Adobe Connect
Instructor Best Practices
Prior to Session
· Provide a link to the Adobe Connect room for the course or meeting to all participants. If you set the meeting parameters to make the meeting accessible to anyone with the URL, this is all you will need to do. If you have limited the meeting to registered users and guests, you will have to approve anyone who tries to enter the room. If you want the room to always be open and accessible, you must make it accessible by URL and make sure that as Host you always Exit the meeting when you leave, not Close the meeting.
· Arrange your pods according to the type of instruction or interaction you will be employing. There are three layouts included in the Default Meeting Template – Sharing, Discussion and Collaboration. You should be able to find the tools you need in one of these layouts, but you may want to customize the positions of the pods or add additional ones. You can do this by clicking on the Plus sign on the bottom right under the layout icons. You will then be asked if you want to create a blank layout or copy an existing one. It’s easier to copy one of the existing layouts that is close to what you want and then rearrange the elements to your liking. You can give your new layout a name when you create it (the default name is Copy of…) or edit it afterward, and then it will always be an option in your meeting. A number of customized pods are available, some free and some for a cost, that can give you capabilities such as a timer or the ability to play sound or YouTube files. You can find some of these at http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect/extend.html
· Load any content in advance, before other participants enter the room, to save time. This applies to PowerPoints, images, video, polls, spreadsheets or anything else you will be using as instructional materials. It’s a good idea to have a welcome screen in a large Share pod that tells attendees how to adjust their microphones and speakers. A two-slide example that you can modify for your own use is available at http://icsde.ifas.ufl.edu/AdobeConnect/AdobeConnectStartingSlides.ppt. If you plan to switch between different types of content and you will wish to return to previous content, it helps to keep that content open in different layouts so you can switch back and forth between layouts to show the different content. If you don’t do this you will have to reload the content after you have closed it, which will take time.
· Connect your microphone headset BEFORE you enter your Adobe Connect room. If you forget, close
the room, connect the mic, and re-enter the room so that Adobe Connect can recognize your mic headset.
· This raises the question of whether or not you should allow attendees to use microphones. This can make it easier for participants to interact with you and with each other than if they were just using written chat, but it can also cause feedback problems. To avoid feedback, everyone must have a microphone headset and not use their computer speakers; or you can set up the meeting to use a telephone audio conference if you have access to a telephone bridge; or you can give everyone microphone rights, then Enable Single Speaker Mode, then be willing to monitor people speaking and make sure that the microphone is released when they are done, as shown in the illustration below. This requires the next person who wishes to speak to go to the Microphone icon and click on Connect My Audio.
· Ask students to indicate if they can hear you as you begin speaking. You may want to direct them to use the “Set Status” drop down and choose the “Agree” option as a confirmation.
During the Session
· If you want to record your meeting, go to the Meeting menu and click on Record Meeting. Give the recording a name that will distinguish it from other recordings; for instance, the meeting name and date if your meeting is a course or extended training with multiple recordings over different dates. If you stop the recording for any reason, you must start a new recording if you wish to resume within a session. Name subsequent recordings within a session as Part 2, etc., or something similar. The default setting for these recordings is Private, which means you can make them available only to registered IFAS users by using the Edit Participants tab; you can find this in your Host interface under your meeting name, then the Recordings tab. However, you can also make the recording Public and then distribute the URL to your participants or others.
· If you want to switch between layouts, edit pods on non-active layouts or otherwise get things ready while not altering what participants are seeing, you can go to the Meeting menu and switch to Prepare Mode. When you’re done, click on End Prepare Mode.
· There is also another way to do things in the background without participants seeing what you are doing. Again under the Meeting menu, click on Enable Presenter Only Area. This will compress your layout and open a space on the right that will only be visible to you and anyone you have given the role of Presenter. You can make notes to yourself or all presenters, open new pods before you’re ready to show them to everyone, and so forth. When you’re done, click on Disable Presenter Only Area.
· There are three roles within a Connect meeting: Host, Presenter and Participant. The host can change the status of anyone else. Be careful of making other people hosts unless it is absolutely necessary, because that person can then turn you into a participant! A participant can only see and hear what is going on, indicate their status, do written chat and use a microphone if given the privilege. A presenter can do all these things plus activate a webcam, draw on whiteboards, share other content, have private chats with other presenters and hosts and see the Presenter Only Area. A host can do all these things plus change layouts, set roles, make a recording and more. You will probably use this role feature most to upgrade participants into presenters.
· Take advantage of Adobe Connect’s interactive tools to enhance your presentation. Ask participants to use the Status Indicator to raise their hand, agree or disagree, or give other feedback to the presenters. Use poll questions to get participants involved with your material. If the number of attendees is small enough, ask questions of specific participants.
After the Session
· Remember to stop the recording if you are making one. As mentioned earlier, you can find the recording link in your Connect interface and distribute it to participants or others at your convenience.
· If students forgot to lower hands or clear emoticons, use the options in the attendees pod to do it
· If you would like to ensure that participants cannot stay in the meeting room or enter after the session ends, and/or ifyou would like to leave a message that appears when you close the meeting room, click onthe “Meeting” menu and choose “End Meeting …” and enter any message desired. Note: if you end themeeting using this option, participants cannot access the room again until a Host has re-opened the room.
· It is a good idea to follow up with presenters after a session or webinar to debrief, hear about any problems or questions, and share lessons learned so that future meetings can be improved.