Emerging Tech For Higher Education
Hi All,
I can’t believe we’re through another month, though it seems as very little has changed since last month with our Level 5 lockdowns in Ireland. Hopefully, after Easter we will see children fully return to primary and secondary schools whilst Higher Education is continuing to be taught online. With our slow vaccination rollout, I honestly can see the first term of September 2021 and possibly the second term (Jan – May 2022) being taught online. The campus remains empty.
In fact, I will be swapping campuses in the not-so-distant future. I’ve got a new position in the University closer to home…. Despite the fact, I’m still working from home. Using technology to resign from one role and join another, and still be working from my home office was… well kinda weird! More about my new role in a future article.
This month’s topic is Emerging Tech.
While working on projects in Higher Ed, I recently got into a discussion and brainstorming session on recording devices and finding a recording device for faculty to record videos that could be made interactive using software like H5P. In the past, I would loan portable GoPro Hero 4 devices. Action cameras can shoot in 4K and HD quality, however, it is restricted to zoom and the user being able to view what they are filming.
We then discussed the use of mobile phones. We’re long gone past
the days of using a mobile phone simply to make calls and press 2, 4, 6, and 8 to move a snake character around a game. (#BringBackTheNokia3210)
The latest iPhone 12 Pro from Apple packs a punch with an A14 bionic chip. To put that in perspective that’s 3Ghz with 6 cores and 8GB GPU memory. It’s actually faster than the 5-year-old Mac Mini I’m currently using to write this article! Similar to most pro mobile phones it’s all about the cameras. The iPhone 12 has a pro camera system of ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto. The wide camera has an f/1.6 aperture with LiDAR to help deliver ultra-fast autofocus in low light. 26 mm focal length, 4x optical zoom. This is like holding a DSLR camera, though it is a phone!
What impressed me the most was a digital zoom of up to 12x, should your camera be placed on a tripod this is an incredible zoom for a phone. Video can be recorded in 4K 60fps. Having thought of whether this could replace portable GoPros for recording, priced at €400-€500? My thoughts were split between amazing visual quality for recording videos, taking photos, or even streaming with the 5G capability. However, audio! Do we still have an internal microphone that would result in poor audio quality during recordings? Right?
More and more I see news reports where mobile phones are used for video recordings or Zoom calls with reporters using Apple AirPods. The audio quality is professional even in outside broadcast scenarios. But if multiple people were in the recording? Could you use some Bluetooth device?
Or if audio could be separate from the recording and stitched in post-production, a high-quality smartphone could be used by faculty for a BYOD to recording their lectures, skills, or modules. However, is a University going to provide each faculty member with a mobile phone for this purpose? Most likely not.
Smartphones however I really think are a continuous emerging trend and when they step away from trying to get the screens to fold, the competition is always on the speed and the camera functionalities. This is where it could become a player in the future of Audio Visual, maybe not for Higher Education purposes, but for portable recording and live streaming content.
As we continue to teach online, I believe Zoom is still leaps and bounds ahead of the competition when it comes to live classroom tuition. Zoom has a road map in each quarter and I firmly believe are listening more to their end-users than their competitors. With several applications that can be integrated with their online environment, it adds a different layer of interaction between the students and the lecturer.
Recently I have been studying a Project Management course online where the course is a live classroom through Adobe Connect. I hate the layout of Adobe Connect. In comparison to Zoom, I can take the chat box, the Q&A box, slides, and camera and can separate them across screens when I’m using a dual-screen. For Adobe Connect, I’m stuck with maximizing one screen, either the chat box or the slides. I have also noticed when the cursor is used by a lecturer, it distorts their audio. I thought this was just my (old) PC however I’ve tried this on different PCs and have the same issue. This learning environment would not be at the top of my list.
I welcome your feedback and thoughts on software and online learning systems and whether you believe smartphones will replace several of our video camera devices.
Stay safe, Keep smiling!
Justin
Meet the Author
Justin Dawson CTS® is an Award Winning AV Professional employed in Higher Education in Ireland. He produces the All Things TechIE podcast available at www.AllThingsTech.IE . You can contact Justin on LinkedIn, Twitter and his official website.