Teaching when some students need to attend remotely

You are teaching in an ILE Classroom and you unexpectedtly need to take your class session online for quarantined student or for special guest presenters and you’re a little intimidated by this task. It’s okay, you may be better prepared than you expected. 

When you are in this situation, remember, not all of the ILE rooms are created equal and you will have much more success in some classrooms and a lot of frustration in others. UMKC does have a few, specially designed spaces for Hyflex teaching.  These rooms have extra video monitors, multiple cameras, student microphones, and other technology to help facilitate this style of class. Again, these rooms are few in numbers, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a successful remote learning class in a “normal” classroom.

First things first, the standard ILE classroom will NOT have multiple monitors, student microphones, or extra cameras and we do not have the inventory to install these devices everywhere. However, over half of the ILE rooms are pretty capable as they are and here are few rules of thumb to help guide your expectations when you start “going remote”.

The quickest way to find out if you are in good shape, or not, is to simply look up at the video projector on the ceiling. If it is made by Panasonic and the room it is in has a touch screen remote control on the desktop, then you’re in good shape because these rooms already have a lot of equipment installed to make your experience better. 

•  There should be a small black camera mounted on the ceiling, usually near the projector, to give a wider shot of the instruction podium. In many cases, there is a page on the touch screen that allows you to adjust this view.
• If for some reason the room camera isn’t working, there is usually a standard web cam on the monitor as a backup option. It doesn’t capture as much of the front of the room as the ceiling camera, but it should at least give you a picture.
• We’ve installed an audio processor that allows us to ensure your microphones are reaching Zoom loud and clear, and at the same time, allowing you to use them in the physical classroom without that nasty feedback squeal.
• Many of these have an “extended monitor” mode so that the projector and the desktop monitor can be different. Sometimes that helps put your shared content on the projector and the Zoom gallery on the local podium monitor to help keep tabs on those remote participants. This can be tricky at times, so if it’s not working right let us know.

 Alternatively, if you are in a classroom that has a small push button control box or a projector from Hitachi, it’s going to struggle with Zoom. These rooms are older and are very limited in features and are simply not designed for this kind of use. It doesn’t mean you can’t use Zoom, but it may not be a great experience. Some of the expected struggles in these kinds of rooms are:

• Poor audio to the Zoom computer and/or to the classroom. Sometimes the people on the far side will hear themselves talking or struggle to hear it at all. 
• There is only a webcam available, and sometimes not even that.
• The projector and the monitor are always the same display, so it’s more difficult to have a full screen presentation.
• We don’t recommend using Zoom in these rooms, but it can be done in a pinch.

Finally, please reach out to Classroom Technology and ask for help. We understand that not everyone is, nor wants to be, a technology expert and we may have tips and tricks to help you meet your expectations of content delivery. Please give us as much notice as you can for training or help.  We have many options to assist you but most of them take a little bit of time to implement.  To reach us you can call 816-235-2000 or send us an email at ilesupport@umkc.edu.