Author Archives: actteam

Notes for In-progress Project Presentation for Web Conferencing

Bob C.

Where we are at with the project.

act.middcreate.net/site/projects/web- confercing – service

Adobe Connect has been in Production for a few years. Adobe’s change in pricing structure, created impetus to review options. ITS was looking into options for unified communication with telephone which may have had some options.

Oct 11th, update narrowed selection to Zoom and Blue Jeans. Zoom actively being tested.

Mack P.

Adobe price change caused review. What do we currently get from Adobe connect? Could be tied into replacement of legacy phone system, which had been previously reviewed and recommended, but not funded. Skype for Business was piloted, but determined not to be phone system for Middlebury. ITS Media Services was brought into looking into telephone systems which have some video conf features(presence, chat…).

If new phone system is funded it would have Jabber for video and chat.

Decided to pursue a separate product for academic web conf.

Zoom and Blue Jeans have similar feature set. Zoom is approximately ½ of the price of Blue Jeans, Blue Jeans has some features that Middlebury wouldn’t benefit from(ability to host 500 person meeting). Zoom would lock in price for a term. Blue Jeans would match Zoom for one year only, then increase to approximately $98k. Prior users of Blue Jeans have given negative review of product for meeting use.

Zoom feedback to date has been positive. Easy to start each course.

Joe A.

Reviewed spreadsheet of services we reviewed, initially 10 services. Narrowed to 3-4 offerings. Vidyo was dropped due to cost and inclusion of video conf equipment, older tool without modern feel. Down to 3 services.

ACTT had a “round robin” where over the course of a single meeting, we took a first pass of all the services, 15 mins per service with large group. Zoom, WebX, Blue Jean and Adobe Connect, tracked issues and reminded ourselves why we are departing from Adobe Connect. Follow up meeting identified Zoom and Blue Jeans, as preferred options. Zoom allowed everyone to be visible on the screen, Blue Jeans limited to 9, others would fall off. Blue Jeans prioritized quality to speaker. Zoom quality seemed more consistent. Moved forward with Zoom pilot, one class had already requested Zoom.

Joe A. demo review following Zoom practice. Recorded to test feature in Zoom.

Screen sharing allows option to present slides, but presenter remains in presenter mode for slideshow. May be allowed only with two screens.

Video of call participants can be turn on/off be each participant.

Power, Source, Filter: Vocal production of sound.

Explication of slides.

Played Ted video via Youtube.

Issue with getting video fullscreen, common with other video conf options. Need to share desktop to share full screen, can’t do it via application sharing.

Audio needs to be shared with application. Mack P. knows the tricks.

Video recorded as MP4 file. Pilot saved locally.

Pay version allows for cloud recording.

Dotty, Hebrew Course and Zoom.

  • Prefer freedom to do what they want with recordings. Exported out of Adobe Connect.
  • Improved entrance for students.
  • Less issues with bandwidth for international students.
  • Adobe Connect frequently had issues with Flash
  • Has been using Zoom in the ‘democratized’ format with similar size videos

Mack P. Review:

  • Mack P. has better success getting people up and running during meetings. 100% self starting
  • Been working well with Polycom room systems.
  • Polycom client often been blocked by firewalls of travelers.
  • Built in phone line has allowed people to call into sessions.

Sean M.:

  • Been testing Zoom during meetings
  • Preferred over Google Hangouts
  • Testing Friday with large meeting

Bob C.

  • Plans to test Zoom with Critical Issues Forum that previously used Adobe Connect, connecting with High School Teachers
  • This use case involves recording for viewing later, wants to pull prior videos from Adobe Connect
  • Did a test with Zoom recording which was positive.

Question how to view the suite of people of people coming into session, when something is being shared.

Option to raise hand is not readily visible.

Can make the active speaker large.

Need to develop best practices and training to go along with the tools.

Zoom does have a webinar format, which may have more participant functions.

How long to we envision best of breed for variety of use cases?

Polycom room equipment needed in room. Polycom servers contracted for 2 more years, Zoom maybe able to replace some of that functions.

Zoom Webinar has more options.

Notes for In-progress Project Presentation for Panopto Pilot

  • Panopto status update
  • Recap of original charge and proposal, history of project including Media Core process and funding. General consensus that Pantopo isn’t perfect but is pretty good, and definitely the best of all available options. The goal is to make a proposal for FY18 by January. Current Panopto contract runs through June.
  • Q:Will legacy streaming platforms, MiddMedia, archived items be a part of this process?
    • A:Not during this initial phase; with the decline in available data space, eventually we’ll need to examine those assets.
  • Rate of video storage has increased x20.
  • Most Panopto views are administrative, with some faculty using it for courses as well.
  • Students don’t have to leave Canvas to view videos in Panopto, but do have to log in again. Panopto creates a new user using single sign-on credentials. A Panopto viewer window embedded in Canvas will popup a login window; the issue is with what Canvas passes to Panopto. This issue is on Panopto’s development timeline, tentatively for late fall or winter. We’re meeting with them as well, working on code.
  • Embedding in WordPress doesn’t work, trying to write some code for that. We should be able to turn on a Panopto plugin for WordPress.
  • Some faculty are using Panopto at MIIS, have also used the webcasting feature successfully, including interactive and note-taking features. Sharing videos through a link has resulted in a good user experience. This is the legacy of Panopto as a lecture capture platform; perhaps we should talk about that while we’re talking about video conferencing. Should remember that Panopto charged based on views.
  • Q:Heather has asked whether we can embed Panopto on Sharepoint pages
    • A: not at present.
  • Thoughts on recent training? Seems pretty straightforward. We have two hours of training left, most topics are also available through support documentation and video.
  • Windows version of Panopto software has many more features than the Mac version (e.g., the focus feature); we may get questions related to that difference.
  • Panopto rep did send statistics on first training session; the analytics are very thorough with very specific usage info. Panopto may have applications for original research.
  • Panopto is currently not embeddable in Drupal because of the way Drupal filters code, but other schools have solved this issue; may take some work to make it possible.
  • Searchability is limited to English only, users will need to upload a caption file for other languages. Users can also supply keywords to make videos more searchable.
  • Q: If we do additional training, can we focus on other features?
    • A: Potential for more creative uses than simply streaming video.
  • Lecture capture is a non-starter at Middlebury; faculty don’t want it and the costs were prohibitive. MIIS can still use it that way. May be useful for making guest speakers/special lecturers available to students abroad.
  • Part of the proposal to continue Panopto would be a 3-5 year commitment to encourage user investment in the platform.
  • Media workload at MIIS is increasing, so we’re looking to Panopto as a possible assist in that regard. The goal is for self-service, self-empowerment. Lots of need to cover recurring classes, to record and make available later, which has been difficult to staff and organize. There may be some capacity to use Panopto to automate some of that process, but it would require upgrading a space to achieve it.
  • Feedback on Panopto has been generally good, and good enough to go forward.

ACTT Meetings ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Web Conferencing Service

Tuesday, November 8, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the Web Conferencing Service project.

  • Share what has been done, so far.
    • The results of the round-robin, what services were removed from consideration as a result
    • Current use of services under consideration.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Panopto Pilot

Tuesday, November 1, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the video streaming service and the Panopto Pilot.

  • Review the training that occurred on 10/25
  • Share what has been done, so far.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

Notes for Google Apps and OneDrive Project Presentation

  • Cloud Services: Google and Microsoft
    • Goal: provide better (cloud-based) services to the community
  • Infrastructure
    • Storage
      • Available from anywhere
      • Private, secure, encrypted
      • Scales to demand
    • Access to info
      • Collaboration and sharing
    • Familiar and consistent
  • Why are we doing this?
    • Better consume our resources
      • Home directories on middfiles are 25TB
      • Grows a half TB a month
    • Enhance service offerings
      • Available anywhere on most any device
      • Scalable and efficient use of eresources
      • Cost effective
      • Highly available
      • On demand automatic provisioning
  • What we can provide
    • Google apps for edu
      • No longer in beta!
      • Online collaboration
      • Drive
    • 365
      • Online collaboration suite – word, excel
      • Software distribution (local office install)
      • Onedrive
      • More nuanced levels of licensing and access – differences between MIIS and Midd College, working through those issues
    • Email in the cloud!
      • Fully hosted or hybrid model
  • Where we are now
    • Groundwork has been laid
    • All midd users automatically have GAfE account
      • Including access to apps, drive, and youtube
    • All midd users automatically have an O365 account
      • College students can install local copies of Office through O365
        • Only for residential students, MIIS students can access cloud-based Office suite
      • Everyone has accounts but they don’t have access yet
    • All active directory groups exist in both GAfE and O365
  • Still to come
    • A series of projects as opposed to one big unveiling
      • Documentation and education project
      • Microsoft’s online collaboration apps
      • OneDrive and GoogleDrive
      • Home use software distribution Faculty/Staff
      • Everyone currently has access to Google Apps (but most people don’t know)
      • Everyone does not currently have access to OneDrive – still to come
      • Cloud-based email still to come
  • Decisions that still need to be made
    • Which service do we recommend to people?
    • How do different groups collaborate effectively?
    • Do professors choose one or the other?
      • Will students need access to both?
    • Others?

 

Questions

  • Do we want to offer the same level of support for both or favor one?
    • One platform may be better for certain uses than the other
    • We like the idea of a default/one that is better supported
  • Any support requests re: Google to date?
    • A few calendar items, nothing major
    • Most people are using web interface
  • I’m a student with a google account that I use for school work – I graduate and move on. How do I transition my work to my private account?  (Bill)
    • No fee, but there will be some hoops/procedures to go through
  • I’m a student with a Microsoft account that I use for school work – I graduate and move on. How do I transition my work to my private account? (Bill)
    • Currently more complicated than Google
    • Everything that is cloud-delivered is free
  • Do we have an inventory of what’s been turned on by Google Admin? (Joe)
    • Yes, a list can be shared
    • When you’re logged in you can see a list of some applications, but not all of them
  • How does a faculty member associate Google resources with a course?
    • A Course Hub integration would be helpful here; it’s currently tough to find the right group in Google
      • Create the resource, connect with the correct student group
    • With OneDrive, groups can own files/documents – more ownership-based management than Google-drive
      • If group owns documentation, data management is simpler from an administrative perspective. Group membership should be able to shift seamlessly
      • This is a nuance we’ll have to figure out between Google and OneDrive
  • Monterey and Midd campuses have the exact same access to this functionality? (Bill)
    • Yes, only difference is residential component for the College (Office installs)
    • This is an example of “big M” Middlebury thinking
  • For a guest lecturer or auditor, they could be added to a Google folder not a group?
    • Another nuance that needs to be explored/determination needs to be made about what to recommend to faculty
  • In terms of announcements/messaging/role out, does Course Hub integration need to be in place first?
    • We need to have nuances largely figured out before we make an announcement
  • So what’s the rollout timeframe?
    • Timeline needs to include various project teams
    • Probably not reality to have ready for fall 2016 roll out
    • Do we need to roll both platforms out at the same time?
      • It would behoove us to roll out the recommended platform first
  • We need to give faculty clear instructions about procedure change, as they are not accustomed to provisioning folders themselves (Joe)
    • Now they will need a folder with the appropriate permissions
  • What’s the motivation for having both services?
    • We have to have some of each. Google is already pretty ubiquitous in usage across Middlebury. We have to roll out Microsoft because of software distribution. Or do we? We can control what Microsoft functionality is available to avoid too much overlap with Google.
    • Encryption/security implications – Microsoft is superior to Google in this respect
    • Google doesn’t work in China – Jeff Cason currently testing OneDrive in China
    • A potential differentiation could be
      • Academic – Google. Administrative – Microsoft.
        • In reality this won’t happen
  • While Microsoft is in beta, the move to single sign on for everyone seems like a big step (Bob)
    • MIIS users having to sign on with @middlebury.edu account
    • We want to promote access to Google Apps – it would be disappointing if we couldn’t make an official announcement to the MIIS campus this fall even if the Course Hub integration is not in place.
    • What happens when students graduate? Some of our students are only here for a year, some do Peace Corps during their degree – leave campus for 2 years and come back.
      • How do the nuances of those different user needs get managed? We need an exit strategy.
    • Exit strategy for individuals and Middlebury as a whole is important.
  • Where is this project in terms of the ACTT life cycle? (Bob)
    • Should OneDrive be rolled out the same way Google Apps was?
      • Resource constraints
  • Is there a downside to MIIS announcing Google Apps rollout to campus? (Bob)
    • When Microsoft is rolled out, there may be an inordinate number of help desk tickets from people who want to migrate content from Google to Microsoft
    • It depends on when OneDrive becomes available
      • Timelines are not currently known, several different project teams
  • 2,000 Google Apps accounts active before syncing took place
  • There was already a OneDrive instance at MIIS that was being used by 40 people – no administrator
  • There’s nothing stopping any Middlebury user from using Google Apps (they just don’t know about it)
    • We are currently not fully committing or walking away from either

ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Canvas

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about Canvas.

These are open meetings, please feel free to share the invitation with anyone you feel is interested in the topics discussed.

 

Middlebury will Adopt Canvas

In January, 2016, the ACTT (formerly CTT) submitted a recommendation for Middlebury to adopt Canvas. We have received budget approval, and will begin the work of moving Middlebury into the Canvas service.

Thank you to all of the faculty and students that participated in the pilot. Your participation and feedback (Midd and MIIS) helped to make a strong recommendation. And thank you to Joe Antonioli, Bob Cole, Bill Koulopoulos, Stacy Reardon, Shel Sax and Heather Stafford for supporting these classes during the pilot.

Also, thank you to all of the schools that provided us with insight and the benefit of their experience with Canvas. We learned a lot from you.

There is a lot of work still to be done to move Canvas from pilot to enterprise, but we do hope that you take a moment to celebrate this milestone and the collective effort to get to this point.