Classroom and teaching technology experience in the Fall 2020 Term

Posted on by rmconnot

Dear Faculty, 

It is hard to believe we are just over a week away from classes starting up for fall.  The College’s instructional design and technology groups (CAEN, CRLT-Engin, and Nexus) have been busy preparing for the start of the term.  With the hybrid nature of this term, we have been making a number of improvements with classroom and streaming technology.  

This email contains important information about technological considerations for the fall semester. Please take a few minutes to read through the message as it contains information related to:

  • How to schedule studios and classrooms for synchronous and asynchronous recordings
  • How to get a personal lapel mic for the CoE classrooms, tablets and webcams
  • The new Zoom streaming setup for the CoE classrooms
  • Request remote recording and streaming equipment (mics, webcams and tablets)
  • Information on scheduling consultations on using technology
  • FERPA considerations for using lecture recordings
  • Links to prior workshops and resources

As always, don’t be afraid to reach out to my office, Nexus, or the Associate Deans if you have any questions or concerns

Best,

Dan Maletta

 

—

 

Scheduling Classrooms and Studios for Recording

For the Fall, the College has created nine self-service studios to go along with the five full service Nexus studios.  Both the self-service and Nexus studios offer: 

  • 22” Wacom Cintiq Tablets
  • Enhanced lighting
  • Built-in room computers
  • 55” displays to better support views of both the remote participants and content being presented  
  • The Nexus studios additionally have Panopto lecture recording software and a media assistant

For scheduling the self-service studios or classrooms, please work with your departmental schedulers.  Also remember that you need to request that the lecture be recorded in the room, it is not set up automatically.

If you would like to request recording in a Nexus studio, please complete the recording request form.

 

Requesting a lapel microphone for CoE Classrooms 

To help with reducing the risk of Covid while teaching in the classroom the College is offering faculty teaching in CoE classrooms this term the option to have their own personal lapel mic that can be connected to the transmitter within the classroom. Using a lapel microphone when lecturing in a classroom usually provides a higher quality audio recording. If you would like to request a microphone please complete this request form. 

 

Streaming your in-person or hybrid class with Zoom

To simplify the process of streaming your in-person or hybrid class, CAEN has installed a PC in most classrooms to support Zoom.  The computer is connected to the camera, microphones and speakers within the room to provide a high quality experience for those online participants.  We have created a short video of how to use the zoom computer and have put together a webpage with written instructions.

To create a more inclusive experience for both those in the room and online, you might consider asking your students who attend in person to bring and use their laptops to connect with the Zoom session as well.  It will enable them to see the students who are remote and allow them to all participate using the chat tool.

 

Remote recording and streaming technology equipment

The College has also offered to provide faculty with webcams and microphones to be used for home recordings. Departments started receiving this equipment to distribute in the last few days.  Please work with your department IT staff to get these tools if you need them. In addition, the College has agreed to fund $200 towards a tablet, iPad or Microsoft Surface Pro purchased with University funds for faculty to support their teaching. Please work with your department if you have any questions.

 

Scheduling a consultation for using classroom technology

CAEN and Nexus are both available for holding consultations around classroom and studio technology and best practices.  If you would like a consultation around the technology in the classroom please contact coe-remote-teaching@umich.edu. If you would like to talk with someone about instructional design, please complete this form. 

Starting today, August 24, you can work with your departmental schedulers to schedule time in a classroom to test out the technology.  Keep in mind that updates will be happening to the classrooms through most of the week.  Finally, CAEN staff will be checking in on the CoE classrooms the first week of classes if you need any assistance.

 

FERPA considerations for recording class activities

With the increased use of recording it is an important time to review the FERPA requirements around the re-use of recordings.  The University has determined that recordings of class activities in which students are seen or heard are educational records and fall under FERPA requirements. If you are using the recorded material for the course and term you recorded it there is no real concern, as long as you include a statement about recording class sessions in your syllabus.

If you plan to use the recorded material for other terms or purposes, including sharing it with students not in the course it was recorded in, there are a number of steps you should take to make sure you comply with the regulations. This would also apply if you were planning to use a previous term’s recordings for this upcoming fall. Campus has put together a set of tips for ensuring that you are making FERPA compliant recordings that are shareable. It includes:

If you are using the CAEN lecture capture system to record class activities, you can also trim, cut and replace content with the video editor. CAEN has put together a tutorial to help you do this.  In addition, you can also publish the video with only audio and slides and no camera image.

 

Links to other teaching resources

As a reminder, here is a list of links to other teaching technologies, workshops, and guides

ITS has a teaching and student engagement website with tools for instruction.