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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way in which both staff and\u00a0students\u00a0access and use\u00a0educational technologies to facilitate teaching\u00a0and learning. Since working from home commenced, teaching staff have been required to explore and learn new technologies to assist with their teaching.\u00a0Naturally as confidence develops in utilising online delivery tools such as webinars and content capture, teaching staff are beginning to switch their focus into exploring how they can mimic or mirror more traditional face to face elements of their teaching into a pedagogically effective distance scenario.\u00a0This\u00a0method\u00a0of online delivery is by no means\u00a0revolutionary, but one in which still causes much hesitation\u00a0in its\u00a0widespread adoption in Higher Education both in the UK and worldwide.<\/p>\n
In this\u00a0article\u00a0I will\u00a0discuss some of the solutions\u00a0I\u00a0recently\u00a0investigated across both Zoom and\u00a0Panopto\u00a0(in a sense live and pre-recorded content). In instances where a specific piece of kit is discussed, links and further information to the company website will be referenced. It is important to acknowledge that there are other pieces of technology that can be used in addition to the ones discussed within this post. If you are considering utilising other\u00a0technologies,\u00a0please do not hesitate to contact\u00a0the\u00a0Digital Education\u00a0team<\/a>\u00a0for further advice.<\/p>\n The first item of technology\u00a0I\u00a0explored\u00a0was a\u00a0portable visualiser.\u00a0The\u00a0visualiser\u00a0allows the projection of an image, document or project onto a projector screen to allow students to see within the classroom.\u00a0\u00a0Visualisers are popular in many of the STEM subjects such as mathematics and engineering\u00a0as they allow students to follow real time work such as writing out formula in mathematical equations.<\/p>\n Due to their potential\u00a0use in\u00a0many subject disciplines,\u00a0I was\u00a0keen to investigate their\u00a0impact on facilitating\u00a0distance learning where space was not a limiting factor.<\/p>\n Following discussions with colleagues from other UK institutions,\u00a0I was\u00a0directed to a company called IPEVO<\/a>, who produce a series of document cameras (read Visualisers). Whilst there were many different read\u00a0visualisers to choose from,\u00a0the team\u00a0procured the V4K for approximately \u00a3100\u00a0and\u00a0the higher end VZ-R in the region of \u00a3200.<\/p>\n The main difference between the two\u00a0visualisers is\u00a0the additional\u00a0functionality\u00a0that\u00a0the VZ-R\u00a0includes.\u00a0A visual example of the difference is\u00a0highlighted in our test demonstration<\/a>. The camera on both\u00a0visualisers\u00a0is\u00a0the same camera for comparison.<\/p>\n Both during and after testing, I was impressed at the quality of the camera and the ease of setting the equipment up.\u00a0As\u00a0both\u00a0visualisers\u00a0are\u00a0plug and play, they\u00a0are\u00a0fully\u00a0functioning and ready for use\u00a030-60 seconds\u00a0after plugging them in. The examples below show the use with both\u00a0Zoom\u00a0and\u00a0Panopto.<\/p>\n As part of\u00a0my\u00a0investigations,\u00a0I\u00a0decided to look at digital annotation. There are various methods of using digital annotation,\u00a0either\u00a0via a mouse, a stylus or simply using your own finger.<\/p>\n In terms of\u00a0Panopto,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy to capture the screen through the recorder so you can use this function to\u00a0record\u00a0a programme like OneNote that has some\u00a0inbuilt\u00a0drawing tools.<\/p>\n In\u00a0this video<\/a> example,\u00a0I\u00a0used\u00a0OneNote\u00a0with\u00a0an old Wacom tablet\u00a0and\u00a0should\u00a0therefore\u00a0be considered more\u00a0of\u00a0a proof of concept than a\u00a0realistic\u00a0representation of the quality you would achieve with newer\u00a0tablet and stylus<\/p>\n Next,\u00a0I looked at the use of a\u00a0laptop\u00a0with an integrated touch screen component. For this\u00a0example video<\/a>,\u00a0a Surface Pro 4 was used and\u00a0whilst\u00a0the outcome of the test was similar as the previous test using the tablet and stylus, the functionality and use was more intuitive.<\/p>\n The last technology\u00a0and theme\u00a0to\u00a0explore\u00a0with\u00a0Panopto,\u00a0was whether it was possible to capture an input\u00a0from\u00a0an iPad\u00a0or similar device.\u00a0I\u00a0proceeded to investigate the use of an iPad with Microsoft Whiteboard and record the results<\/a>.<\/p>\n Microsoft Whiteboard<\/a>\u00a0 is an application\u00a0that allows users to use a freeform digital canvas to work collaboratively using either a pen, touch or a keyboard.\u00a0It was simple to use the Microsoft Whiteboard application on the iPad visually and capture on the laptop screen in real time.<\/p>\n Depending on your\u00a0requirements, you could use the\u00a0inbuilt\u00a0screen recording ability of the capture content on an iPad and upload the video file to\u00a0Panopto. This would be sufficient if you just wanted the\u00a0video to\u00a0appear\u00a0on the iPad.<\/p>\n Zoom does have\u00a0an\u00a0inbuilt\u00a0whiteboard function\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0also\u00a0work with\u00a0both a stylus and a mouse. If\u00a0you are using a device like a\u00a0Surface\u00a0Pro,\u00a0you can use the touchscreen\u00a0in addition.\u00a0The whiteboard\u00a0functionality within zoom\u00a0is also collaborative\u00a0and provides an excellent opportunity for collaborative work with students.<\/p>\n I also wanted\u00a0to experiment with the use of an iPad\u00a0within a\u00a0session. There is\u00a0the option to do this built into Zoom but\u00a0after testing I\u00a0found this clunky and not always responsive which\u00a0would not function well in an online classroom situation.<\/p>\n What did work well was to\u00a0bring the iPad in as a participant\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0meeting\u00a0(choosing to turn the video and audio off on entry). This allowed\u00a0me to continue delivery from my computer,\u00a0then when required,\u00a0I\u00a0was able to share the screen of the iPad. This was\u00a0delivered by\u00a0either\u00a0using it to input\u00a0into\u00a0Zooms whiteboard,\u00a0or to use and show\u00a0the\u00a0specific apps.<\/p>\nPortable visualisers<\/h2>\n
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Digital Annotation \u2013 Using OneNote<\/h2>\n
Microsoft Whiteboard and an iPad\u00a0capture<\/h2>\n