Answer: What synchronous vendor application/tool did you select? Using the application, what did you experience using the synchronous learning tool? Was the task easy? Challenging? Did the process present problems?
As I've shared in previous posts, my choice for synchronous sessions has been Google Hangouts (specifically Hangouts on Air). I choose Hangouts because it is a part of the GSuite apps that my students and I already have access to. Our in-house instructional tech team also is available for support with this particular tool.
Overall, my experiences with Hangouts and Hangouts on Air have been positive. Hangouts on Air (via YouTube Live) allows me to run synchronous sessions at home or work with my students wherever they are. I used this twice during a two week absence when my child was born, as well as for a few at-home review sessions the night before students had a big test. I create the Hangout in advance and share a link to the Hangout through one of my communication tools (i.e. Remind, Twitter, Google Classroom announcement). Hangouts can also be created from an event created in my shared Google Calendar. Anyone who views my calendar can join from the link on the calendar event as well. Subscribers to the calendar can even opt to get reminders of upcoming sessions.
Students have found that these sessions are helpful for redelivering content and are easy to navigate or participate in. For a review session, they typically post their questions in advance in our LMS, Google Classroom and I address their questions in realtime during the video stream. They can also ask and answer questions in realtime using a chat feature. Because I broadcast the Hangout on Air via YouTube Live, there is the added bonus of automatic video conversion and archiving. As soon as the session ends, YouTube converts my live broadcast into a general video that's hosted at the same link (easy navigation +++) on my YouTube channel. So the video is available to those who may need an additional view or two as well as those who couldn't view live. All from the same original link, announcement, or calendar event. Beautiful.
One feature that I haven't fully explored is the ability to "pass the mic" to other students in the live chat. Viewers who have a microphone or webcam can take the lead in a conversation. Their webcam (or audio only) can be broadcast to other views just like mine can. They can also screenshare like I can. These features may be enabled, disabled, or controlled by the moderator of the session. I've only used these features during Hangouts with other teachers, and I've already seen a few possible problems.
More than 4-5 people with active webcams or audio slows the speed of the video and creates "lag." The automatic switching feature that is supposed to change webcams to whomever is speaking is very sensitive and often shows the wrong webcam and mutes the other users. Differences in connection speeds among viewers also presents an issue when it comes to "lag." For these reasons, I haven't tried enabling that feature in a whole-class review yet.
With practice, students and I have become proficient in using Hangouts for synchronous sessions as supplements in my blended classroom. I'm hoping to incorporate more of these sessions in the future.
As I've shared in previous posts, my choice for synchronous sessions has been Google Hangouts (specifically Hangouts on Air). I choose Hangouts because it is a part of the GSuite apps that my students and I already have access to. Our in-house instructional tech team also is available for support with this particular tool.
Overall, my experiences with Hangouts and Hangouts on Air have been positive. Hangouts on Air (via YouTube Live) allows me to run synchronous sessions at home or work with my students wherever they are. I used this twice during a two week absence when my child was born, as well as for a few at-home review sessions the night before students had a big test. I create the Hangout in advance and share a link to the Hangout through one of my communication tools (i.e. Remind, Twitter, Google Classroom announcement). Hangouts can also be created from an event created in my shared Google Calendar. Anyone who views my calendar can join from the link on the calendar event as well. Subscribers to the calendar can even opt to get reminders of upcoming sessions.
Students have found that these sessions are helpful for redelivering content and are easy to navigate or participate in. For a review session, they typically post their questions in advance in our LMS, Google Classroom and I address their questions in realtime during the video stream. They can also ask and answer questions in realtime using a chat feature. Because I broadcast the Hangout on Air via YouTube Live, there is the added bonus of automatic video conversion and archiving. As soon as the session ends, YouTube converts my live broadcast into a general video that's hosted at the same link (easy navigation +++) on my YouTube channel. So the video is available to those who may need an additional view or two as well as those who couldn't view live. All from the same original link, announcement, or calendar event. Beautiful.
One feature that I haven't fully explored is the ability to "pass the mic" to other students in the live chat. Viewers who have a microphone or webcam can take the lead in a conversation. Their webcam (or audio only) can be broadcast to other views just like mine can. They can also screenshare like I can. These features may be enabled, disabled, or controlled by the moderator of the session. I've only used these features during Hangouts with other teachers, and I've already seen a few possible problems.
More than 4-5 people with active webcams or audio slows the speed of the video and creates "lag." The automatic switching feature that is supposed to change webcams to whomever is speaking is very sensitive and often shows the wrong webcam and mutes the other users. Differences in connection speeds among viewers also presents an issue when it comes to "lag." For these reasons, I haven't tried enabling that feature in a whole-class review yet.
With practice, students and I have become proficient in using Hangouts for synchronous sessions as supplements in my blended classroom. I'm hoping to incorporate more of these sessions in the future.
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