E-learning howto

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Equipment

The room's systems can be controlled from a touch-screen interface at the podium. You have:

  • 3 microphones, controlled by pressing Mic volume.
    • the mic attached to the podium (left most control)
    • a small wireless mic (in the middle)
    • a bigger, cone-shaped wireless mic (right most control)

Make sure the wireless mics are turned on before you attempt using them, there is a small toggle on each of them.

  • Speakers, controlled by pressing Prog volume
    • The audio from the computer is controlled by the 'Program volume' widget
  • Video - unknown. Even though there are some video cameras in the room, there's no known way to get a signal from them; research in progress.

Checklists

Before you enter the room

  • Get the keys - if you plan to use the room's microphones, they are locked in a drawer under the podium. It may be open if you're lucky, but don't assume that.
  • Get the presentations from the professors and upload them to Adobe Connect.
    • Leave enough buffer time for conversion magic, as not all the files will play nicely with the system.

Before you start

  • Mute all microphones in the room
  • Mute the speakers of the room
  • Revoke "freedom of speech" rights from any participant in the virtual room
  • If you plan to host a session from a laptop
    • if you're on Wi-Fi, ensure you have a reliable connection
    • switch the system's power policy to Maximum performance, or, if you know what you're doing - ensure it won't go to sleep if left untouched, that it will not power off any USB devices to conserve power (cameras, microphones, etc)

When you start

  • Press Start recording if you want the activities to be recorded
  • Explicitly unmute those who must speak

When you're done

  • Press Stop recording to ensure you don't create a video that contains redundant parts
  • Obtain the recording URL and post it to the mailing list: Meeting Room\Manage\Manage Meeting Information\Recordings Tab\Find the list of recordings --> Click on recordings and then 'Make Public'
  • If you used the microphones and they ran out of battery power, talk to the right people and make sure you have fresh power next time you need those mics.

Quirks

Adobe connect quirks

  • The software is sluggish on a Win7 x64 system with 4GB RAM and a 1.5Ghz CPU, even when it is pretty much the only program running (besides the critical services needed for the OS to work). It is strongly recommended that you don't run anything else, lest the program crash out of the blue, because it can.


Logitech C9000 camera

It comes with software that lets you zoom in and out and control some advanced camera features. If you use Windows 7, the drivers will be set up automatically, but you will not see any shortcuts for the camera's GUI.

You can run the program manually, it is in %systemroot%\System32\LogiDPPApp.exe (usually C:\Windows).


Format conversions for Adobe Connect

All DOCs are equal, but some are more equal than others. You may run into certain issues with some documents that you attempt to upload to the server.

If your PDFs are not processed correctly and you happened to produce them with Microsoft Word, try this:

  • choose Standard size
  • click Options and disable Document structure tags for accessibility

If everything fails, hook up the presenter's laptop to the projector and share their screen.

Troubleshooting

  • Feedback loop
    • make sure all the speakers and mics are muted, unless explicitly allowed
    • note that some of these settings are controlled in Adobe Connect, but
    • there are also speakers and mics on the podium, they are controlled from the touch-screen interface on the podium and cannot be manipulated via Adobe Connect.
  • Laptop hooked to the room's projector and speakers, but there's no sound - this is a typical thing, despite the fact that you do things exactly as described on the instructions on the podium
    • Go to the Video settings in the touch-screen GUI and make sure that it is configured to Laptop.
      • If it already is, toggle it to Desktop then back to Laptop
    • Click Prog volume and ensure Program volume is not muted and is at a decent level


Use cases

Local class with guests, recording, video

This is what you are likely to choose most of the times.

Prerequisites

  • Laptop with a long power cord or a healthy battery
  • Web-camera - attach it to the laptop (since you have no way to get the video from the cams in the class)
  • Microphone (optional) - your web-camera may have a decent microphone, but if you want more than that, bring special gear
  • Place the laptop somewhere in the center of the class, or in the front row - to ensure it has a good view on the presenter and the whiteboard
  • Start Adobe Connect on the laptop, enter the virtual room
  • Configure it to stream video and audio from the computer
  • Don't forget to press Share video, to let others see the video stream
  • Don't touch anything in order not to stress Adobe Connect


Local class, no external guests, no recording

This can be achieved by relying entirely on the podium computer.

  • write your presentations to the podium computer
  • configure the projector to Desktop
  • use either of the three microphones to talk (although your voice will be audible without them anyway)
  • if you have any audio you want to play, check the Program volume level and make sure it is not muted

Local class, no external guests, with recording

  1. TODO

Do everything as described above, plus:

  • start Adobe Connect on the podium computer and enter the virtual room
  • press 'Record class' to begin the recording - it will contain


Cases to document

  • Bridging GotoMeeting and Adobe Connect sessions
  • Letting remote users talk (and stream their sound to the room's speakers)


References


Other equipment

Snowball mic

  • On Windows Vista/7 the drivers are set up automatically via the Internet
  • The mic has three settings, labeled {1,2,3}, the one you want is 1 (one).

Here's what the manual says: 

1 - cardioid capsule - speech, vocals, podcasting
2 - cardioid capsule with a -10dB PAD - live music, loud sound sources
3 - omni capsule - conferences, interviews, environmental recordings

Note: if you use it with Adobe Connect, run the Audio setup wizard to ensure you're using the snowball (vs. built-in mic, or something else).

Web-interface

  • The system is accessible via http://connect.washington.edu.
  • When logging on, use only the first half of your netID (ex: railean@uw.edu -> railean). The system will not log you on otherwise and the error message won't suggest the exact nature of the problem.


Simple howto

Environment

  1. run through the checklist, most importantly
    • mute all the speakers and mics in the room
  2. adjust the lights
  3. turn on the projector and lower the screen
  4. log onto the podium computer, and go to the Adobe Connect room
    • configure the projector to show the picture from the podium PC
    • NOTE: The podium computer requires special credentials, your regular NetID will not work. If you do not have access to that PC
      • talk to someone who does
      • find a laptop and connect it directly to the room's video input

Adobe Connect

  1. connect your microphone
  2. connect web-camera too
  3. go to http://connect.washington.edu/barbara-endicott
  4. log on, your username must not contain the @uw.edu part
  5. go to Meeting\Audio setup wizard.
    • select the microphone (usually you want a SnoBall or a Yeti mic)
    • if it is not listed, make sure it is connected and that the driver is installed
    • walk through the steps of the wizard to adjust levels
    • if you are in a hurry, just click NextNextNext - it will be good enough for practical purposes
  6. click Start my webcam on the toolbar to enable video
    • once you see the picture, click Start sharing to let others see it too
  7. when the class starts, go to Meeting\Record meeting
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