Hangouts on Air (HoA) and Guest Lectures

Hangouts on Air #HoA can be used to broadcast and record live events like lectures, panel discussions, conferences and performances.

Rationale

When studio demonstrations take place, some of the students can’t get a good vantage point to watch it, or they lose track when they miss a critical bit of information. Some need to miss a demo because of work or family.

A Hangout on Air can not only help get a good visual and audio vantage point of a demonstration, but it sends a video signal that can be watched from almost anywhere, live or after the event.

Live video webstreaming has been around for a while now, but with high bandwidth Internet access becoming much more common, and the tools needed to set up a webstream becoming easier to master, we might expect more of its use in education events.

Learners/Context

Ed Montano teaches DJs. To do this he invites experts into the studio where the students watch a demo and discuss the methods. Trouble is, it’s hard to get a good view on the demo, especially when the expert is in another country!

So Ed Montano has been testing out Hangouts on Air to webcast the guests and their demonstrations. Some developments have included multiple webcams and microphones so as to switch between different angles and vantage points. A mobile phone has even been used as a roving microphone in a HoA.

Instructions/Processes

You’ll need a camera, webcam or smartphone, a computer, a good Internet connection and a Youtube account (using a non RMIT Google account). You can schedule a Hangout on Air from Google+.

If you’re feeling confident and want to experiment with multiple feeds in the one webcast (such as a roving microphone or several camera angles), invite multiple Google accounts into the same Hangout on Air and enter with a second or third computer or device. Your hosting account can manually switch between these different devices, muting their audio if feedback is an issue.

Resources/ Technology

http://digitalearningdsc.com/2015/04/30/hoa-hangouts-on-air-and-guest-lectures/

For more assistance, visit:

Hangouts on Air help
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2553119?hl=en&ref_topic=2553242&vid=1-635777935469804186-535195685&rd=1
Youtube help
https://support.google.com/youtube/?hl=en#topic=4355266

For a demonstration of the multiple channels idea, see Leigh’s demo video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As3laH0ILQ0

Related Category:

Networked Learning (social media)

Video learning

Download Pattern:

HoA_GL.pdf

Search form

Design Pattern

Hangouts on Air (HoA) and Guest Lectures