Tools and setup for hybrid teaching (Integrated Community Services)
Meeting Owl
The Meeting Owl is a device that connects to your computer and can act as a webcam, microphone, and speaker in your classroom. It is particularly useful for a hybrid classroom setup because the camera shows a 360-degree view of the room, and it also shifts to show a more zoomed in view of the person that is speaking. Those who are participating in the class remotely will, therefore, have a broad view of the classroom as well as a close-up view of the instructor and students as they speak.
This short (~2 min) video below shows how to use the Meeting Owl in a classroom.
To use the Owl:
1. Make sure the Meeting Owl is plugged into a power source.
2. Make sure the Owl's USB cable is plugged into your computer.
3. Start a meeting in your video conferencing platform (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.)
4. Make sure video, microphone, and speaker settings are set to "Meeting Owl" in your video conferencing software (or if you prefer to use speakers or a microphone that are not part of the Owl, select the appropriate speaker/microphone settings in your conferencing software).
5. The Meeting Owl will automatically focus on active speakers.
Classroom Microphones - SFCC 16-105
The short (~1 min) video below is specific to classroom 16-105 at SFCC. The video shows where to find and how to use the classroom set of microphones so that online students will be better able to hear the instructor and students in the classroom.
Zoom Basics
The short (~8 min) video below provides a brief overview of some of the Zoom tools that are useful for online or hybrid classes.
- Audio and video controls
- Live transcript and closed captioning
- Meeting recording options
- Screen sharing
- Breakout rooms
Quick Reference
Audio & Video Controls
Audio
The microphone icon at the bottom-left corner of your Zoom meeting window leads to audio settings.
- To mute and unmute your microphone, click the microphone icon.
- For additional audio options, click the up-arrow to the right of the microphone icon.
- To trouble-shoot your audio settings, click "Test Speaker & Microphone" and you will be guided through steps to make sure you are using the appropriate microphone and speakers.
Hybrid teaching tip: All students in the classroom who are logged into the Zoom meeting through individual laptops should mute their microphones and speakers.
Video
The video camera icon at the bottom-left corner of your Zoom meeting window leads to video settings.
- To turn your video on and off, click the video camera icon.
- For additional video options, click the up-arrow to the right of the video camera icon.
- To select a virtual background, click "Choose Virtual Background".
Live Transcript
Live Transcript
Zoom uses automatic speech recognition to create live transcription and captioning during meetings. Using live transcription/captioning for the first time is a two-step process.
First, you must enable captioning and transcription in your Zoom account settings (prior to the meeting). You will only need to do this one time; once you've enabled these setting, you will not need to do it again.
Step 1: Go to your Zoom Account Settings.
Step 2: Scroll down to the "In Meeting (Advanced)" settings.
Step 3: Enable the manual captions, automated captions, and full transcript.
Second, you'll need to enable live transcription (captioning) in your Zoom meeting.
Step 1: Select "Live Transcript".
Step 2: Select "Enable Auto-Transcription"
Note that if the Live Transcript icon is not showing in the meeting controls panel at the bottom of your window, you'll need to select "More" and then you can select "Live Transcript".
Enabling live transcription during a meeting must be done by the meeting host. Once the host has turned on live transcripts for a given meeting, participants can turn the captioning on or off during the meeting.
Record Meeting
Record Meeting
Zoom provides two options for recording meetings: local recording and cloud recording. Local recordings are saved to your computer. Cloud recordings are saved to the Zoom Cloud.
Hybrid teaching tip: Select Record to the Cloud to send your course recording to your Panopto folder. From there, you'll be able to easily provide access for your students to view and download the recording.
You will be able to tell when recording has begun because a red circle will appear at the top left corner of your meeting screen. Additionally, if you are the meeting host, you will see controls that will allow you to pause, stop, or restart recording during the meeting.
Share Screen
Share Screen
To share your screen, click on the Share Screen icon in the meeting controls panel at the bottom of your meeting window. If the icon is not visible, you will need to click "More" on the bottom-right corner and then select "Share Screen".
For advanced sharing options:
- Select the up-arrow to the right of the Share Screen icon (or select More > Share Screen Options)
- Select Advanced Sharing Options
- Select your preferences
Whiteboards
Whiteboards
To open and share a whiteboard, click on the Whiteboards icon in the meeting controls panel at the bottom of your meeting window. If the icon is not visible, you will need to click "More" on the bottom-right corner and then select "Whiteboards".Breakout Rooms
Breakout Rooms
You can use Zoom breakout rooms to split your students into smaller groups for discussion and groupwork. To create breakout rooms,
- Click on the Breakout Rooms icon in the meeting controls panel at the bottom of your meeting window. If the icon is not visible, you will need to click "More" on the bottom-right corner and then select "Breakout Rooms".
- Select your breakout room preferences.
- Click create.
Once you have created the breakout rooms, a new widow will open. Click "Options" at the lower-left corner to set your preferences for the breakout rooms.
Recording Zoom Sessions and Making Available in Panopto
Our Zoom recordings are connected to our Panopto Video hosting site, which means that when you are hosting a Zoom session, you can record the meeting "to the cloud" with one click and then that meeting recording will automatically be stored in your Panopto account. In the following video, Ben shows you how to record your course or meeting to the cloud and, importantly, how to make those recordings available to your students.