Adobe Connect Community

On November 15, 2006, there was a Faculty Focus seminar on bringing guest speakers into Adobe Connect. Glenn Johnson and Richard Coons were the guest speakers.

Recording
The recording of the meeting can be viewed at https://breeze.psu.edu/p14204640

Files from the Meeting

• Meeting Overview: GuestSpeakerLesson.doc. The goals, objectives, and content of the meeting.
• Meeting Planning: FFoB_Seminar_Details.doc. Documentation for planning the seminar.
• Welcome PowerPoint: GuestSetupSlides.ppt. Announcements, information about the seminar and information for participants on using Adobe Connect.
• Yvonne's Introduction: YvonneIntro.ppt
• Rick Coons' Presentation: Breeze_GuestSpeak_rrc.ppt
• Glenn Johnson's Presentation: GuestSpeak_gfj.ppt
• Tips for Bringing Guest Speakers into the Classroom: See Tips for Guest Speakers under Hosting Meetings.

Questions and Answers
These are questions that were asked during the seminar and the answers given by Glenn, Rick, and Yvonne as well as some responses contributed by participants.

Q: What are some recommended layout configurations?
Yvonne: (you can’t hear her answer because the of audio problems with the recording) ...that it probably depends on what you are trying to do.
Rick: Again, I think the beauty of that is the flexibility, and as Glenn said, you want to keep things as simple as possible because there’s a lot going on. And if I can just switch back to watch my layout here for a minute, the other nice thing about Adobe Connect is that it lets you do as many layouts as you need. So if I need video, I can switch over to my video layout and now you, the audience, are focused on me and what I’m saying.

Video Layout

Not so much if I have my video frozen… (Rick un-paused his video) You can now focus on what I’m saying and speaking with you. Or you can rearrange to focus on just the slides as I’ve said before, if we switch to another layout, if I’m primarily doing slides, now the focus is simple here.

Slide Layout

Now we’re focused on just the slides and I can get my feedback over here on the left and, again, if you’re going to focus on a lot of chat, you can have a layout with just a chat window. So there’s a lot of flexibility here.
Glenn: I agree with that, Richard. I think that what you’re allowing students to do or the guest speaker to do is to focus on one particular aspect of that presentation and not necessarily get distracted as easily by some of the other windows and other things that could be taking place, so, again, focus on the message.
Yvonne: It's important to note that excluding the Chat pod from a layout eliminates communication from the audience. So, for instance, if your audio stops broadcasting, the audience has no way to communicate that to you.

Q: Why does Yvonne have a headphone and mic and Richard seems to be using a stand mic? Is one better than the other?
Participant 1: The headset is generally better. But if you are more comfortable a desktop does work very well also.
Participant 2: The headset helps screen out distractions like your office mate talking loudly on the phone.
Yvonne: The headset cuts down on echo and sound feedback problems
Rick: Again, I think a lot depends on who you’re bringing into the room and how you’re doing the presentation. For me, if I have a good desk microphone and don’t have to wear the headset I think that it gives an aura of presence, if you will. Wearing a headset and looking at someone wearing a headset reminds you that you’re not face-to-face and I think it just adds a little bit to the presentation, more like you’re in the room together.
Glenn: Not having a camera is one way to lessen the distraction. Not that you would necessarily need to see me, but the video is not necessarily that important…

Q: When you switched layouts, any private messages that I sent in chat3 were removed. Is there a way to stop that from happening?
Yvonne: That was happening because there were different Chat pods in each of the layouts. In order to maintain the same Chat pod throughout the presentation, you need to be careful to use the same pod on each layout.

Q: Can we change the layout or is the presenter/moderator who can change it?
Yvonne: You need to be a Host in the meeting room in order to be able to change the layout. Participants and Presenters don't have access to the necessary buttons.

Q:Is it good idea to put a camera on the classroom for the speaker's benefit, like with Polycom?
Yvonne: It probably depends on what you are doing. If audience body language is important to the presentation, then it would be nice to have a camera for the presenter to be able to see. Another option is for the facilitator in the room (probably the instructor) to provide information to the presenter through the chat -- things like "everyone is laughing" are appropriate and useful feedback for the presenter.

Q: Glenn is coming in about three times louder than Yvonne or Richard. How do you get everyone on the same decibel?
Yvonne: Yvonne: One of the biggest complaints about Adobe Connect is the lack of control participants and presenters have over the sound. The only tool available is the "Audio Setup Wizard" which seems to provide minimal assistance. Presenters broadcasting their audio can try turning off the automatic gain control which is found at the end of the Audio Setup Wizard. The only thing participants can really do is keep their volume control within quick reach.

Q: When the meeting is being recorded are the private messages being recorded?
Wendy: Your private messages cannot be seen by others and hence are not recorded.

Q: How receptive have guest speakers been to using this technology to participate?
Yvonne: Penn State faculty and staff seem very eager to implement this technology. Our training sessions fill up as quickly as we can schedule them. Adobe Connect provides an easy, convenient way to meet with someone at a distance without having to travel there. Using Adobe Connect you can collaboratively edit documents and share information on your computer screens.

Q: How is the control of the interface determined? I notice that no two hosts are speaking at the same time.
Yvonne: We met several times prior to holding the seminar and agreed on an agenda and format so we all knew about what to expect. As the Host, it was my job to facilitate the meeting.