Video challenges

The second major challenge was with video. I thought it was imperative that I be able to see the students. It was not imperative, though, that they see themselves! A webcam was mounted on the top of the chalkboard, or on a chair, or on the table, and recently taped to a tripod. It provided me with the ability to see all of the students withing its range. I could then ask specific students to answer, ensure that all students were on task, keep an eye on the groupwork and the students at the computers. We found out that having the camera higher up was better, since the front kids hid the back kids.

The camera wasn't able to cover the entire classroom, however. And of course, the students who didn't wish to be 'seen' sat on the outside of the camera's range. We discovered that there was a setting on Connect where we could go 'landscape' instead of 'portrait', just like a Word document. that now enabled me to see almost everyone, with some adjustments.

The proctor also sometimes moves the camera to focus on particular groups who need a closer observation. This also works well when I want to work with a small group alone.