Dr Anthony 'Skip' Basiel – Blended Learning Solutions

Transactional Webinar Design 16/04/2020

Please see the full paper from the introduction and conclusion below at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W-ps95oELnKXXsydehI8WAB5-MMccaTm

Transactional Webinar Design
by Anthony Basiel and Mike Howarth April 2020
abasiel@gmail.com | drmichaelhowarth@icloud.com
https://abasiel.wordpress.com | http://www.mhmvr.co.uk/

Introduction
During the time of the 2020 Coronavirus, there was an unprecedented increase in web video conferencing for professional and academic use (Business Insider 2020). From the trial-and-error approach used by many organisations, it has become apparent that guidelines for conducting webinars are needed. What are the protocols that can inform webinar design? A theoretical foundation is needed to provide a clear plan forward in the research and development of webinar interaction. This paper puts forward a ‘transactional webinar design’. A starting proposition for any webinar event is for the stakeholders to recognise the nature and degree of self-directedness. In doing so, we are working towards autonomous, self-managed webinar participants and stakeholders. The narrative of this paper moves through a series of questions. First, WHAT are the key factors of a successful webinar? Next, HOW can we blend the tools with the interactive/transactional design? Lastly, WHY would we choose this webinar model?

When engaging in an argument, a starting common language is needed. What do we mean by ‘transactional’? Dewey (1949) explains ‘transaction’ in an education context, as the individual’s pattern of behaviour in an environment. The webinar virtual 2D space is addressed in this paper. According to Moore (1997) the separation of [stakeholders] is sufficiently significant that special [engagement] strategies and techniques are needed.
This webinar analysis begins by looking at WHAT elements comprise a successful event and the related evaluation criteria. This section starts with the technical components and moves to examine the stakeholder’s profiles. When hosting or attending a webinar, is there a clear model of the expectations of the participants? Is there an inherent expectation for the interactions to be identical to a face-to-face discussion, classroom lecture, seminar debate, role-play enactment, or unstructured brainstorming? This expectation needs to be explicit so there is a criteria to measure success. In this way, there is a benchmark to form the ‘transactional webinar design’.

Conclusion

This paper investigated three questions in relation to webinar design:

1. WHAT are the key factors of a successful webinar?
2. HOW can we blend the tools with the interactive/transactional design?
3. WHY would we choose this webinar model?

For a variety of learning environments, Moore (1997) suggests that distance learning requires changes in the traditional role of teachers to be able to select media for (webinar) instruction. This paper has shown these key issues:

• Successful webinars require technical and pedagogic blending depending on the profile of the stakeholders,
• The degree of learner autonomy is related to the instructional design,
• The next-generation of webinar design may move from the current 2D (outside-looking-in) view to include a 3D immersive (inside-looking-out) perspective,
• Webinar pedagogy can provide learning opportunities from traditional Behaviourist instructional design to Humanists creative brainstorming,
• One approach to addressing ‘learning entropy’ in a large Socratic webinar discussion can be to use techniques such as a fishbone diagram,
• The Transactional Webinar Profile Toolkit (2020), provided in this research, gives the reader software to apply Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory to a real-world webinar event,
• Ongoing evaluation needs to be part of the webinar design.

By building a virtual learning community researching webinar design, we can progress towards the next-generation pedagogies and technology blends presented in this paper. The authors challenge readers to contact them to provide case study feedback on the results of using the Transactional Webinar Profile Toolkit and webinar learning theory offered. Through the analysis of the case study examples tends can inform the future designs of webinars. The authors predict a paradigm shift to more creative brainstorming webinars in the near future to promote autonomous learners.

Webinar Profile Toolkit 14/04/2020

As part of my draft conference paper on ‘Transactional Webinar Design’, I have drafted an Excel file to download. This ‘Webinar Profile Toolkit’ provides guidelines in analysing a webinar in terms of structure and dialogue to identify Moore’s Transactional Distance in relation to the potential for stakeholders to develop learning autonomy.

Please download the Webinar Profile Toolkit. Save the Excel file on your local hard drive to get the full function of the profile charts.

See the Excel file for May 2020 – v9:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SM3qV4fl58YZCqFvGWvJ6TP4F_KX-wRr/view?usp=sharing

The online Toolkit form is at: https://abasiel.wordpress.com/awards/

Here is the video walk-through: https://youtu.be/QZwvXAh9_WU
Please note this video excludes the new tabs in the toolkit for ‘Video’ and ‘Self-Assessment’. (We will add this soon).

(c) 2020 Dr. Anthony Basiel

Your feedback is welcomed using the online survey in the file.

Drone video with 360* fishbowl discussions 08/04/2020

Here is a sample of my drone video. I will be building this camera perspective into the ‘live-in-person’ model.

360* video – Device only test 02/04/2020

This is a short summary of the first 360* fishbowl discussion webinar. In this model we have replaced the 3 ‘inner-circle experts’ in person (red circle in previous diagram), with 3 laptops. I set up 3 Adobe Connect rooms, one for each laptop for me to speak about the pros & cons of using a LMS during the Coronavirus. Magnus had 3 laptops of my image around the 360* camera. When I spoke I went to a different laptop/Connect room to present my position on the topic e.g. For, Against, Fence Sitter.

As an ‘external guest’, Dr Mike Howarth had logged into the TestA Adobe Connect room to listen in on my talk on the topic. He was able to use the text chat, but not video or the microphone. For this test, Magnus did not have a webinar room set up in the physical location of the 360* camera so a virtual audience would be able to listen to all 3 of the experts.

Conclusions and recommendations:

Positives:
The quality of the sound is much better than expected when capturing the 360* recording. The audio over the Adobe Connect rooms on the laptops was acceptable with no feedback loops or echos. Magnus, as the local host/facilitator has a key role to introduce the 3 Key Experts. As the model develops to add more layers to the discussion and add external audience members, the Local Facilitator will control the pacing of the event.

Weaknesses:
There was a problem with one of Magnus’ laptops’ speakers, so we used the sound from his mobile phone to broadcast the audio on the TestC laptop. This was a good temporary fix. Magnus had done a short 360* test recording the night before (31 March ’20). However, on the day of the actual test on 1 April ’20 we had a problem of storing the recording on the local hard drive. We need to create a short ‘how-to’ induction resource so the Local Facilitator will not have problems saving the video file.

The images on the 3 laptops were too small. Although you can click on the 360* recording to move the image and see any place in the Host room, you are not able to ‘zoom in’ on the video image. The laptop screen images were too small to clearly see the speaker.

Recommendations:
For the next trial, these changes can be made:

1. Move the 3 Local Host laptops closer to the 360* camera. It may be best to put the 360* camera on the same table as the 3 laptops.
2. Add a Local Host 2D recording device e.g. smartphone or digital video person. This will make a record of the setup and the audio of the event.
3. Add a Local Host Webcast device. Add a smartphone for the Local Host/Facilitator to send the webinar to another Adobe Connect Room (e.g. Master Room-D). This room would have guests be able to hear all 3 Experts.
4. Add an External Guest to swap with one of the ‘inner-circle’ experts after they present their starting positions . The image of the new guest speaker could be exchanged with the inner-circle Expert by them in the room. The Expert would change the Guest to be a ‘Presenter’ in Connect to allow video and audio, and stop their own video during the Guest’s talk.

360* laptop webinar diagram 30/03/2020

The figure below is an outline of the 360* webinar design where the ‘inner red circle’ is using laptops instead of individual people. You can also download the PowerPoint slide.

Webinar Design: Towards a Blended Socratic Discussion Model 29/03/2020

This blog tracks the progress of a research paper for the iLRN 2020 Virtual Conference entitled, ‘Webinar Design: Towards a Blended Socratic Discussion Model’. The draft outline for the paper includes:

> Webinar learning theory: a) Telepistemology b) Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory c) Alternate Reality Game Theory

> Webinar Instructional Design: progression from the ‘talking head model’ towards a 360* immersive Socratic fishbowl discussion to promote brainstorming and creativity leading to innovative collaboration.

> Case Studies: a) Doctorate Interviews b) The British Council / University of Gaza Project c) The Work Based Learning Wednesdays Webinar d) Pre-pilot work on blending augmented reality with a fishbowl discussion model

> Application of the analysis: A ‘Flat-pack webinar toolkit (TM)’ guide for webinar presenters, hosts and participants.

Welcome to my blended learning solutions website 16/11/2012

Hello and welcome –

I am Dr Anthony ‘Skip’ Basiel, a blended learning solutions thought leader. Through this website I aim to share my eLearning knowledge, experience and capability with you, the visitor, and your professional social network. The new web address is: https://abasiel.uk

This website contains a wide range of my eLearning research and development work with real-world project examples. Please do contact me (abasiel@gmail.com) if you are interested in discussing or collaborating on any topics presented here.

I have added some personal items as well to give an insight into my background.

Please do pass on this website to anyone you think may be interested and keep this dialog going. You can also use https://tinyurl.com/BlendedLearningSolutions

Yours, 

My Routledge Press eLearning  Book is at:

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415528573/
See my thesis about eLearning pedagogy at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KLqvTlq0dzuGZ2xosUSxiglx2GDiCpaV/view?usp=sharing

And see my VLE toolkit to measure interactivity for eContent, eCommunication, Management and Learning Design (ePedagogy and ‘Telepistemology’)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5KEPSFKjo5OOXFKYlplRjBBZjQ/view?usp=sharing
and my MSc/MPhil about applied formative evaluation in eLearning at
https://tinyurl.com/MScOnlinePedagogy

An example of my teaching at the Oxford/Cambridge Summer Courses (2017) can be see at:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5KEPSFKjo5OM1B3SURMTkdkY3M

This website has been given a Google Mobility rating:

Info-Conf-CaptivateTalk-WalkthroughSTEPS 01/05/2010

Captivate Walk-through support notes

Dr. Anthony ‘Skip’ Basiel, Adobe Education Leader abasiel@gmail.com (m) 07771998799 https://abasiel.wordpress.com http://www.informatology.com/  

Disclaimer Note: Please be aware that any newer ’30 day trial’ versions of Adobe software will over-write your current older software! Do not install the samples on PCs with earlier versions of Adobe CS.

Intro: This ‘quick guide’ walk-through aims to support the Adobe Captivate Workshop at the Informatology Conference, London – April 2010. It is a series of screen grabs and short notes to help recreate the sample Captivate Induction resource used to accompany the eLearning design models paper on my blog. The full Captivate Flash example file can be found on our Adobe Education Leader’s Flash Communication Server (Adobe Connect Pro) at: http://mmse-v5.emea.adobe.acrobat.com/cap1/

 STEP 1: 

To avoid problems of your Captivate Flash file not fitting on your screen it is helpful to do your design and development work at a lower screen resolution such as 800 x 600. This will mean that it will only take part of your screen if you are at a larger resolution (e.g. X 1024).

You can change the screen resolution on a PC by right clicking on the desktop: Properties > Settings > Screen resolution and drag the slide bar to the far left.

 In Captivate, start a new Blank Project from the centre ‘Create Project’ menu. Please note that templates can be made if you create a generic design to save time with branding and house style design.

Step 2: Next, we will get our Introduction slide ready. You may use what ever software you are capable to use such as Photoshop, PowerPoint, etc. and then go to the top menu to ‘Insert’ > ‘Other slides’. Alternatively, you can use the Captivate tools to add text, animation, etc. to the opening slide. It is also easy to add and edit some sound for your ‘Splash page’: Audio > Import to slide > [choose a sound file from the Captivate library or make your own].

 Step 3: Create a visually inviting opening slide. You can do this using the Captivate tool in the toolbar to the right or import a graphic or PowerPoint slide. In .PPT the web links are live.

Insert > Other Slides > PowerPoint Slides

Background sound can be added as well.

Right click on the slide to import a pre-made sound file: Audio > Background Audio > Import. To change the sound file click Audio > Edit > Slide. This will allow you to get your image slide to finish at the same time as the sound.

Step 4: Add recording to the next part of the demonstration. This can be done with sound during the recording of added later.

Record> Follow the prompts to capture the events on the screen. You can speak over the slides – or

Add you voice to the slides:

Select the slide > Audio

Then identify how many slides will play as you record your voice over the images.

Step 5: Add a quiz / survey segment to get engagement or feedback from the participant. Select your last slide.

Select: Quiz > Question slide > Question types

For example: Short Answer > Survey will open a new short answer question box. Enter the question you wish and then ‘set the preferences’ for the responses.

For example: Enable reporting > Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro – will let you send the data to the Flash Communication server where is can be downloaded as a database (.csv) file. You can adapt the layout as needed for your design. The results page can be hidden for surveys and shown for quizzes. See the next figures 6:

Step 6: Publish your resource as a local file or online. A local file can be .html, PDF or a stand alone .exe file for a DVD. To publish online you will need to have an Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro server account.

For online access and survey data collection you need to create a folder in the Content area. Then publish the Captivate file to that folder. A Flash .swf file will be generated with a web address. The learner only needs a web browser with a Flash player to use your Captivate resource and enter their feedback.

Click: Publish > Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro > Select the server name > (You may need to add your server web address the first time) Publish

The files will be converted. And your server log in window will appear. Select your content area and publish to that folder. Give the file a clear name (e.g. AdobeCaptivateDEMO). Set the access to ‘Allow public viewing’ if anyone can use it. It may take a few minutes to publish the file depending on its size and your bandwidth access.

Click ‘OK’ when complete to get the web address to use: