How to be a Video Conference Student

Videoconferencing technology allows students to participate interactively in their lectures. As the need to use videoconferencing technology to receive courses grows, the need for establishing protocols for its use becomes apparent.

To help you become an effective videoconference student or user and allow you to get the most out of your educational experience, Rensselaer has compiled below a list of the questions frequently asked by students. We've also included some techniques that we have found useful in trouble shooting problems often experienced by the videoconference student.

Videoconference Conventions

Camera Positioning
It is important for faculty to be able to view their remote student audience to include them in the lectures. The instructor needs to see student reactions to the materials to be able to address some of their concerns.

Occasionally, sites have left their cameras viewing inanimate objects. The faculty questions whether there are students participating at the site. Often they do not include them in the class discussions. For these reasons, it is important to set up your videoconference system to focus on the students at your site. To set up your camera:

• Position camera so that it is viewing the students. Try to get as many of the students within the video frame as possible.
• If a student is asking a question and is not in camera view, adjust the camera so that the faculty may see that student. Whenever possible, it is best to get a tight shot of the student speaking. Facial expressions are sometimes a good hint to faculty as to whether the information being shared is understood by the student. It also helps overcome the barrier often created by distance.
• If your site is asked to give a presentation and needs to show a document, computer output, etc. switch the camera back to the remote class upon completing the presentation.

Mute Your Mics
Video switching is sound activated. If your mic is left unmuted, any sound (e.g., paper shuffling, pens clicking, etc.) will cause the video to remain on your site. All sites will be viewing you rather than the class lecture. When your site is not speaking, the mic should be muted at all times.

Comments/Questions to Faculty
To prevent feedback loops it is necessary for EWP to keep the audio level for the videoconference sites as low as possible without eliminating the ability to pick up a student comment or question. If a comment is brief, you may not have allowed enough time for the production crew to raise your audio into the classroom. If you are participating on a video bridge, it can take a few moments for the bridge to make the switch. In both cases, you may need to repeat the comment. To ask a question or provide comments:

• Unmute your mic and use one of the following techniques:
• This is "NAME" from "SITE" with a question/comment.
  -OR-
• "SITE" has a question/comment
• Mute your mic and wait for the faculty member to acknowledge your site.
• Once he/she acknowledges you, unmute your mic and continue with your question/comment.
• Mute your mic immediately to hear the faculty's response.
  
  NOTE: There is approximately a 4-second delay in the transmission and receipt of audio between you and the faculty. It is important that you be persistent.

Student Response to Questions/Comments
Faculty strongly promote and encourage students to become involved in the lectures. Often sites are left out of the discussions because the instructor did not receive any response to a prior question or discussion topic directed at a specific site. Since videoconferencing only allows the instructor to view one site at a time, this leads them to believe that your site did not sign on for that lecture. It is important that the site acknowledges the instructor even though they do not have a comment to make or an answer to the question.

What to Do When Things Go Wrong

Never panic … EWP will work with your site to see that you are connected as quickly as possible. Below we've listed some measures we've taken to assure your participation technically, and some techniques that will help your site should it experience difficulties during a lecture. Many of the techniques we've listed have been tested using PictureTel videoconference equipment and may need to be translated by your site technicians to reflect the model of your local videoconference system. Desktop models are not discussed.

Testing Videoconference Sites Prior to Each Class
Rensselaer will poll each site prior to the start of each class to verify that both Rensselaer and the site are both able to receive and send audio and video. Each site should select at least one student to arrive approximately 10 minutes prior to class to conduct the test with Rensselaer.

Trouble Shooting
The videoconference technology is fairly new to students. Many times during the course of a semester, technical difficulties from operating the equipment causes a site to enter a lecture late or to miss an entire lecture. Typically, it occurs when the site technician is unavailable to give assistance. EWP recommends at least two students in each class be trained in making a videoconference call. In addition, the following information should be made readily available to all students in the course:

• Dial-in numbers for the videoconference unit posted in close proximity to the unit at all times.
• Telephone number of the site's technical contact for the unit posted in the videoconference room.
• The dial-in numbers to connect to the class.
• If the class is connected through a bridge, know the bridge trouble number.
• The number to the EWP control room ([518] 276-8000) for technical assistance.

No Audio

As you attempt to join the class discussion, you find the instructor is not responding. Why can't he/she hear you? Some of the reasons include:

• Your mic is still muted. Unmute the mic.
• The mic switch on the back of the keypad may be turned off. Switch the mic to the "ON" position.
• Your comment or question may have been too brief and the control room was unable to raise the audio on the board quick enough to send it into the classroom. Again, be persistent.

If the problem does not disappear,...

• Contact the EWP control room immediately… (518) 276-8000. Your call will be answered by one of the production assistants for the class. Ask to speak to the producer. The producer will obtain from you some information that may assist in determining the problem. If necessary, the producer will put you in touch with EWP's technician. If your audio problem is determined to be a local site problem, the producer will have our technician contact your site technician.
  
  -OR-
  
• If this call is being done through a bridge connection, call the bridge trouble number provided by your local site technician.

Echo...Audio Feedback
Frequently, sites schedule videoconferencing for educational, as well as corporate use. Many people have access to the equipment and the settings for each conference may be different from the previous. As a result, your site may experience an audio feedback when you unmute your mic to speak. What you say into the videoconference system returns to you through the TV monitor. This often occurs because your mic is too close to the TV monitor or the volume on the videoconference keypad is set too high. To adjust:

• Try moving your mic as far away from your TV monitor as possible. Moving the mic a minimum of 6 feet from the monitor is recommended.
• Turn down your TV monitor. To begin, it is recommended that the volume level on the TV monitor should be set halfway (mid level).
• Turn down the volume from your videoconference keypad.
• Do a combination of both turning down the TV monitor and the volume from the videoconference keypad until you have an equal balance of both.
  
  -OR-
  
• If you are signed on through a bridge, contact your bridge service provider. The audio feedback may be a result of a bridge configuration error.

If the problem continues to persist after performing the above steps, contact your site technician. In either event, your site technician should be advised of all technical difficulties you've experienced during the course of your videoconference.

No Video
The students at the site are able to hear both the faculty and students from the other remote sites, but are unable to see them. The TV monitor is blank (or black). This usually occurs when the unit drops a line (or a B channel).

When a site makes a videoconference connection, their system is attempting to connect two lines; one for the audio, the second to the video. A site can redial a dropped line by hitting "MENU" on the system keypad. There will be a menu listing entitled, "Redial Dropped Line". Arrow down to the menu item and press "ENTER". If the system is successful, within a couple of minutes it will reconnect the dropped video line. If this technique does not work, do one of the following:

• Hang up and redial the entire call.
  
  -OR-
  
• Contact your local technician to reconnect the call.
  
  -OR-
  
• If your call was placed through a bridge, contact the bridge trouble number. They can assist you in reconnecting.
• NOTE: Have the dial-in number to your unit available before contacting the bridge.

Call Disconnects
For any number of reasons a videoconference call may disconnect during a lecture. More often than not, the unit remembers the last number it dials. You can redial the call by hitting "VIDEOCALL" then "ENTER" and "ENTER" again. If this technique does not work, do one of the following:

• Hang up and redial the entire call.
  
  -OR-
  
• Contact your local technician to reconnect the call.
  
  -OR-
  
• If your call was placed through a bridge, contact the bridge trouble number. They can assist you in reconnecting.
  
  NOTE: Have the dial-in number to your unit available before contacting the bridge.

The techniques provided in this document are to assist you in dealing with many of the problems experienced by videoconference users. However, Rensselaer encourages its students to always report any technical difficulties to their site technicians as soon as possible. If you have any questions about these procedures, please call Evelyn Smith, Assistant Director for Production or via email: smithe2@rpi.edu

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