/2310206/mit-moves-all-classes-online-for-the-rest-of-the-semester.

Well, the Moodlers were not idling either: "250 million students suddenly require teaching online" https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=397124
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