A Note on Classroom Technologies

The backbone of a Flex course is the face-to-face session where we connect the synchronous online students with the synchronous on-ground students, with the asynchronous students tuning in after the fact. That is a ton to juggle! Luckily, we can simplify our planning by focusing on the online modality first when designing our sessions. Doing so ensures that we capture a great class recording for the asynchronous students while allowing the on-ground attendees to better engage with their online counterparts. There are a ton of ways to run a Flex session as you will see later in our Examples of Flex Frameworks, but for now this can act as a reference as you plan your classroom sessions.

Know Your Goal

The first step in managing your Flex sessions is to figure out in what ways information is being shared. In most cases you will have the following in a standard classroom session:

• Audio capture
• Video capture
• Visual aids
• Collaborative workspaces

To know exactly which pieces of the puzzle need to get connected to your students and recorded, one approach might be to make a quick table to list out the sources of communication you will be using during a standard session:

As a Flex instructor you would then need to ensure you have a tool or workflow for making these connections during your sessions. In some cases the tool can do the bulk of the work to get resources connected to students (like Zoom) but in other cases, an instructor might be managing multiple technologies or settings in real time to ensure student objectives are met (like switching back and forth between a document camera, a PowerPoint, and a collaborative document to convey information). Some instructors opt to connect a second device Links to an external site. just so they can easily monitor the online student view and to better manage interaction.

Using your known sources of communication will also help you determine what technology you will need in the classroom. Some rooms are already set up with microphones and cameras for recording and videoconferencing, however you may find that some rooms are only set up to capture a standard on-ground lecture. You most likely will be using a mix of creativity and ingenuity to ensure you are getting the most out of the materials you have available. 

Troubleshooting

Regardless of the tool you are using to record and connect students to your on-ground experience, you will also need each element to be functioning appropriately. A Flex class starts before the students arrive, with the instructor testing to make sure all resources will be captured by video conferencing software. Knowing the quick troubleshooting steps for each of these areas needs to be reflexive in case of a class tech emergency!

The Flex Instructors Mortal Enemy: Minor Technical Glitches | A Story

You are packing up your laptop, webcam, and notes for the day to head over early to your late morning Flex class. You usually like to get there 10 minutes early to have time to set the room up the way you want it and make sure all the technology you are going to use today is functioning correctly. As you get everything together a student pops their head into their office wondering if you have a quick second. Agh! They have you trapped. You set your stuff down and quickly explain that yes, APA formatting can be a pain but is extremely helpful in ensuring we don't inadvertently plagiarize. Yes, please send me an email with your rough draft if you would like me to take a quick look beforehand. After ushering them out of your office and closing the door you look at your phone, 6 minutes until class starts! You have time, but you will be cutting it close, luckily you have done this so many times before, it should be a breeze! You step into the hall, you can see the classroom door open and hear the muffled sounds of the students catching up. Then out of your periphery a head attached to the body of the director of eLearning appears to be gaining on you. Ben catches you with only half of your front shoe wedged into the classroom door. You exchange pleasantries and explain that yes the Flex course is going well, and yes I am teaching it right now, and yes we should totally catch up when we have the time. 2 minutes before class starts. You furiously log on to the classroom computer, connect your webcam, log into canvas, open the PowerPoint for the day, click the zoom link, open your notes on your laptop, start recording, take a breath, and welcome the class. Then to your dismay, the Zoom chat starts rolling in:

"Can anyone hear?"

"Is my mic broken?"

"Is anyone seeing the screen?"

"Can they hear us?"

"CAN YOU HEAR US?"

"Is there something supposed to be on the screen?"

A cold chill runs up your spine, what do you do!?!?!

Think through the scenario and ask yourself, if you were in this instructors shoes, what would your first reaction be? What elements of the classroom session have broken down, and what might an instructor need to do to fix them?

Options for Troubleshooting

In this case the instructor is using Zoom, which has a couple of ways we can check to make sure our communication channels are "open". First, Zoom has a feature that allows you to "Test Your Computer Audio Links to an external site.". This tool allows the instructor to find the right mic and speaker set up for the room. Cycling through the steps outlined in the test audio tool will allow you to be certain that the online students can hear you, and your classroom recording is capturing the room audio effectively. Next, sharing your screen is a step that can be often forgotten, especially when pressed for time. Luckily this instructor had the chat open so the students could let them know of the issue but that won't always be the case. Looking to ensure you see the screen share toolbar Links to an external site. or the green box around your screen can be quick visual cues to add to a "lesson plan checklist", or a list of things you need to check before the session, share during, or troubleshoot for a given day.

Flex Sessions Best Practices

Once you know what your outputs are and the technology you will use, your next step is juggling the different modalities. With all students across modalities engaging in some way in the synchronous session, either in-person online or on-ground, or viewing the recording after the fact, it can be difficult to strategize how an instructor teaches to these unique groups, which is why we have the following best practices in place.

Audio is Key

When we record any session, the biggest complaints we hear from students are that they can't hear. Your camera can be blurry or off, but if a student can't hear you or the quality is poor, your directions aren't going to land. One of the first places to invest technology resources is in a good microphone. Assuming the classroom isn't already set up with an audio-visual system (like a high-quality camera and microphone set up integrated into the room), some instructors opt to use a lapel or pendant mic, while others invest in a really strong mic to stand on the podium. This can be up to instructor preference and departmental funds. By having strong audio, it also improves the potential that automatic captioning (like that found in Panopto or Zoom) will have higher accuracy.

Quick Audio Tips

• Always double check audio sounds good at the start of the session. If you share a classroom, mics may be moved, seating may be rearranged, computers may update. So always starting with a quick mic and speaker check to ensure your voice is coming through with clarity will save you from the dreaded headache of recording a session only to find that students aren't able to engage with it. For example, in Zoom you can test your audio while in a meeting Links to an external site.. This can also help you as you figure out mic placement if trying to capture student voices in the classroom.
  
  
• Get in the habit of repeating student questions, comments, and responses, whether they are on-ground or showing up in the chat. There a couple of reasons to do this, but the first is to ensure you are acting as an effective bridge between the students. On-ground student voices might be difficult to hear due to ambient room sounds or microphone placement, and individuals watching the recording may not be able to see the chat in the recording, so anytime you can address these the better. Anything repeated with clarity will also ensure better auto captioning to further assist asynchronous students in understanding course content.
  
  
• The final element is knowing how to manage multiple devices all connected to the same meeting in the classroom. If you are connecting on-ground students to online students in Zoom breakout rooms, intense feedback can be created when a student's device has their speaker and mic on. The rule is if everyone is in the same meeting space, only the classroom will have audio connected since it will be acting as the main camera and mic for on-ground students to interact in Zoom. Student devices can act as a way for students to comment or ask questions in Zoom chat, annotate on collaborative documents or whiteboards, or raise their hand to be seen by the classroom computer. When students are in breakout rooms, the feedback problem is less of an issue and students can rejoin their audio to converse with their online peers. Zoom participant controls allow you to leave or join audio during a meeting Links to an external site. to assist in avoiding feedback when dealing with multiple devices. Alternatively, having all on-ground devices, except for the active classroom, muted with speakers off can help you manage issues with mic feedback. 

Focus on Online

Focusing first on your online students means that during your synchronous sessions, design and deliver to the online student first. This idea may seem counterintuitive - "Why wouldn't I teach directly to the students who showed up on-ground?" But recognize that there are no barriers between you and your on-ground students during the synchronous session: no Zoom meeting to join, no microphone to turn on, no chat that you hope the instructor notices. On-ground students will have an easier time advocating for their learning because they can wave their hand, speak up, and use facial cues or body language to show their understanding. Online students are limited by the video conferencing software, their own mic and camera, and whether you are looking at the screen in that moment. By ensuring you are presenting to your online students and intentionally asking for feedback, comments, or posing questions, you ensure a better recording, which benefits the asynchronous students as well. Additionally, collaborative documents or visual aids should be screen shared at all times, so individuals in the recording don't lose out on curricular content.

The "Help Me, Help You" Approach

Finally, consider this, nobody knows what your students need better than your students. Whether there is a technical glitch in class or questions about how the online course is set up, create the space for students to be able to advocate for their learning. With so many elements to manage, it can be exhausting, and impossible, to foresee every outcome. Get students input on their user experience as they interact with you in the class sessions. Asking if the microphone and camera are working appropriately at the start is a great first step. Asking both on-ground and online students after the session how well activities or interactions went during class can go a long way in building trust, as well as your second line of defense against tech glitches. If students feel empowered to help out during class sessions, you'll have an entire class of troubleshooters invested in not only their learning, but the success of the class as a whole.

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