By devising sounds and images, the quality of the entire online lesson will improve!Introducing delivery environment and equipment techniques

Introduction

The image above is the setup of the set of equipment that I am currently using from home for online classes, lectures, conference presentations, etc. I will explain this one by one.

First of all, you should invest in your computer!

When conducting online classes, it is essential to have a computer with sufficient performance, even if nothing else.

Zoom uses its own high data compression technology, which reduces traffic while maintaining video and audio quality compared to other web conferencing systems (especially when dozens or more people access at the same time). It is relatively stable even if there are some difficulties in the connection environment or the performance of the personal computer. However, with popular PCs released a few years ago, audio is likely to be interrupted or video is distorted, and in the worst case, the application may be forcibly terminated.

You can find a lot of specialized articles about PC specifications on the net, so I would like to give the details to that, but when my colleague asked me for a recommendation, "CPU is Intel Core i5, if possible. i7 10th generation or higher "" Memory is 8GB and 16GB or more is recommended "" Storage is at least 512GB. However, considering the speed of restart in case of emergency, it is not HDD but SSD " I try to tell. Assuming that these conditions are met and the price is in the 100,000 yen range, at the time of writing this article, Dell's "Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 Platinum", HP's "ENVY 15-ep0000 Performance Model", Huawei's For example, "Matebook 14 2020 AMD".

Audio equipment is the first key to improving the quality of online lessons

Whether it's asynchronous on-demand lessons or real-time online lessons, "sound" is the most important factor in an environment where you can concentrate on learning. Even if the teacher makes a video by superimposing the audio on the PowerPoint slide without making an appearance, or if the lecture is given in real time, the lesson will be sufficient, but in most cases, the silent lesson will be established. I think it's something you want.

In this article, we have in mind the case where the student has no hearing impairment. If a student with a hearing disability is in the class, refer to the public materials of the University of Tokyo Barrier-Free Support Office and use the voice recognition / subtitle generation application called "UDTalk" introduced there. With the same equipment setup as the one introduced in the article, you can create a more comprehensive learning environment.

From a student's perspective, the stress-free listening of teachers' explanations, instructions, and questions can greatly affect the quality of the learning experience. I use an external microphone called "NT-USB" from RØDE to deliver the clearest audio possible. The NT-USB comes with a mesh-shaped windshield called a pop guard so that the breath exhaled when you speak does not directly hit the microphone. This eliminates the "buzzing" noise that occurs when exhaled air hits the microphone.

Also, NT-USB is a directional microphone called a condenser microphone, which clearly picks up my voice in front of me, while cutting the sound from another direction to some extent. During online classes, I use a space in a corner of my living room, and a 3-year-old boy is watching an educational program on TV and singing behind a sliding door (laughs). ). I think that the directional microphone will be a reliable ally for teachers who have no choice but to give online lessons in the presence of family life sounds like me.

A webcam is enough for online lessons, but ...

In addition to sound, another important factor when conducting online lessons is video. I used Logitech's "HD Pro Webcam C920s" webcam when online classes were just beginning in the spring of 2020. Just plug the included USB cable into your computer and you're ready to go, and the resolution is more than enough for online lessons.

One of the benefits of using an external camera instead of the computer's built-in camera is that you can see yourself with a more natural angle of view. If you place your laptop on your desk and shoot with its built-in camera, you'll be looking down at the camera physically below you. Then, the lesson will be taught literally from the top, which may give a difficult impression even if I have no intention of doing so.

Also, in the case of the built-in camera, due to problems with distance and angle of view, the image can only be seen from above the neck, and it may end up in what is commonly referred to as a "neck image". The fact that you can only see above the other person's neck in a face-to-face manner means that the person's distance is close to zero, so the "raw neck image" gives the viewer a considerable sense of oppression. increase. If you use an external camera instead of the built-in camera of your computer and set the camera lens to a height slightly above your line of sight, you will be able to teach in a more natural way.

Furthermore, I am now using a device called "ATEM mini" to replace Sony's digital compact camera "ZV-1" with a webcam. ATEM mini is a device called a switcher, and if you connect a digital camera, Handycam video camera, etc. to it, and then connect ATEM mini to a personal computer, you can conduct online lessons with high-quality images such as 4K images. .. At this time, if you use a digital camera such as the ZV-1 that has an excellent brightness correction function, there is also the advantage that the facial expression will appear bright even if you do not use lighting other than the fluorescent lights in the room. I will show you the screenshots taken with the webcam and ZV-1 under different conditions, so please compare them.

In addition, with a switcher, you can connect multiple cameras, iPads, and other devices at the same time and switch the video displayed on Zoom with the touch of a button at hand. With this function, it is possible to instantly switch screens to show hand-drawn "board writing" while giving a lecture using slides in an online class.