As we near the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, OIT staff are equipping general classrooms as quickly as possible with Ultra-HD conferencing cameras (Rally or similar) and ceiling-mounted microphones. Given the shortage of microchips due to the pandemic, camera supply issues may prevent every classroom fully equipped by August 23. We will post and update our classroom inventory spreadsheet on the Office of Information Technology’s landing page.
Support documentation and video tutorials about how to use these new cameras are now available!
Faculty have two supported options for recording or live streaming their on-campus face-to-face lectures/class meetings.
- Echo360 - We strongly recommend Echo360's Universal Capture (UC) application for instructors who want to record their lectures/classes for posting in Blackboard. Echo360 UC includes an option to stream the course synchronously to remote learners. However, remote learners can only "participate" via a live chat tool built into Echo360 UC. Lectures/Classes recorded with Echo360 UC are automatically saved to instructors' Echo360 Library, where they are also automatically captioned. Making Echo360 videos available to students in Blackboard is a straightforward procedure, and our instructional designers and learning technology administrators are standing by to help you get started.
- Zoom - A full-featured web conferencing system, Zoom is an ideal option for instructors who want to actively engage via audio and video with remote learners during their on-campus classes. Instructors have the opportunity also to record those sessions. Recorded Zoom sessions should be saved in Echo360 and deployed into your Blackboard courses from that video storage and management system.
