Thus, I recommend that instructors consider how to maximize student learning with the time they might normally spend lecturing/discussing, a variation of what’s now being called The Flipped Classroom. I encourage them to set aside a consistent block of time each week for this, whether it’s a 3-hour block or 3x 1-hour blocks.

To illustrate, the online courses I teach are project-centered, and students can’t get enough feedback on the work they are doing. I’m trying two things to facilitate fast, effective feedback:

1. Projects are now submitted to a discussion forum (Instructure Canvas makes it easy to score both discussion threads and submissions with a rubric using their SpeedGrader) to give the rest of the class a chance to view, comment on, and learn from each other’s progress.

2. I record my feedback after the discussion is over for the week as a screen recording, targeting the parts that the class might have overlooked.

   I did this for the first time this week, limiting my feedback to 5min max. Student response seemed more immediate and positive. The free version of Jing enforces that limit, but I expect to save myself the time and trouble of uploading to ScreenCast.com by using Canvas’s built-in media feedback and WebCam Max. For my 25 students this cost me around 3 hours of time–not bad for a first go! Still less than I would have spent in the classroom, and now my homework feedback is done, too, so I consider it a win-win. A bi-win if you will.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCIP3x5mFmw

A nice homage to Apple--clearly one of Instructure’s design inspirations.

If you didn’t pick it up in the video, this release coincides with Instructure’s announcement that they’ve just opened their source code under the AGPLv3 license.

We just selected Canvas as our State’s LMS here in Utah, and this news only reinforces my opinion that the guys at Instructure are looking a lot farther ahead than anyone else in the LMS business. This isn’t to take any credit away from Moodle, which will always have a special place in my open source heart, but, well, if you haven’t tested Canvas--from either a “traditional” LMS or un-LMS perspective--it’s pretty easy to hop in and give it a test drive.

And now my Canvas package download is done. Expect some installation notes later on.

1. Start ManyCam, and in the Sources tab choose Desktop and click Close.
   
2. In your Canvas course, choose to Record/Upload Media (Pages, Announcements, Discussions, etc.), or Add Media Comment (Assignment feedback).
3. Choose Webcam from the right, then Allow Kaltura to access your devices. Change your webcam source to ManyCam Video Source.
   
4. Click Record, minimize your window to show your desktop, and you’re off and running! Save your recording in the Canvas window when done.

That’s it. Easy, integrated desktop capture in Canvas.

1. Prior to the session, run WebCamMax on the presenter’s laptop and under Source > Main Source choose “Screen” as the primary source.
2. If you want to have a picture-in-picture (for example, of the laptop’s integrated webcam), you can choose a secondary input under Source > PinP Source 1.
3. Minimize WebCamMax.
4. For a mic set up, I used a production-quality wireless lavalier mic from Sony (thanks to Adam and Scott), but really any mic will do. Instead of an XLR output from the receiver I used a simple male-male stereo mini cord, plugging the other end into the laptop’s mic port.
5. Then, I simply login to Ustream and initialize the broadcast.
6. I make sure that Ustream is using WebCamMax for the video source, and the external mic as the audio source. Don’t forget to test the audio levels!
7. Hit Begin Stream and Begin Recording, minimize the ustream window, and you’re off to the races.

The ustream broadcast will capture whatever activity happens on your computer, whether that’s a PowerPoint presentation, computer application, or web browsing–similar to Jing or Camtasia. Loaner mic aside, this was a very inexpensive, portable solution that turned out better results for computer-based presentations than most ustreams from a tripod-mounted camera, which only capture the projector screen.

]]> http://jaredstein.org/2009/10/23/stream-conference-pres-with-webcammax-ustream/feed/ 2 http://jaredstein.org/2008/10/23/video-intro-to-openshare-for-moodle/ http://jaredstein.org/2008/10/23/video-intro-to-openshare-for-moodle/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:31:31 +0000 Jared Stein http://flexknowlogy.learningfield.org/2008/10/23/video-intro-to-openshare-for-moodle/ Mike Caufield asked that I put up a screencast on the OpenShare mod for Moodle. Here’s one that comes in just under 8 minutes–shorter even than my hatcheted and curtailed preso at MoodleMoot ’08 SFO!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/vOvQ55MxF1Y" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Here’s a higher quality flv version:

Intro to OpenShare for Moodle 1.9 (flv)

]]> http://jaredstein.org/2008/10/23/video-intro-to-openshare-for-moodle/feed/ 0 http://jaredstein.org/2008/01/08/how-does-video-conferencing-technology-affect-straight-lecture/ http://jaredstein.org/2008/01/08/how-does-video-conferencing-technology-affect-straight-lecture/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:07:00 +0000 Jared Stein http://flexknowlogy.learningfield.org/2008/01/08/how-does-video-conferencing-technology-affect-straight-lecture/ Chris Lott, commenting on his institution’s acquisition of Elluminate video-conferencing platform as a teaching tool concludes,

The real issue with any of these tools isn’t finding one that works, it is learning– and then teaching colleagues– how to teach in a way that takes advantage of the capabilities and doesn’t merely replicate the lecture mode in a distributed format. That’s deadly. As I always say, the only thing more deadly than the PowerPoint drone and lecture model is that same model through a mediating tool like Elluminate…About Elluminate

I agree that when video-conferencing avoiding replication of ineffective lecture modes is important; however, always the devil’s advocate (well, at least 50% of the time), have to ask, first, if this is a blanket condemnation of the lecture mode regardless of delivery method, or if the technology itself interferes with, disturbs, or detracts from the traditional lecture (which may in a classroom actually be effective).

I’m guessing most folks in educational technology or instructional design lament the continued use of straight lecture format (“sage on the stage”) regardless of delivery environment, but I, having been a student in more than a handful of damn good and several quite memorable lectures (from which I still retain a significant amount of information), causing me to assert that straight lecture is not de facto a bad thing.

At this point I have absolutely no empirical evidence that suggests straight lecture is or can be highly effective, but now (from this small comment tacked onto the end of a technology tool review, no less) I’m inspired to look into it. Comparitively speaking how effective is lecture for learning? What makes lecture more or less effective? There has to be a good deal of research on this already. (Any recommendations on salient books/articles are now being accepted!)

I can name some ailments of lectures delivered via video conferencing that I have witnessed. In both edtech informational sessions and in vendor presentations delivered via video conferencing, presenters do tend to follow a simple, generic pattern (much informed by PowerPoint) which centers on providing text-and-talk-heavy information in tedious spurts with brief pauses for “questions” (which, in and of themselves, often occur too late or at moments so ill-planned moments that they actually increase the presentations/presenter’s anesthetizing qualities). Any questions posed rarely lead to real dialogue or discussion; rather, questions are merely a challenge that the presenter must overcome before being allowed to continue with his/her script.

And though these ailments can certainly be present in a live, in-person classroom-style lecture or presentation, my instinct tells me that there’s something about phsyical human presence that either reinforces the delivery of the information, or provides for better audience attention through either overt or more subtle person-to-person engagement.

The next question, then, would be how does technology deliver methods affect the effectiveness of lecture? Video conferencing in particular should be examined, though of course some common attributes will need to be agreed upon so as to include a live fiber-optic system like we have at UVSC, or an Internet-delivered system like Elluminate.

I would hypothesize that a boring lecture in the classroom becomes worse when video-delivered, either because it becomes (a) less interesting for lack of physical presence (for whatever reason…engagement?), or (b) less compelling to one’s attention when technology-delivered (possibly because of the presence or availability of more distractors, or because of the absence of social pressure to show interest/passively participate).

It would be interesting to brainstorm presentation effectiveness on tech-delivered platforms with some ed researchers and public speaking experts. How does one leverage the live delivery method so that the end results are superior to static information delivery? How does one construct information to affect better learning? How does one engage with the audience and make an impact that may stimulate memory a la the affective factor?

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