Gear for the HyFlex Teaching and Learning Space
今天，在科技界和教育界，以及更广泛的社会知识工作领域，一场激烈的辩论正在进行. Media outlets have reported widely that 7.7% of workers in April 2022 worked from home, down from 35% in May 2020. It’s worth noting that the survey behind that number specifically asked about telework due to the pandemic, not for other reasons, and so it’s an underestimate to some degree.
即使考虑到这一点，对于知识工作者来说，这个数字似乎也低得惊人. Knowing our own staff, 并在Y Combinator的Hacker News论坛上阅读有关远程vs的评论. on-premise work, 很明显，在家工作安排的灵活性是吸引和留住相当一部分劳动力的主要因素. The same is true for university-aged students, some of whom prefer online courses, 许多人需要灵活的在线选择来满足他们的日程安排需求. Other students and workers prefer the on-premise experience, which demands a hybrid and flexible approach, and means the right tools for the job must be brought to bear.
As discussed in a previous column, 设计混合教室或会议空间的游戏名称是平衡远程和本地观众的包容性 同事有时会分别称他们为“变焦者”和“分房者”. Also, we know that for a remote audience, the primary concern is quality audio: if students or meeting participants can’t hear one another, the meeting is a frustrating waste of time.
One of the top selling videoconferencing cameras is the Meeting Owl 3 (formerly Meeting Owl Pro) from Owl Labs (Figure 1, below). The primary selling point for this device is the AI-driven punch-in feature on the 360 camera dome on the top of the unit; the video sent from the classroom or meeting space to the remote audience is a well-framed shot of whoever around the camera is speaking, or up to 3 people speaking to one another. 顶部可选的全景条允许远程观众看到在场的每个人. 内部显示器应该以“画廊”的方式显示远程观众，这样每个人都知道谁在参加(这样猫头鹰就不会把电视上的变焦者的脸误认为是室友).) Owl甚至有一个跟随主讲人的功能，以支持那些喜欢在与学生互动时四处走动的教师.
Figure 1. Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3
A feature that’s even more impressive to me is how the Owl handles audio. 它有一个8个麦克风阵列，用来识别可能的房间说话的位置，然后在相机上输入，这在捕捉距离设备相当近的音频方面做得很好. The Owl also has clear speakers built-in, 因此，当你与远程听众互动时，他们的声音来自你应该看向的方向.
另一个促进缩放包容性的不寻常功能允许远程观众打断本地观众. 通常，视频会议系统会将麦克风置于扬声器之上，以避免回声, but this “Double Talk” setting reverses that bias.
Another tool well worth investigating is the Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote (Figure 2, below). 这个设备是一个混合友好的激光笔和幻灯片推进器，当涉及到与远程学生或与会者分享视觉辅助时，它促进了包容性. 如果你使用传统工具，比如激光笔或标尺来共享屏幕并突出显示屏幕的某些部分, 远程观众会对你想要引起注意的内容有明显的误解. The Spotlight functions fairly similarly to a Nintendo WiiMote or JoyCon, 检测运动，移动虚拟激光笔周围的视觉辅助，可以指示甚至放大你的手势的目标.
Figure 2. Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote
It takes a little getting used to, but this feature substantially improves the remote audience’s experience, not only in real time for meetings and synchronous class sessions, 但也适用于录制讲座，你想在与视觉辅助工具互动的同时四处走动，而不是用平板电脑或鼠标注释.
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