By:
Marina Zuniga-Johnson (Instructional Technologist, ITAC)
Patrick Smith (Assistant Director, ODEL)

Teaching and learning in the classroom at Texas State this fall will truly be new territory for both instructors and students. The university’s Roadmap to Return provides guidance in terms of classroom logistics and safety measures. It also communicates a theme of flexibility in terms of course delivery and a message of support for our students. However, in Fall 2020 many instructors are wondering just how classroom instruction will operate and how they can provide their students with the best learning experience possible with the resources available.

ODEL and ITAC recently collaborated to offer workshops that focus on using the new Elmo MX-P2 document cameras that have been installed in many of our classrooms. The document cameras optimize the learning experience for students who are attending courses in a “flex” teaching environment. In this post, we want to share our “lessons learned” in engaging with instructors and helping them prepare for the semester ahead.

Patrick’s tips

1. Planning is the key to success: To teach in a physical classroom this fall, the amount of details instructors have to keep up with is …well, a lot. There are numerous things to think about in terms of classroom management and technology, and it may leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious. My hope, however, is that forethought and planning will help you feel more confident and prepared for your class sessions this fall.

This planning document will provide a framework you can use to begin planning your face-to-face sessions this fall.

• Where, When, and Who: the planning document begins with some of the most important information you can have when stepping into the classroom this fall:
  • Where will my class meet (both the physical location and the virtual location for online attendees)?
    • Check the Registrar’s site to see important information regarding the capacity of your assigned classrooms. Remember to divide the capacity (designated as “CAP”) by 2 to determine the 50% capacity of the room.
  • When will my sessions meet and which group of students is showing up in person vs. online?
    • Remember that it is up to you to divide your class into A/B groups and communicate dates for online vs. face-to-face attendance to those groups.
  • Who provides tech support for the room should a problem arise?
    • Check this site to determine who provides tech support for the room you’ll be teaching in this fall.
• Planning your session: the planning document was designed to help you plan the types of learning activities you’ll incorporate in your sessions, including different types of instruction (lecture, discussion, collaboration, etc.) and how you’ll manage those instructional activities using the technology in the classroom.

2. Focus on connection: Connection will be an integral aspect of your students’ learning experience this fall. I hope you can make time to consider the following as you plan for your fall courses:

• Student-to-Instructor Connection: You are already accustomed to connecting to your students in a face-to-face session. This fall, however, you may have students attending live sessions via Zoom as well. To make sure online attendees have an engaging, connected experience, consider the following:
  • Welcome online attendees verbally as they log into the session. This connects online students to the learning experience, rather than making them feel like outside observers.
  • Look them in “the eye.” Remind yourself to look directly at the camera several times throughout the session so the online students know you’re aware of their presence and you’re including them in the session.
  • Include them in class conversations. Remember to solicit input from your online attendees during discussion sessions and repeat/summarize questions and comments asked by the in-class group to ensure online students can understand what’s being said.
  • Check in with your students throughout the semester. Giving your students regular opportunities to provide feedback on their learning experience may provide opportunities to address issues shortly after they arise. Consider using simple surveys, such as Stephen Brookfield’s Critical Incident Questionnaire to allow your students to reflect and provide insight into their experiences this fall.
• Student-to-Student Connection: If you are teaching in a flexible format this fall (often referred to as the “A/B format”) then you must realize that your two student groups will never be in the same space at the same time. Here are some ideas to help your two student groups feel more connected to one another:
  • Show the class on camera. When a classroom discussion is taking place, turn the camera to face the class. This will make for a much more connecting experience than having the camera face the podium during a class discussion.
  • Share the stage. Allow students in the classroom to lead discussions and present ideas using the document camera. You can also allow online students to present and share using Zoom screen sharing.
  • Collaborate across groups. While your ability to let specific students from “group A” and “group B” discuss synchronously during class may be challenged, you can still create opportunities for those students to communicate and collaborate on projects offline using tools like Canvas discussions and Microsoft Teams.

Marina’s tips

1. Settings to Utilize MX-P2 in Zoom: Adjust your audio and video settings in Zoom to test the speakers and microphone as well as ensure the best picture for students. Once you set these settings in your Zoom desktop app, they will be saved every time you log into that specific computer.

• Testing the Speakers/Microphone: Use the “Test Speaker and Microphone” feature in Zoom to test that audio is coming through the speakers and to check the range of the microphone with your voice.

• • Testing the microphone is especially important if you like to step away from the podium to present material. You can mark the floor to give yourself boundaries to ensure you stay within the range. If you are soft spoken, it is recommended to stay near the podium to ensure your students hear you. Check in with your online students to make sure that you are consistently heard.
  • Another way to check the audio is to welcome online students at the start of class. This allows you to hear the student through the speakers and to see if the students hear you. In addition, you are building a connection with your online students and they no longer feel like an observer.
• Video Settings in Zoom:
  • Selecting “Enable HD” will provide students who have available bandwidth and a capable high definition computer monitor the best quality. For those who do not have the bandwidth to support high definition, Zoom automatically adjusts for those devices.
  • Selecting “Mirror my video” will make the view so that everything appears backwards. This can be troublesome especially if you are displaying documents with text. Make sure to deselect this option.
  • Selecting “Touch up my appearance” sharpens your video and smooths out the view.

2. Using the MX-P2 for Document Sharing:

• Set your paper to a landscape orientation to get the most area on your screen.
• Zoom into small text and select auto focus for a clear view.
• Use the Freeze button to freeze the document you are showing to give both local/online students time to write down/process content. While frozen, you can switch to the next document to be displayed.

3. Set the Camera Orientation: Prior to the semester beginning, go into the classroom that you will be teaching in this fall to play with the positions of the camera to find the best view of the class, yourself, and the document. This allows you to switch to these views quickly without holding up the class.

4. Confidence Screen: Do you wonder what you look like in Zoom from the students’ point of view? Consider bringing in an iPad/Tablet or Smart Phone as an additional device to join the meeting to be used to see what you look like or what your document looks like to students. Make sure to turn off your microphone and audio on this device so that it doesn’t conflict with the MX-P2 microphone.