Hyflex Classroom Update 21 August

Using Powerpoint with multiple screens

Remember that each hyflex classrooms has been equipped with a second monitor AND the computer's desktop settings are in extended mode. This means that there are three screens:

• Left (Primary)
• Center (Secondary) meant to be a place you can put your remote participants' video
• Right (Projector)

Triple screens means that Powerpoint might need a a setting change. For instructions on how to choose a different monitor for your presentation, how to duplicate or extend your desktop, and more information on how the monitors are set up, click FAQ393

If you want or need to change settings for displays, the keyboard shortcut is the "Windows Key"+P. The two modes that are recommended in the classroom are:

1. "Extend" where both monitors and the projector behave as three separate screens and
2. "Duplicate" where the second (center) and projector screens mirror each other. The primary (left) screen will still be separate.
3. Remember to leave the room set up for "Extend"'ed mode for the next instructor!

Remember that if you have trouble, you can hit the "Help" button on the black panel on the classroom wall!

Check your classroom and let us know if you have questions about the tech!

The Registrar's office has published the locations for each of your classrooms in Xpress. To see whether your classroom is Hyflex equipped (as well as its current installation status), you can check this spreadsheet (sign in with a malone.edu account required). Let us know right away if you have questions about your particular classroom[s].

Classroom cleaning instructions

Each tote has a QR code which can be scanned with a smart phone to get instructions for cleaning the rooms. Once scanned, your smartphone will go to this web page:

https://helpdesk.malone.edu/helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa/wa/FaqActions/view?faqId=391

which contains both typed out as well as video instructions for how to disinfect the classroom at the end of each session. 

Per the earlier email from Kris Vincent, remember to reutrn all the supplies to the tote when you are finished. Housekeeping will be checking and replenishing the supplies in the tote.

How to get a spreadsheet of your student email addresses

You can retreive a list of email addresses and other information about the students enrolled in your courses from several different locations:

1. Malone Xpress --> "Faculty" tab --> "Faculty Courses" page (on left hand bar) --> "Faculty Course Control" --> "Go directly to" --> "Class list"
2. From the Phiz (see below)
3. From the "Participants" list in Moodle Online Learning.

Each of these options will allow you to download an XLS or CSV file of your students.

Chromebooks and Jamboard

Each classroom is equipped with a Chromebook and stylus in case you want to use Google Jamboard as a whiteboard replacement. You can also use the Chromebook to draw in the Zoom whiteboard. 

We recommend you experiment with this tech prior to employing it in the classroom. If you do use the Chromebooks, please keep the following in mind:

1. Remember to plug the chromebook back in when you are done. You can plug it into power using the USB-C port on either side of the unit.
2. If you have an iPad or other personal tablet/device, you can certainly download Google Jamboard app on them (iOS or Android) and use it instead of the chromebook.
3. Remember to disinfect the chromebook in the same manner as the rest of the room.
4. The stylus is loose in most classrooms. Chromebooks in Regula and some of Timken classrooms have a storage slot for the stlyus on the right side under the keyboard (see pic). let us know if the stylus is missing or lost by sending an email to helpdesk@malone.edu 
   

How to set up a recurring zoom meeting and invite your students

Instructions for setting up a recurring meeting and then also copying that meeting into Google Calendar are in FAQ394

How to set up a recurring Google Meet meeting and invite your students

Instructions for setting up a recurring Google Meet Meeting can be found in FAQ395

Premade class picture directories on the Phiz!

Remember that you can log into Malone Xpress and retrieve a picture directory for each of your class rosters from the Phiz. Follow the instructions found in FAQ241 https://helpdesk.malone.edu/helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa/wa/FaqActions/view?faqId=241

to learn how to access your already-made class groups or to create your own groups.

Hyflex Classroom Update for August 17-18

Dear Faculty and Staff:

Highlights of today's update:

• Sign up to practice in a hyflex classroom
• Camera delivery update!
• How to find the classrooms where you are teaching AND determine whether it is Hyflex equipped.
• What other tech do you need?

Hyflex practice rooms

Six of the backup cameras have been installed in classrooms throughout campus for you to try them out. These will be the cameras we are using in the classrooms until the Owls arrive. These classrooms are:

• CC104
• JC107
• Silk Auditorium (MH101)
• MH107
• MH307
• RH208

We also have the one Owl camera in MH207 and the Kandao camera in SB2. If you would like to practice your classroom set ups in one of these rooms, reserve an hour timeslot using this appointment calendar link:

SIGN UP for an appointment to try out a Hyflex classroom (requires sign in).
Tip: Try the "day" view button in the top right corner so that you can see all which appointment slots go with which rooms.

You can alternately reach out to the Help Desk and make an appointment via email helpdesk AT malone.edu , via the web at http://www.malone.edu/helpdesk or by phone at 330.471.8428.

Be sure to hit the "Help" or "Help Desk" button on the room control panel if you need assistance. We encourage you to visit/practice/train in the classroom in groups. IT will not be present in the room with you. If you want us to be, please invite us to the Zoom or Google Meet meeting you set up for your session. 

Camera Delivery Update

Good news! Our backup cameras are on their way and should arrive this Wednesday (19 August) or Thursday at the latest. This means that all classrooms slated for Hyflex equipment will be ready for class start on Monday.

Is my classroom Hyflex equipped?

Probably! The Registrar's office has published the locations for each of your classrooms. Course room assignments are visible in the Courselist on Xpress.  

To see whether your classroom is Hyflex equipped (as well as its current installation status), you can check this spreadsheet (sign in with a malone.edu account required). Let us know right away if you have questions about your particular classroom[s].

Help! I have a special technology need so that I can teach online

Please let the Information Technologies team know right away if you need access to special tech. Here are a couple examples:

1. A student is hearing impaired.
   Response: As a start, use Google Meet with the closed captioning activated.
2. A faculty member needs to prerecord examples or perform an experiment live in a synchronous meeting.
   Response: use either an existing document camera (we have several on campus) or a smartphone mounted overhead to record the video. iPads are also available for checkout from the IT Help Desk which have articulated tripods

We are sure there are other examples of activities that need translation into an online (or semi-online) experience. Please let us know so we can make recommendations that will help you meet your teaching objectives!

Zoom licensing is now available to teaching Faculty

Dear Faculty and Staff:

The organization license for Zoom has now been set up. You can single-sign-on [SSO] to Zoom by going to https://userid.malone.edu and clicking the link for Zoom. You can alternatively bookmark and/or visit: https://malone-edu.zoom.us/

Teaching faculty versus staff versus students

While any student, faculty, or staff member can sign into Zoom using SSO, only instructors for a current or future course will be granted a license to use advanced features of Zoom. All others who sign into the system will be granted a free/unlicensed account. This means that only teaching faculty will have access to features such as recording in the cloud, breakout rooms, etc. 

Zoom for non-teaching purposes

There is likely some margin in our org license to allow non-teaching community members to use a licensed copy of Zoom. We have set up a mechanism where we can add additional non-teaching accounts. Teaching faculty have first right of access. If we exceed our current site license, non-teaching users' departments will be asked to pay for their own licenses. It will still be much less expensive for the University if you are added to our organization account, about 30% the cost of a personal account

We will monitor our license count carefully and notify non-teaching users if we need to pay for additional licenses. A reminder that Google meet is licensed for ALL students, faculty, and staff in the organization.

Please have your department manager/chair contact the Information Technologies Help Desk if you are interested in using Zoom for non-teaching purposes. We will need a list of malone.edu email addresses who you would like to add to the license as well as an account number to charge if we ever surpass our current license count.

Converting from a personal account

Several faculty may already have a personal account (free or paid) set up tied to their malone.edu email addresses. If this is the case, you will need to convert from a personal account to a member of our organization account. Follow the prompts on the screen to confirm that you want to switch. It will send you an email to confirm which you must click through to complete the process. More guidance on this process is available in IT Help Desk FAQ 392

Cloud recording of meetings

It is recommended that you record your class meetings for consumption by your asynchronous students as well as for review for your synchronous and in-person students. We do NOT recommend recording locally to classroom machines; record to the Zoom cloud. 

Cloud storage for Zoom meetings is a shared resource and should be managed carefully by each individual licensed user. We recommend that you download and delete recordings from the Zoom cloud on a daily basis. Those files can then be uploaded to Moodle or to other cloud storage for sharing with your students. Please limit the amount of storage you consume in the Zoom cloud to one day's worth or less than five hours of recordings, whichever is more.

Similar to licensing, we will monitor cloud storage to make sure that it is being managed well.

Please contact the IT Help Desk if you have any questions or issues. We can be reached via the web at http://www.malone.edu/helpdesk or by phone at 330.471.8428.

HyFlex Classroom Update for August 6-7

Dear Faculty and Staff:

Please see the following updates for the Fall 2020 Hyflex classrooms.

Department Training

We have heard from several departments and have scheduled training during your department retreats. If you need to schedule either a department training or would like to receive individual training, please reach out to the IT Help Desk or specifically to Michael Garwood. Contact information for the IT Help Desk can be found in FAQ130.

A special "Hyflex for Discussion-Based Pedagogy" training will be held on Monday 10 August at 2pm in MH207

Please RSVP (whether you're coming in person or attending remotely) at the following link: https://malone-edu.zoom.us/j/98643561896?pwd=RWJxRDNTcDlFbWhVSE1yUGZxYjVZdz09

Delays in Camera Hardware Delivery

The bad news: Despite our best efforts, we do not expect to receive shipment of the Owl Pro cameras until the second week of the semester. The Owl cameras are a key piece of hardware that will allow remote synchronous students to attend classes.

The good news: We are working with our hardware vendor to source alternate temporary hardware that will be in place for the beginning of class that will work almost as well. They have agreed to allow us to return that hardware to them once the Owls are in place.

Zoom and Google Meet

Based on the survey results (thank you to the eighty of you who completed the survey), we have acquired a site license that will allow all teaching faculty access to both platforms for the 2020-2021 academic year. Zoom was chosen as the preferred platform 2:1. 

Zoom set up and security updates 

We are currently configuring Zoom for Single Sign On. Any faculty who purchased zoom on their own in the spring or who are maintaining their own accounts will want to cancel their personal subscriptions.

We will send out an update to all faculty and staff when the service is ready for use.

Starting 27 September, Zoom will require that all meetings have a Passcode or a Waiting Room enabled for all paid accounts. Read the following article for more information: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360045009111

Google Meet

Google Meet is completely configured and ready to go. We will retain access to the recording and advanced functions for the 2020-21 academic year. Additional features of Google meet (breakout rooms and waiting rooms, etc.) are slated for release in late September. This article outlines those changes: https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/new-meet-features-for-edu

Zoom and Google Meet Recording Sharing

The amount of space for storing video on the Zoom platform will need to be managed on a faculty-by faculty basis. For posting recordings of your class times for asynchronous students as well as for review by in-person and synchronous students, please do not retain them in Zoom cloud storage and instead export then upload those files into Moodle or elsewhere. Doing the math on our combined storage, each faculty will have about three hours of storage apiece to manage. Recordings should be offloaded/exported from Zoom cloud and uploaded to Moodle on a daily basis.

Google Meet storage is unlimited and recordings are automatically shared to all meeting invitees. Remember to either give students instructions for accessing the class recordings or upload copies of the recordings into Moodle.

Jamboard Virtual Whiteboards

The whiteboards will not be usable when the class is meeting via Zoom or Meet. The camera cannot adequately pick up any writing on the board. There will be a touchscreen Chromebook with a stylus in each Hyflex classroom that you can use to connect to the Google Jamboard web service.

We recommend that anyone who intends to use the "whiteboard" begin familiarizing yourself with Jamboard as soon as possible. Single sign into Jamboard at: https://jamboard.google.com 

You can even begin to set up "jams" ahead of time for your classes and share those by adding the file to your meeting invite or invites. Google will prompt you to share the jam with either read only or edit access to all of the invitees on the event (your students in the case of a class meeting).

A call to faculty who depend heavily upon the whiteboard for teaching. Please reach out to us to talk options. There is a hardware version of the Jamboard. We have one installed in the CL224 tutoring room in the newly renovated Timken Center for Study and Testing in the library. We are considering the addition of one or two of these boards in key classrooms, but need feedback from faculty before investing in the technology further.

Courses (R) drive is going away for fall 2020

Dear Faculty and Staff:

We have a combination of factors which are pushing us to eliminate the legacy service of the "Courses" drive. This service will NOT be available for use in delivering course material this fall. We have been talking about deprecating this service for a couple years now. With the sudden appearance of factor 1 (below) in the last week of July, we cannot commit to it being available for students this fall.

Factor 1: A problem with remote.malone.edu

The service which allows students, faculty, and staff to access remote drives is malfunctioning. IT is working on a complete replacement of the system, but we do not know whether we will have it in place before school starts. The timing of the problem is unfortunate to say the least.

Factor 2: Outragious Consistency

As part of the effort for "outrageous consistency," all faculty have been directed to use Moodle for the delivery of course materials, for taking attendance, and for keeping grade books. Your students are taking up to five or more courses. Let us allow them to concentrate on the content of your course rather than how to obtain access to that content.

What is the "Courses" drive?

If you don't know, then don't worry about it :-) But this used to be the way that we distributed electronic files to students who are taking a class. Each faculty member had a folder which belonged to him or her. Then they would post files to that folder for each of their courses.

Help! I love the courses drive!

There are several departments and faculty on campus who have utilized the courses drive to great success. We recommend that any faculty who need assistance in onboarding to the Moodle system sign up and attend one of the Moodle trainings. 

The contents of the Courses drive will remain in place to give time for faculty who have been using it to offload its contents into an alternate location.

Please contact the IT Help Desk if you have any questions or issues. We can be reached via the web at http://www.malone.edu/helpdesk or by phone at 330.471.8428.