Classroom Technology

Ideally, bimodal teaching will take place in a classroom outfitted with a new video conference system from DTEN. This unit that looks like a computer screen, but it is a state-of-the-art Zoom conferencing tool equipped with:

• Digital whiteboarding and live on-screen annotation of documents and shared content,
• Wide-angle 4k camera with auto-framing that keeps everyone perfectly in-frame,
• Advanced microphone, 
• Responsive multi-touch display that provides an intuitive touch experience, and
• Spatial sensing technology to enable high-impact broadcasting from the classroom.

DTENs will be positioned at the back of a classroom where students would sit, therefore simulating that the DTEN is a student in attendance.

Will my room have a DTEN? Here's a spreadsheet of rooms with DTENs that is updated every term. Whether or not your room has a DTEN, please see the tech resources below for assistance with running a Bimodal class.

Bimodal Classroom Checklist - Use this checklist to get your classroom prepped for your Bimodal Class.

Teleconference Audio Quick Reference - For when you're using a teleconferencing unit instead of DTEN.

DTEN Video Walkthroughs

These videos will guide you through connecting your DTEN to your Zoom room. You will be asked to log-in to access the Panopto videos below.

Introduction to the DTEN board

As a general rule, launch Zoom from your laptop first, then connect the DTEN to your Zoom room.

Then, you'll want to share your laptop audio with the DTEN board, so students on Zoom and in the Classroom can hear any media you're sharing.

Planning for Active Learning

Here are some recommendations for planning lessons that engage both sets of learners equitably:

1. Leverage active learning (group work, debates, gallery walks, guided discussion, co-creation, and role play).
2. Design lessons that can be equitably consumed and mastered by both modalities (e.g., not including in-person white boarding as the only option for notes, but using the DTEN whiteboard function and projecting to both audiences)
3. Consider lessons that activate student agency in some way (e.g., 2 or 3 activities that they can choose from by voting).
4. Consider shortening class meeting time to no more than 2 hours unless there are requirements otherwise in the program due to accreditation or licensure.
5. When shortening class time, please create an asynchronous learning activity in D2L to make up for the instructional time. For example:
   • Online Discussion Forum (2 to 2.5 hours for 1 original post and 2 replies)
   • Field Work Assignment (ask the students to apply a learning objectives from the week to their workplace by observation or reflection)
   • Research and Reflect Assignment (ask the students to research a key item from the learning objectives from the week and reflect on its applicability to their lives, either professionally, personally, or societally)
6. Develop a habit of repeating questions to the class, by modality, in order to give space to each set of students to answer without feeling they are interrupting others. You could also consider alternating the answers of questions between modality, as long as there is equitable weight.

Finding ways to not only build engagement but also promote active learning for all students, faculty should consider the goals of the interaction. It can be challenging for faculty to come up with specific approaches that work for students who are simultaneously in the physical classroom with those who are attending online, synchronously.

Louisiana State University developed a guide called Teaching Tools: Active Learning while Physically Distancing that outlines a multitude of approaches to support active learning in an equitable way across modalities. The guide is divided into the specific instructional and assessment goals:

• Engage content learning and support communication skills development
• Engage and check understanding
• Monitor and assess understanding
• Reflect on learning
• Strengthen understanding
• Active engagement and planning for future learning connections
• Providing/getting feedback on work in progress

Each Idea for the guide is framed across three modalities: online, synchronous; Online, asynchronous; and F2F in a physically distanced classroom. Determine the goal of the student engagement in your classroom, and use this guide filled with activity ideas to help create an active learning environment for all students.

Bimodal Active Learning Resources

Bimodal Lesson Plan Template - This is a guiding framework for planning your class in a Bimodal format.

Bimodal Active Learning Strategies- This resource will help you find ways to build engagement and promote active learning for students in a Bimodal environment.

Managing the Bimodal Classroom - Pedagogical considerations for creating a welcoming environment for students in a Bimodal format.

Navigating the Room

In a bimodal classroom, there is an interplay among the instructors, face-to-face students, and remote students linked by video, audio, and chat technologies. As you navigate around the classroom, engaging with both sets of learners, keep the following in mind:

1. It is important to be sure you are walking around the classroom still in view and within the microphone range, you should see markers on the floor for this purpose.
2. When screen-sharing, online students have to choose grid view to be able to view shared screens, speaker view will not show screen sharing.
3. All devices except DTEN should be muted—mics and speakers.
4. Faculty should share-screen from the classroom computer or their laptop.
5. Screen Sharing on DTEN boards removes the online audience's camera grid.
6. Only use the camera of DTEN in the classroom. If the F2F students in the classroom are logged into zoom, they should turn off their video and mute their mics, and speakers to avoid distortion and feedback..

Familiarize yourself with how the room is set up before your class begins. Take some time to also discuss guidelines and norms with your students.