UM/Adobe Connect

1. UM/Adobe Connect Uses and Alternatives

2. Introductions • Name • Department • Role (faculty, staff, GA/TA) • Experience • Expectations

3. Tools • UMConnect (Adobe Connect) • Strength: Powerpoint presentation; live with ability to archive • Weakness: absolutely dependent on ‘Net connectivity; cannot edit or download product • Adobe Presenter • Strength: Allows generation and publication of slide show with soundtrack. Local files with central ‘publication’ • Weakness: It’s a glorification of Powerpoint

4. Tools (cont’d) • Skype (free video conferencing software): http://www.skype.com/ • Strength: fairly robust audio and video conferencing • Weakness: No application sharing; some security and resource-use cautions • Polycom PVX sofware • Strength: good rendition of H.323 video conferencing with desktop sharing • Weakness: cost; single-user most effective

5. Tools (cont’d) • Video only  UTube? iTunesU? Web site? • Strength – Can be very simple to do • Weakness – not interactive… but can be quite effective. Time to produce depends on a wide series of factors • Audio only  podcast? iTunesU? Web site? • Strength – Can be very simple to do. Extremely portable product! • Weakness – not interactive… but can be quite effective. Time to produce depends on a wide series of factors

6. UMConnect • Can have multiple ‘hosts’ or presenters • That tiny video window? It can be expanded, and may or may not work (bandwidth concerns) • Ethernet spirits willing, you can have multiple computers in the same room • You CAN video conference if all goes well

7. UMConnect Uses • Live conference with Powerpoint slides • Live conference video conferencing • 1st choice would be dedicated system ($$$) • UMConnect can work very well… it can also not • Live conference desktop sharing or whiteboarding

8. UMConnect Concerns • The problem is not always in your set • Success depends on available bandwidth • This is NOT something you can control • Best times are before 11am and after 5pm • Wireless will [sometimes] work. Etherjack is highly preferred • HOWEVER, pay attention to your cable length… stringing long lengths to get to that Etherjack is a bad idea • If possible, test the configuration (place, time)

9. UM Support • http://www.umn.edu/UMConnect

10. Other alternatives • Consider your needs. UMConnect is best suited to deliver a Powerpoint presentation (or multiple Powerpoint presentations), live with the potential to save. • LIVE. POWERPOINT. Other uses can work but are not as likely to succeed. • Share the Powerpoint(s) ahead of time and use Skype to conference (or even a phone conference) • REMEMBER THE TELEPHONE!

11. Other alternatives • Share the Powerpoints and the recorded audio from the live session (asynchronous solution) • Adobe Presenter (asynchronous solution) • Podcast (nothing beyond the audio) • Higher end productions (asynchronous) can be dealt with in video editing solutions… time consuming

12. An Alternative: Adobe Presenter

13. Now a quick look at Presenter Example - Class orientation: https://umconnect.umn.edu/p82092517/ Example - A class lecture: https://umconnect.umn.edu/p77187695/ Go get it: http://umconnect-support.umn.edu/get/

14. Let’s look at UMConnect For Information: http://www.umn.edu/umconnect For Production: http://umconnect.umn.edu

15. Some pointers • Allow adequate setup time – It is possible to create a site and be ready to go in 15min including time to upload your presentation. Are you sure this is how you want to do it??? • Check you sound setup… and check it again • Keep Powerpoints simple – • no video; • make sure that the presentation uploads and functions correctly (it IS a conversion) • If you are recording – • Break it up • separate recording of introduction, presentation, questions • You are transmitting a presentation – • If your speaker has no ‘slides’, get a pic of the speaker and create a slide to use for that talk!