Guidelines for use of classrooms in HYBRID MODE
Versione in italianoTo carry out the lecture activity with some students present in the classroom and others connected remotely, the classrooms were equipped with a high resolution camera, a bluetooth hands-free system and a USB-C dockstation equipped with USB, VGA and ethernet ports.
With the help of these devices, the lecturer can carry out his activity in hybrid mode using a laptop, connected to the dockstation, writing on the blackboard, or using an iPad, on which to write. In the latter case, the iPad must be connected to the projector via the VGA port.
In both cases, a Zoom meeting (https://sissa-it.zoom.us/start/videomeeting) must be activated by inviting students remotely.
Within ITCS, a task force dedicated to lecturing has been set up , made up of: Marco Giunta, Alessio Isaja, Giovanni Radeka and Massimiliano Ritossa.
General recommendations:
- For the first lesson it is advisable to go to the classroom in advance to properly configure the individual devices (laptop or iPad) to be used.
- Only half of the whiteboards need to be used to transmit their content with good resolution. Video conferencing software does not broadcast at the camera resolution, but reduces it based on the number of participants and the bandwidth of the participants. Zoom places a maximum limit of 640 × 360 which is not enough to transmit the content of the four blackboard.
- Do not move the equipment from its location. The camera has been placed in the optimal position to film the whiteboards to be used.
- Don't move the chair. The position of the camera depends on the position of the desk relative to the blackboard.
- The control panel on the desk is equipped with two network cards. Please use these two ports to connect the devices by cable. Do not disconnect the ethernet cables from the sockets under the blackboard.
- The dockstation is permanently connected to the internet with an ethernet cable, which should not be touched for any reason.
- In the case of using the iPad, it is advisable to have all the cell phones of those present in airplane mode or to disconnect them from the Wi-Fi network, to avoid problems.
- Warning: the classroom must be switched on via the touch panel on the desk (only the classroom, not the projector). This ensures that the dockstation is properly powered. If the panel is not activated, the ethernet network does not work.
General questions about Zoom:
The School has activated a number of Zoom professional licenses. Thanks to this subscription, all SISSA users can use their SISSA own credentials to access their profile and organize meetings. By doing so, SISSA users can organize meetings of up to 300 participants and with no time limit (up to 24h). To avoid admitting participants one at a time, this feature can be disabled from the personal Zoom profile (from https://sissa-it.zoom.us/profile/setting, disable Waiting Room). This way participants enter the meeting directly, without waiting to be admitted by the person who invited them. Please note that disabling “Waiting Room” a password must be set to join the meeting. Before the lesson, the teacher sends invitations to the Zoom meeting to the list of addresses of the course participants they follow at a distance. If you want to record the lesson, we recommend that you do it within Zoom. Warning: after the lesson, before closing the Zoom application, it is necessary to wait for the conversion of the recording to mp4 format to finish. For a high resolution recording see the Lecture Recording with Zoom section. Portable use:
Connect the laptop to the dockstation.
- Make sure the network is active. The laptop will automatically recognize the connection if previously used inside SISSA buildings.
- Start the meeting with Zoom.
- Open the settings (settings or preferences) of the Zoom application.
- Open the Video section and make sure the Jabra Panacast camera is selected as the Camera. Tick:
- 16: 9 (Widescreen) ,
- Enable HD,
- Mirror my video .
- In the Audio section , make sure the Speaker and Microphone are set to Jabra Speak 810 . Perform related tests.
- Open the Recording section and check:
- Record video during screen sharing
- At this point the teacher can choose whether to use the whiteboard or a presentation via the laptop. In the latter case, you need to connect the projector's VGA cable to the dockstation.
IPad usage: This mode requires the use of an iPad instead of the blackboard. If the iPad is a Pro type, it will have a USB-C port so that you can connect the iPad to the dockstation in the classroom via USB-C cable and connect the dockstation to the projector via the VGA cable of the projector. The internet connection is ensured by the ethernet cable connected to the dockstation, which must not be touched for any reason. If the iPad has only one Lightning port (the same for charging), through a Lightning-VGA adapter, provided by ITCS, the iPad will need to be connected to the VGA cable of the projector. The iPad will connect to the internet via WiFi. It is recommended to go to the classroom with the iPad battery charged to 100% even though the adapter has a lightning port for charging. Open Zoom from the iPad,click Share, choose Whiteboard, and the Zoom whiteboard is seen by the other participants in the Zoom meeting.
Warning: if you want to use a software other than the Zoom blackboard as a Whiteboard, you must have a support MacBook. If you have a lightning to usb-c cable, the steps to follow are as follows:
- The first time you need to do this preliminary operation on the iPad: Open Settings on the iPad and choose Control Center. Add from the list of available options (Additional Controls), Screen Recording.
- Open Zoom from the MacBook and start the meeting. Do not open Zoom on the iPad.
- Connect the iPad to the Macintosh using a cable that leads from lightning to usb-c. The order in which 2 and 3 are performed is irrelevant.
- Within Zoom on the MacBook, click on Share Screen, select iPhone / iPad via cable and confirm by pressing the Share button at the bottom right.
- At this point, the iPad screen should be visible through Zoom and the teacher can open the application to write on on the iPad: what appears on the iPad screen is displayed on Zoom.
- To allow attendees to see the contents of the iPad screen on the classroom screen, the projector's VGA cable must be connected to the dockstation, which in turn is connected to the Macintosh. At this point on the screen you will see the contents of the iPad.
If you don't have a lightning to usb-c cable, the steps to follow are as follows:
- The first time you need to do this preliminary operation on the iPad: Open Settings on the iPad and choose Control Center. Add from the list of available options (Additional Controls), Screen Recording.
- Open Zoom from the MacBook and start the meeting. Do not open Zoom on the iPad.
- Make sure Wi-Fi is on. Within Zoom on the MacBook, click on Share Screen, select iPhone / iPad via AirPlay and confirm by pressing the Share button at the bottom right.
- Read the instructions that appear on the screen. In particular:
- make sure the iPad is connected to the same WiFi network as the MacBook,
- slide your finger on the iPad from the top right corner to the bottom and choose from the icons that appear Dual Screen,
- select the name of the MacBook on which you want to mirror the iPad screen
- At this point, the iPad screen should be visible through Zoom and the teacher can open the application to write on on the iPad: what appears on the iPad screen is displayed on Zoom.
- To allow those present to see the contents of the iPad screen on the classroom screen, it is necessary to connect the VGA cable of the projector to the dockstation, which in turn is connected to the Macintosh. At this point you will see the contents of the iPad on the screen.
- Since one of the connections is WiFi, it is advisable to have all the cellphones of those present in airplane mode or to disconnect them from the WiFi network, to avoid problems.
These instructions have been tested for using Notability from the iPad but you will find many software available like:Whiteboard easy and smart, Microsoft whiteboard, etc.
Lecture recording with Zoom: If you want to record the lecture, it is advisable to do it within Zoom by choosing the individual device used as the destination. To have a high definition recording it is necessary to configure Zoom appropriately:
- Ordered List ItemOpen the settings ( settings or preferences ) of the Zoom application.
- Open the Video section and make sure the Jabra Panacast camera is selected as the Camera. Tick:
- 16:9 (Widescreen),
- Enable HD,
- Mirror my video.
- In the Audio section , make sure the Speaker and Microphone are set to Jabra Speak 810. Run the relevant tests.
- Open the Recording section and check:
- Record video during screen sharing
In the Recording section you can choose the recording destination folder. Warning: after the lesson, before closing the Zoom application, it is necessary to wait for the conversion of the recording to mp4 format to finish .
The file thus produced can be transferred to the https://nextcloud.sissa.it// platform using your credentials to make it available to students after sharing. An Italian version of this document, is available on https://itcs.sissa.it/linee_guida_aule// .
Troubleshooting:
- Webcam and/or microphone/speaker not recognised: unplug and plug the Hub charger.