New Features Announced for Zoom

In their latest update Zoom, our supported video conferencing software has announced several new features that may be of interest to our campus users. While the full list can be found in the announcement on their website, we'd like to highlight a few below. Note: there are separate announcements for macOS and Windows versions.

Meeting Reactions

Meeting participants can now react during a meeting by sending a thumbs up or clapping to communicate without interrupting the meeting. Reactions show up right in the video and will disappear after 5 seconds.

View Another Participant's Audio Status

Users can now more quickly view another participant’s audio status when they are joining a meeting. In both gallery view and speaker view, it will display “Connecting Audio” below a participant’s video until that participant has joined the audio, making it more clear when they connect and can hear you.

Virtual Background Selection within Video Preview

The video preview will now contain an option to select a virtual background in the client settings, so the user can choose a virtual background within video preview before joining the meeting.

Contact Me Option for Feedback

Users can now choose to include their email address when sharing feedback after a meeting if they would like to be contacted.


If you would like more information about getting connected with Zoom and to request a Zoom Pro license, please contact the IT Service Desk at itservice@lclark.edu.

Related:

• Zoom General Info Page
• Automatic Video Transcription with Zoom

edTPA: Video Recording and Video Editing

As the year comes to a close, Elementary and Secondary Teacher Education students are putting the final touches on one of the last assignments they submit before becoming teachers: edTPA. This final assignment is as complicated as it is important -- it requires students to record themselves teaching in a classroom, and will determine whether they will move onto having a classroom of their own.

Teacher Education students come into the edTPA process with various levels of video skills. Some students have had extensive experience recording videos, while others have never touched a video camera. To help students out, Ed Tech provides students with a handful of video recording and video editing workshop throughout the weeks leading up the the edTPA submission deadline, and offers them various handouts and videos for students to reference during submission.


Here are some of those instructional videos, so that you, too, can become a video guru!

(The camera used in the edTPA process, as well as the following tutorials and handouts, is a Canon Vixia HF R500)

Importing Video

Uploading Video

Importing AVCHD Videos

Three General Tips for Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling projects have become increasingly common in higher education. On our campus, video essays, StoryMaps projects, immersive 360 video stories, and even short Adobe Spark videos. We've dropped in for several in-class instructional workshops on the subject, and while the content of these sessions can vary by subject matter and medium, three overarching tips have remained central to our message.

Have a clear, concise summary of your project

You should be able to describe your video project in one sentence, similar to an elevator pitch. This sentence does not need to be included in your presentation, but it's good to articulate it for yourself. It can help provide focus and clarity as you proceed through the various steps of outlining, storyboarding, and adding media. On that note...

Always ask "Why?" when adding content

Once you have your main idea, you can then make decisions on how to present your project. Trying to determine which image to use? How much text? Video or not? Return to your main idea and ask yourself "how would this media help support this idea? Does this clarify my message or convolute it? Of course, you can't answer that question if you don't...

Get Feedback

As the creator of our project, we (should) know our message. The downside to being the creator, however, is because we understand what we're trying to do or say, we have blind spots to where the message is not as clear.  Your project should be able to stand on its own without you having to explain or clarify it, and you won't be able to test that without getting feedback—ideally from those who are not familiar with the subject matter.

Since we are not masters of the medium, here are some additional tips you might find helpful:

• Getting Started with Digital Storytelling - Digital Education at U of Oxford
• 10 Tips for Compelling Digital Storytelling - journalism.co.uk
• 8 Steps to Great Digital Storytelling - edtechteacher.org
• Marketing Magic: 10 Tips For Improving Your Storytelling Craft - Forbes

A Virtual Courtroom

In March,  EdTech hosted a two day VR showcase at our Law School.  As students walked by, we encouraged them to try out a VR experience on the Oculus Rift.  As usual "Richie's Plank Experience" was a big hit and great conversation starter.  And conversation is really what we're after as we explore the meaningful, educational aspects of virtual reality.

One conversation revolved around how we could leverage VR in a courtroom setting to help law students practice speaking to a judge and the court.  The idea here is that virtually practicing speaking could help a student be more polished when they have to speak in a real-life courtroom with real-life judges.

As fate would have it, the law student who presented this idea was able to secure time in a courtroom downtown.  Julio and I packed up our InstaPro 360 VR camera and spatial audio mics and headed to the Multnomah County Courthouse.  We were led to a courtroom where we set up our equipment,  had to opportunity to don Judge's robes, sit at the bench and silently impersonate a Judge for 15 minutes.  This was ok-ed by the real Judge, so I believe Julio and I are not in any legal trouble!

Afterwards,  I processed and edited the VR video and posted it to YouTube where, if you have a set of VR goggles, you can virtually be in the courtroom to experience what it's like to have judges and a bailiff stare at you for ten minutes while you practice speaking to them.

The video is fairly simple in it's current form.  The next step would be adding layers of interactivity to the video, like fielding questions from the judges or having virtual notes to guide as you speak.

If you, of the LC community, have an idea of how VR could enhance or complement your work, EdTech is all ears.  Grab some VR goggles and check out the video below:


https://youtu.be/QdyR7LrYCjI

Zoom Updates for Spring 2019

Don't be surprised if the next time you launch Zoom you're prompted to update - this isn't a routine bug fix update, but instead is full of new useful features. Highlights include a streamlined client for scheduling meetings and more options for meeting hosts such as virtual backgrounds, options to manage participants' screen shares, annotation enhancements, and more. For a full list, check out the release notes. We'd love to hear what you think of the new Zoom!

Product Review: Ricoh Theta S Spherical Camera

Aided in part by innovations such as Google Cardboard, 360-degree video has grown increasingly more mainstream over the past year and a half. Last March, YouTube started allowing its users to upload 360-degree content, followed by Facebook later in the year.

360-degree content is created using either a constructed rig of cameras, or a camera specially designed to capture 360 video. The videos are then stitched together, using a variety of processing technologies. Information Technology has purchased a Ricoh Theta S camera as our first venture into 360-degree production. Though Ricoh is known more for their copiers, printers, and other office equipment, they were the first major manufacturer to enter the spherical camera game, back in 2013. 

The Theta shoots in full HD, with a maximum of 25 minutes of continuous filming, and ~175 minutes of total capacity. An added benefit is the Theta’s ability to live stream content with an active internet connection. Using streaming software such as Open Broadcaster Software (free and open source) anyone can broadcast an immersive experience over the web in an instant.

While other 360-degree cameras (see Bubl, Sphericam 2) offer a more sophisticated multi-camera approach, the Theta does surprisingly well with just front and rear facing cameras. It’s also very lightweight, fitting in the palm of your hand. This makes shooting film in public much more convenient, compared to walking around with an awkward cube or ball-shaped camera.

Product aside, 360-degree video is also starting to open new frontiers in the field of education. Students can now document experiences like field trips and studying abroad in an entirely new format. As an example, check out this virtual museum tour produced by one of LC’s very own students.        

The Possibilities of Adobe Spark

Need to tell your story online in a compelling way? Adobe Spark makes it easy to do just that. Introduced early last summer, Spark consists of a Web app with three main tools—Post, Page, and Video—each with companion mobile apps. The three tools create social memes, mini websites, and narrated tutorials, respectively. Spark can serve as a valuable tool for small businesses, bloggers, marketers, and students who want to get a message out with style. Oh yeah, and it's free.So what does it look like?  Here's an example of a Spark Post:

Pretty simple, right?  It's just an image that you can customize and add text.  It's a snap to create and share in just a few minutes.  

The next gem in the Spark trio is Video.  The creation process is similar to Post in that you start with an image and add text.  It get's exciting from there, because you start to link multiple images, narration, and text to create a video complete with music.  Take a look:

I made this at home with my iPhone's camera, microphone, and the Adobe Spark Video app.

The last member of the Spark team is Pages.  With pages, you can create a dynamic web page that tells a story or gives a lesson.  Here's a link to one on wolves:

I really recommend giving Adobe Spark a try.  You might surprise yourself with the quality of the content you'll create.  If you're a teacher, consider one of the Spark apps for an assignment that will engage students and bring out creativity.  Seriously, try it!  Adobe Spark.

Lewis & Clark Law School Makes Switch to Panopto

 

This semester, students at the Lewis & Clark Law School will have a new way to view past lectures, thanks to the school’s decision to move to the Panopto cloud hosted video streaming service. Panopto replaces the Law School’s prior lecture capture system, Mediasite, which had been in production for the better half of a decade. While it offers many of the features of other lecture capture systems, there are a number of features that make Panopto unique to the learning experience.

 

FOR INSTRUCTORS

Deep Analytics

With Panopto’s analytics, owners of a video can analyze a recording on a minute-by-minute basis. Auto-generated charts will show portions of the video where viewership of a video peaks and declines. Video owners also have the option of looking at a specific user, and analyzing their viewership on daily, weekly, monthly, or all-time intervals.  

Intuitive Video Editor

Panopto features a simple click-and-drag editor that makes trimming portions out of the beginning, middle and end of a video fast and simple. There is even an option to combine other videos or add additional content to videos.

FOR STUDENTS

Viewing on any device

Through its web interface, and mobile apps for Android and iOS, Panopto videos are viewable on nearly every device. Panopto utilizes adaptive bitrate streaming, which allows viewers to see the highest quality video stream for their internet connection speed with minimal buffering.

Timestamped Notes

With the notes feature, students are able to create a private note on a video. When they come back to view it at another time, the note will be marked with a timestamp on the sidebar.

When the timestamped notes are made public, this allows for discussion with instructors and other students.

Speech/Text Recognition and Searchability

Panopto allows students and instructors alike the ability to search an entire recording, or even a group of recordings for specific words and phrases. With ~75% accuracy for speech recognition, and 99% accuracy for on-screen text (utilizing OCR technology) Panopto is able to deliver timestamped results almost instantaneously. This makes reviewing key concepts before an exam that much easier.

GoPro Camera falls from 100,000 feet

Yep, you read that right--in June 2013, members of the Grand Canyon Stratospheric Balloon Team and vedphoto.com launched a balloon with a camera into the stratosphere, where it burst. It was found by a hiker two years later, with the footage still intact. 

Watch the footage here:  GoPro Falls 100,000 feet from space

If it wasn't clear from the video, the GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable, and apparently quite durable.   The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

The IT Service desk has a few GoPros available to checkout.  However, you might want to check the loan agreement before sending the camera into space.  

GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable.The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

http://www.mygadgets.my

GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable.The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

http://www.mygadgets.my

GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable.The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

http://www.mygadgets.my

GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable.The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

http://www.mygadgets.my

GoPro is the action camera of choice as it is lightweight, compact, and mountable.The GoPro camera can capture still photos and video in high-definition through wide-angle lens while being remotely controlled or configured to work automatically.

http://www.mygadgets.my

Telepresence Robots

Video chat programs like Skype and Google Hangout are easy to find and use on smartphones, tablets and computers for one-to-one remote collaboration. Faculty and students alike are asking for technology that can deliver an equally easy to use remote participant-to-classroom experience. One option is to use a telepresence robot like "Buddy," a recent addition to the IT Sandbox, 

Take Buddy for a test drive during the Faculty Technology Institute Petting Zoo or contact us at ed-tech@lclark.edu.


Further Information
Double Robotics
7 Things You Should Know About Telepresence Robots

Firefox's Video Downloadhelper add-on:

Ever wondered how to download a video from Youtube?  

You're in luck.  The Firefox browser has an add-on called Video Downloadhelper available here that makes downloading videos a snap.  Once you've downloaded the add-on (no restart required), go to Youtube and find the video you need.  Video Download helper will automatically detect all available versions of the video.  To see this, click the colored ball animation in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window to see the list of videos.
 

Video Downloadhelper add-on shows all the Video versions to download

Typically you would choose the .mp4 version that is a higher resolution, e.g. Movie.mp4 at 1280x720p.  After clicking the Plus symbol next to the version you need, choose Download and save the video.  

Further viewing: Teens react to 90s internet