CURRICULUM DESIGN LAB

FACULTY OF ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
ARTS
Quick
TEACHING
INNOVATION Byte
MAY 2020 THE ZOOM ISSUE

Hey There Zoomer!

CAN YOU HEAR ME? TODAY'S TOP FIVE

If there has been a techno-cultural moment of the COVID-19 crisis it has A few practical online resources to get
been the swift and unquestioning take-up of Zoom by - well, just about you going in Zoom
everyone. A video conferencing culture has been building up around 01 Zoom portal
Zoom - there is the Zoom summit, appropriately named Zoomtopia, and University of Melbourne
with the onset of COVID-19 Zoom quarantinees, Zoom bombing and
other Zoom memes have entered the popular lexicon. At least now we 02 Zoom video tutorials

know what the Z stands for in Generation Z. As they say, we live in Zoom YouTube Channel

Now. 03 Zoom security advice

UoM IT Services

So let's take a deep dive into everyone's go-to video conferencing app 04 Change your Zoom
with some practical (and a few playful) techniques by pro-users to help background
you settle into the Zoom scene. From compositional techniques to Zoom Mashable

etiquette, from Zoom camera sharing to the curation of Zoom 05 The unbearable lightness
backgrounds and of course, the all important Zoom exit strategy. of zooming
Padlet

Dr Mitch Goodwin
Arts Teaching Innovation
 Quick
Byte Hey There Zoomer!

EXTERNAL DEVICE & SCREEN INTEGRATION

Did you know you can use an external camera, a phone or a tablet to act as an additional
screen or camera view? Here's a few practical embellishments to your Zoom setup you
might like to explore if you are looking to demonstrate or change :
Share Another Camera
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207599483-Screen-Share-a-Camera-Input
This a great way to switch from the more intimate framing of your solo
Single user webinar demonstration of note taking, device camera and share a wider perspective or an alternative framing for
PDF annotation and direct camera engagement using a more relaxed mode of engagement (- or maybe it's just to prove you are
three IOS devices
in fact wearing pants). It is also helpful when demonstrating a procedure or
a physical action, or when you need to defer to an artifact or learning
material that you have "prepared earlier". We might describe this approach
as a form of virtual observation - an alternative video perspective of a
learning object, used in tandem with your laptop video feed to engage
directly with your students to provide context.
Share Another IOS Device
We might describe https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201379235-iOS-Screen-Sharing-with-the-
this approach as Zoom-Desktop-Client
virtual observation -
Sharing another device can also be employed as a means of annotation and
critique. A tablet and a stylus for instance can be used to annotate a text,
an alternative video or give live feedback on an assessment or draw attention to a specific
perspective of a piece of information on a web page, the detail within an image, the curve
learning object, used on a graph ...
in tandem with your " Boardwork" demonstrations
main video feed to https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/remote-boardwork
engage directly with Harvard University's Learning Lab have put together a couple of short
video demos of how to activate external sources to view content.
your students while Although STEM focused, hence the process "Boardwork", the clip
providing context." demonstrates the use of an external iPad and how to mock-up a traditional
document camera for a more tactile approach. This effect could just as
easily be achieved using a smart phone rigged onto a tripod.

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LOOKING TO GET YOUR ZOOM FACE ON?

Now that most of us in education find ourselves teaching from home full time, we are
exposing our private sphere to the curious gaze of others. Likewise you are also a
guest in their domestic space – in their share house, or back at home with their
families, or in forced accommodation a very long way from home. Here are a few tips on
how to make that experience more congenial and cinematic:
Lighting - Don't position yourself in front of a window or a bright light
Porsche Brosseau, Flickr via Fast Company
source. Lights directly above can cast shadows and from below, well that's
a ghost story. Ideally, position yourself facing a window (soft blue
daylight) or a lamp (warm yellow glow) about two feet away will give the
most flattering and even lighting effect.
Sound - Get a good headset if you are doing this frequently and/or
recording regular webinars for your students. Also think about the room
you are in. Carpet, curtains and furnishings are good for dampening the
Keep it as simple as sound. Hard flooring, kitchens, garages and hallways, not so good. A closet
possible. You don’t with a lamp would be perfect, but weird.
want a staircase Space - Virtual backgrounds are all the rage, but let's be honest, there's a
behind you where time and a place. When composing your Zoom scene, try a nice clean back
people are going up drop, a blank walls perhaps with some shadow for contrast or on an angle
and down, or too
to give some depth. You might prefer something a little more busy - a pot
plant, some art, something abstract, something with contrast. Resist
long a vista. I don’t doorways and hallways - you never know who might stray by.
want to see multiple
rooms in the shot; it’s Framing - I've seen up way too many nostrils in the last few weeks, prop
your device up at eye level. If the camera is positioned too high, say on an
distracting.” external monitor, this creates a submissive frame. You don't want people
looking down on you, now do you?
- Gideon Mendelson,
Interior Designer July Lasky (2020) How to Look Your Best on a Webcam, The New York Times
New York https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/realestate/coronavirus-webcam-
appearance.html
Boone Ashworth (2020) OK, Zoomer! How to Become a Videoconferencing Power User,
Wired magazine
https://www.wired.com/story/tips-for-using-zoom/  
 
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HOW TO ROCK A ZOOM BACKGROUND

Zoom seems to have captured both the quirky and serious threads of the pandemic zeitgeist and one of the reasons for this is that it has
been accepted as not only a communication tool but also a playful venue for social and professional interaction. The key component of this
is the ability to change your Zoom background. Like all viral media events, an ability to customize the experience enhances its reputation,
while the pop culture samples are very much a product of the times and will no doubt be of interest to post-COVID digital anthropologists.

Via StarWars.com Via Studio Ghibli Via Marvel

As Chaim Gartenberg writes on The Verge, “Being stuck in an endless Zoom or Skype call can often feel like you’re trapped in an Imperial
holding cell.” Release your inner sci-fi geek and throttle your Zoom into hyper-drive with these Star Wars and Marvel backgrounds. If you
are fan of the beautiful animations of Hayao Miyazaki his production house Studio Ghibli , have also released a series of illustrations.

Via NIAID on Flickr Via the Planetary blog Via Adobe

You have no doubt noticed the graphical renderings of COVID-19 on the nightly news; even the ABC has embraced garish floating backdrops
as a permanent fixture. If you want to reproduce a similar effect for your Zoom interactions, pop over to National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (USA) on Flickr and take your pick from actual scanning electron micrographs of COVID-19. The NASA archives are also
a rich resource of iconic interstellar landscapes, while Adobe has released a bunch of classy backdrops from their stock image archive.

Via This is Colossal Via Rob Donaldson Via Mitch Goodwin

You may have some fabulous photos of your own – landscapes, sunsets or cherished locations – that would make uniquely personal Zoom
backdrops. Any image of sufficient scale and resolution will suffice. Talking about scale, what about giant animals reclaiming the streets of
St Petersburg by artist Vadim Solovyov or a backdrop full of floating crocs or avocados by Rob Donaldson ? The web is full of curated
image galleries and as your in-house Zoom curator, I have assembled a selection that caught my eye and included here for download.

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THE DARK ARTS OF VIDEO CONFERENCING

As video conferencing tools become ubiquitous modes of both labour and leisure,
“Zoom fatigue” can bring on mischievous, possibly even rogue behaviour: “Okay, so I'm
in deep here, but surely I'm not alone - how the hell can we get out of this Zoom
meeting, like now?!” Joe Pinsker, writing in The Atlantic, has a few anecdotal tips:
Pandemic or no pandemic, innocuous white lies function as a social
lubricant, allowing one to keep up an air of politeness while terminating
Parks and Recreation, NBC conversations humanely:
It only takes one - Ever notice how it takes just one person to conjure a
definitive gesture to indicate they need to leave a meeting, and the rest
of the Zoom attendees hurriedly leave as well?
Frozen face - Pinsker describes how two former colleagues would
terminate a session by freezing their face and body in place for a
I turned off my moment, "to make it seem as if their Wi-Fi had gone out, and then very
carefully, off-camera, hit the End Call button. Followed up with a short
audio slowly, and message such as 'Whoops, I think my internet cut out. I think we’re
then I turned off my done, but let me know if you have any questions!.'
camera slowly, and
then I just left the
Harsh but fair - Author Gary Leff has taken to saying that he has
“another call coming up.” “Notice I said, ‘coming up’ rather than ‘about to
meeting ... I just cut start,’” he says. “In other words, it is at some future point—true! And
off a small piece of there are things you need to do between now and the call—also true!”
myself, little by little,
Domesticity - Heather Jovanovic, a 25-year-old college student, says
and then I'm out.” “Meals are really big now, so it’s like, ‘I have to go make lunch.’” She’s
also excused herself from calls because of her barking dogs and
- Destiny Lopez,
graduate student,
because the battery’s running low on whatever device she’s using.
Waterbury,
“There’s no arguing with a dead phone,” she said.
Connecticut, USA
Adapted from, Joe Pinsker (2020) The New White Lies of Lockdown, The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/04/end-zoom-facetime-video-call-
excuses/610369