Recording lessons

[fiza]

I've been asked to look at what is available to video lessons. I am aware of IRIS Connect but seems to be on the expensive side.

What, if anything, do your schools use for this type of thing?

[IRL]

Someone here bought Swivl, it comes with a 'robot' on an overpriced mic stand that tracks a microphone worn around the neck of the teacher. You need an iPad with the software on to record but it actually works quite well and has clear audio.

[mavhc]

On what scale (1 a week, to everything), in what classrooms (specific, all, or random), for what purpose?

[Koldov]

We had IRIS (basically 2 iPods, tracking swivel mount, web interface for upload iirc), which we hardly ever used... Then the SLT decided to get Lesson Box instead, I have no idea why they thought that was any better, but it was new and shiny, probably quite expensive and came with 2 x cameras, laptop, lapel mic, all in a nice case etc.

 

Actually it was a nice bit of kit.... that got used about 3 times...

[Aprice]

School I worked with previously bought iris, to be honest I think an iPad and a tripod stand with the camera app would have done pretty much the same job. Then just upload the recordings to SharePoint / OneDrive.

[fiza]

On what scale (1 a week, to everything), in what classrooms (specific, all, or random), for what purpose?

 

1 or 2 a week, random classrooms for observation and teacher development purposes.

[robintech]

had iRIS Connect at one school and also only used 5 or 6 times, teachers didn't like being recorded nor did the pupils and it seemed a distraction. Expect a lot of "Technical issues" unless you are there for every class that needs it

[mavhc]

Do you need anything more than a camera then? Charge batteries, press record, done.

[noelmm]

We just use a standard SLR camera on a tripod. When it's requested we set the camera up somewhere suitable in the room and leave it and collect it after and simply transfer the file to our SharePoint area, there's no point in over complicating things like this if it's only going to be needed occasionally.

[jmak]

What did you use in lockdown for remote/hybrid teaching?

 

For monitoring content, pupil engagement, behaviour etc I can't see you need more than a webcam on a stick.

 

For a step up, some kind of setup intended for a meeting room like this:

https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/products/video-conferencing/conference-cameras/ptz-pro2-conferencecam.960-001186.html

 

We use these https://www.onedirect.co.uk/huddly-one for hybrid meetings (in rooms not setup for hybrid meetings [emoji849]) which I was going to say were probably more expensive than I'd recommend, but they seem to have halved in price since we bought them. The sound and the auto-framing work very well for the simplicity of setup and I thought they were reasonable value at the price we paid (£800)

[howartp]

£15k on IRIS and it's sat going dusty in a cupboard.

 

Royal pain to setup with DHCP reservations in each VLAN, changing the VLAN/IP somewhere in the (iPod?) to get it to connect, hidden secret share for it to upload to NAS.

 

Good riddance!

 

Peter

[ajevanu2]

We have the IRIS kit and software being used in several of our schools and find it overpriced and money could be spent more effectively on using Microsoft Stream and teams to record and then share on SharePoint etc. Camera wise iPad/surfaces/ give a good enough field of view if placed on a tripod in the room. However recently bought this and have trialled when delivering training course that needed recording:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tenveo-Conference-Supports-Streaming-Education/dp/B0BY7R3D9V/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#immersive-view_1689124113346

 

We use it in a large hall as well and really good for under £350.

[SamanthaD]

Overkill for most here maybe, but we run Sonic Foundry's Mediasite (approx 130 rooms, all automated to record scheduled lectures, sometimes 8 in a day. It's a big operation). The automation and scale works well for us. Panopto may also be a good solution for some.

 

Some solution agnostic lessons that we've learnt though to think about.

 

Audio is more important than video. The majority of our content is Powerpoint slides and voice, no cameras. We're lucky in that Mediasite allows us to record 2 video streams, so in some rooms cameras have been installed for capturing writing surfaces. But the majority of them only capture what's on the screen.

 

Policy matters. Our unions were very keen to ensure the recorded content would not be used for staff assessment, and staff have to explicitly agree to have their lectures recorded (with the option to opt out for no reason). Guest lectures have to agree to being recorded as well, with a carefully worded release form signed beforehand. Copyright becomes an issue - who owns the lesson content? What happens to that content when a member of staff leaves? And will you need to revisit student permissions regarding being recorded on audio and possibly video?

 

Storage - if this is not automated it's quite a manual task. Are you compressing the files? How long are you agreeing to store the content for? How easy will it be to access? Naming conventions?

 

Some food for thought!

[mavhc]

Panopto? Really, someone called their product that?

 

Agreed, Audio is most important, then an hdmi capture of what's going onto the screen, then video of the presenter

[haci]

£15k on IRIS and it's sat going dusty in a cupboard.

 

Royal pain to setup with DHCP reservations in each VLAN, changing the VLAN/IP somewhere in the (iPod?) to get it to connect, hidden secret share for it to upload to NAS.

 

Good riddance!

 

Peter

Can only second this, it was the most expensive coat hanger I've ever had.

 

The few times it was ever used was due to it being a requirement in their personal development, I know because when i tried to show them how to view their recordings i would get "oh god no I don't want to watch it, its just to tick a box"

I do recall SLT using it to make someone uneasy also.....

Edited July 20, 2023 by haci

[msi_school]

I have seen Iris at a couple of schools and generally it is a waste of money as every one has said above. At one school however it is used by all staff at least once a half term and is apparently well received.

 

In order to manage this we have a member of staff who charges them, sets them up at the end of the previous lesson and collects them at the beginning of the next. Between this and managing trolleys of Chromebooks and iPads this is a full job for a technician.

[andy_b]

IRIS was considered here. Managed to get them to realise that actually it wouldn't be used all that often. Ended up with an "action cam" with a wide angle that gets used twice a year. Worked well.

[Koldov]

Like most things in a school, this has to be SLT led/driven/enforced and the teachers really need to be onboard, also a helpful member of staff that can remember simple instructions is a must if they ever do decide to use it more than once...

 

With LessonBox unfortunately there was no real push from the SLT and nobody was interested in it. The few times they did use it, I was the one that had to drag it from one end of the school to the other open it up, connect a camera and press record, then go to the class after the lesson and pack it all up (to be fair it was a bit more complicated than that, what with extracting the video and putting it on the server)...