Check out the Learning Spaces: Search and Explore tool to find what technology is in the room you were assigned. All instrumented classrooms have basic equipment.

• Wireless microphone for the instructor
• Computer
• Laptop connection
• Air Media for wireless screen casting
• Interactive panel
• Speakers
• Document camera
• Projector
• Room camera (some rooms also have an instructor camera)
• Student microphones (installed at the ceiling, or Catchbox microphone, which can be thrown to/between students)

Getting Started in the Classroom

1. Starting Your Web Conference or Zoom Room call

• Start the web conferencing application about 5-10 minutes before class starts to provide remote students with time to log in and adjust microphones and cameras
• Have a TA or a student assistant (rotating volunteers in class) to help monitor the remote students’ activity (chat, hands raised, muted microphone)
• Make sure to Record the session so students, who may need to watch asynchronously can do so
• In-depth Resources:
  • Starting the Classroom Equipment
    
  • Podium Quickstart Guide

Additional Tips

• Press the microphone button at the bottom of the screen to access microphone mute/unmute controls. By default the student (audience microphones) will be muted. 
• Inform students that they should refrain from having side conversations in class, because everything they say will be picked up and broadcast to the remote students, making it very difficult for them to hear the instructor. 
• Inform students their laptop microphones and speakers need to be muted – otherwise the laptop microphone, speakers, and the ceiling microphone, will pick up the audio and transmit it into the call at slightly different times causing audio problems. During group work, make sure the students are in breakout rooms and not in the main class connection –or their conversations will be picked up for all groups to hear. 
  • Being in breakout rooms allows in-class students to use their laptop microphones without broadcasting to all of the groups (it is advised in-class students use headphones for group work so other in-class student groups will be less distracted by the classroom conversations). 
• At the beginning of class, check the camera position in your web conferencing application; make adjustments using the camera controls on the touch screen.
• Include the students in helping you to manage this classroom experience with what is available. It’s a team effort to teach and learn.
• Prepare a netiquette guide for your class and review to remind them about what behavior is expected in a HyFlex classroom
• Before questions start, explain the classroom setup and how you would like questions to be asked by all students. Ideas:
  1. Student raises hand (remote students use the web conferencing raise hand feature)
  2. Remote students post questions in the chat and you, or TA, reads to the class
  3. If classroom student asks question, you repeat the question so all classroom and remote student can hear
• If you are planning to use Breakout Rooms during class, ask your classroom students to bring their devices to join in. Use the chat feature to avoid noisy discussions in breakout rooms.

Resource Contacts

• Instructional Design Center (IDC) 
• Information Technology
• Teaching Tools & Technology
• Teach HyFlex at NDSU