I have been working on writing at least a post a week dedicated to Google Glass and what I have experienced and learned so far. So, this week I am again focusing on how to use Google Glass in the classroom, but this is for conducting guest lectures.
One of the things a few of my friends wanted to experience was what it was like to be a professor – meaning, recording a lecture or presentation in the classroom. I was definitely on board with this idea and thought about different ways to approach it. What is great was the fact that an opportunity arose for me today in the form of a Skype guest lecture. I had the opportunity to give a guest lecture to Dr. Courtney Childers‘ social media class at the University of Tennessee today on blogging, but I thought, hey! I can record what I am talking about so people can not only experience what it is like through glass in a longer video format, but they can experience the presentation as well from my point of view.
So, I was able to record my lecture with Glass and upload it onto YouTube. Here’s the presentation:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ZynfUwUTI[/youtube]
What were some of the things I learned from this experience? There were several things I noticed while I was doing the guest lecture via Skype with Google Glass:
- Being aware of hand gestures: I felt like I was back in my media training mode in PR – because I realized very quickly that I do move a lot when I talk. I made an effort to stay still and focused since I didn’t want to move the camera too much. So, in a way, Glass could be used to extend what we are doing already with media training – for presentations to interviews and even lectures – which I found enlightening and could be used as a good teaching tool here as well.
- Providing a window into what it is like as a UofL professor: I realized with this video, people would be able to see what my office looks like and what I have on display and how my workspace looks. I think I have a pretty normal office – don’t most professors have Angry Birds, Dr. Who posters, and coffee displays all over the place? 🙂
- Analyzing presentation points: I am always amazed when I hear myself speak because I am like – do I really sound like that? This was interesting for me to experience when I heard my voice with this recording on Glass. The audio was pretty clear and I did realize I talk a lot faster than I usually do in a traditional classroom. It was interesting.
- If you are presenting, you may want to turn off some apps on Glass: While at the beginning of the presentation, I noticed that I was getting some notices coming to me via Glass, particularly via Twitter. I had posted a picture of my office before the Skype guest lecture and I had a student send me a response asking me if I was a Dr. Who follower (because I have a poster in my office) – and of course I said yes! 🙂 However, it did catch my attention for a moment, so if you are the type of person that needs to have no distractions when presenting, you may want to keep this in mind.
- Make sure you have a full battery to record: The battery life is good for Glass, but you want to make sure it is completely full when you do the recording. I was able to record a little over 30 minutes with less than 30 percent battery life, so I was lucky that it was able to record my presentation. This is just something to note for the future.
My office at UofL #throughglass
Overall, it was fun to test out the longer video feature of Glass with this first Skype guest lecture. I am planning on doing this in my own class at UofL, so stay tuned for more videos and posts related to Google Glass. Special thanks again to Dr. Childers and her social media class for giving me the opportunity to talk about blogging and Google Glass today! Thanks and have a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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