Back to Campus event

Judith Bekebrede FMG TLC-Coach

Starting in September, we’re going back to campus! ‘Face-to-face’ interaction with our students and colleagues, chats at the coffee machine. How we missed all that. Over the past few months we have worked hard to make the REC easily accessible for different forms of education. At the Back to the Campus event, the FMG-TLC provided three live demonstrations of new technology that we can use when education on campus erupts again in September.

The Hybrid Learning Theater (HLT)

Sharon Klinkenberg walked us through the hybrid learning theater in REC B1.03. There were nice chairs available where colleagues could watch Sharon’s demonstration live. On a large screen 50 colleagues were visible via zoom. With the help of the production team made up of a “zoom spotlighter” and the local REC-FS team members, everyone could be seen and heard. Via zoom there was an inspiring story by Pushpika Vishwanathan from the FEB, where they already have more experience with a hybrid learning theater. The hybrid learning theater gives an intimate atmosphere, it is easy to connect with both the audience and the students via zoom, which allows for a lot of interaction.  Her main tip was to think carefully about a sign-in system, monitored for example by a student assistant. Which 14 students follow the lecture live in the hall, which 50 students follow the lecture actively via zoom and can be seen directly on the zoom screen. And which students are following the lecture in the background via zoom. If you need a zoom account for more than 300 participants, contact fb-zoom-icts “at” uva.nl

Demonstration of the BRIO

When you give a tutorial (+/- 25 students) where there is little interaction between the students and some of the students cannot come to campus, the BRIO webcam, is a good tool. During the Back to campus event, Fam te Poel gave a live demonstration of working with the BRIO camera for the first time. Through zoom the colleagues were present, by connecting the BRIO camera via USB to the computer the colleagues could see Fam very well. The BRIO is a wide-angle webcam, which picks up the sound in a tutorial room very well. If you want those present at home to see the people in the room, you will have to turn the BRIO camera around yourself. The powerpoint presentation is shown to both the room and the zoom attendees via zoom screen sharing.

A slight disadvantage of the BRIO camera is that in a traditional room setup, the instructor cannot see the students via zoom. Its main purpose is to allow students to listen in and participate from home.

The intention is to have as many tutorials rooms as possible equipped with a BRIO.

Demonstration of the OWL

If you are giving a study group (+/- 25 students) where student interaction is crucial and some of the students cannot come to campus, the OWL (360° webcam) is a good tool.

During the Back to Campus event, the OWL was tried out live. What immediately stood out was why the OWL, is called an OWL. Because of the eyes of the camera and being able to rotate the camera, it looks just like an owl. The OWL works basically the same as the BRIO. The difference is that there is not 1 standard point of view (i.e. only the teacher, or only the whole group), but the person talking in the room is followed – with a slight delay – by the OWL. This makes it possible to discuss with both the students in the room and the students via zoom.

As a teacher, it is nice to choose a position in the room, slightly more slanted to the side, so that you yourself can see the screen on which the students at home can be seen. The students at home can see the whole room and the person who is speaking. In fact, the OWL camera makes 3 frames, so interaction is quite doable. The sound is also very nice. Live is of course most enjoyable, but the OWL and the BRIO are certainly good alternatives for hybrid teaching.

The BRIO and the OWL can be reserved through the FS service desk, 5 days in advance. At the venue, there is help from one of the FS staff with plugging in and setting up the audio settings.