WiZiQ Blog

New and Improved Recordings for WiZiQ Premium Members

!! Update - Nov 19 - Known Issue: Due to a technical snag, some recordings on WiZiQ could be delayed. We are on top if it and will update you soon on this. We appreciate your patience.

Perhaps, one of the most useful features on WiZiQ is the ‘Class Recordings’. And we understand that our users were expecting improvements in the quality of the recordings and the addition of a few drops like inclusion of screen sharing, and audio/video files in the recordings too.

With the usage of the Virtual Classroom and recordings on the rise, we feel that our teachers and students will welcome this edition of Class Recordings.

An insight into what’s new in recordings

Here’s what to expect in the new version of Class Recordings and how it comes close to the actual class:

•    Better Interface
•    Better synch of the audio and video
•    Screen sharing recording
•    Full screen view
•    Swift switching with the time-line, no more slides




Now, the recordings have an interface that quite resemble the lay-out of the Virtual Classroom - the whiteboards on the left, audio and video window on the top-right and chat window on the bottom-right. The view has been zoomed to 100% for better clarity and quality.

You don’t find slides on the left; instead, we now provide a long time-line (progress bar) at the bottom, so that you don’t have to wait for the recording to play all the way to see the recording, say, at a given point on the time-line. Simply, drag the time-line pointer to view the recording at whatever point you would like to.

Better synch of your voice and video with your actions on the whiteboard is now ensured. Your audio or video doesn’t fall behind the movements on the whiteboard. This lag has now been minimized to under 2 seconds.

Screen-sharing events also get captured in the live class and now show in recordings. Additionally, the audio and video files or links that you play live in the Virtual Classroom are also played in the recordings.

Please note that these enhanced recordings take a bit longer to build than the earlier version. The wait is not too long though :-)

Just to mention, a thing we couldn’t yet achieve: if you download a recording, the audio and video files played in the live class won’t play in the downloaded copy.

WiZiQ will continue to build upon improvements and additions to this new version of recordings.  Post us your feedback and what next you would like to see in the recordings at support@wiziq.com or on the WiZiQ forum. Or join the discussion on the e-teaching community to send us your comments. Your feedback helps us to improve!

Screen Sharing Updated in the Virtual Classroom

We are excited to share the new screen-sharing aka desktop-sharing feature with all our users who have been looking forward to see an improved version going live in the WiZiQ Virtual Classroom. And we appreciate your patience for waiting long for this improvement!

Screen sharing, an important tool for software training or product demonstration, lets you share your on-screen activity in real-time with all participants in the Virtual Classroom. Java Runtime environment (JRE 1.5 or above) needs to be installed (only) at presenters' end to share their screens. So before you enter the class, install JRE 1.5 or above on your system to enable quick screen sharing (see system requirements below).

Fast and quality screen/desktop sharing

This new version adds screen/desktop-sharing capabilities in the Virtual Classroom with

• simple-click start and stop functions
• full-screen sharing
• improved quality with faster performance and
• shared screens also appear in class recordings

What's under the hood?

For the technologically inclined: We are using a 'screen-sharing codec' that transmits your screen as a series of images at a specific frame rate to the server, which in turn transmits these images to all attendees' screens. Since there are a lot of variables to make desktop sharing a good experience such as quality of the presenter's CPU speed, frame rate used, internet bandwidth, etc., we have used the most optimal settings for presenters with 500kbps (kilobits per second) and a pretty standard laptop (we haven't tested it on a Netbook yet). As we collect performance data over time, we will optimize it further. On the attendee side, the only variable is the Internet bandwidth as it's as simple as a video being shared. So we recommend presenters use a fast broadband connection (say 512kbps).

Steps for Screen sharing

You can instantly share your screen in the Virtual Classroom. Click on the screen-sharing icon and you are good to go. 

1.      The first time you choose to share your screen in a class, you find a security window. Click ‘Run’ (Java 1.6) or 'Yes' (Java 1.5) to start sharing your screen. Check the option 'Always trust content from this publisher' to avoid getting this message again. 

2.      Your screen starts getting shared. If you fail to receive the message that your screen is being shared within a minute, you might not have the required version of Java installed on your system. In such a case, you might need to install Java afresh.  

3.      Go to the screen that you want to share. The attendees can see you working on the documents, using an application/software or browsing the Internet. Anything you do goes live in the Virtual Classroom and gets captured in the class recording too!

4.      When you are done with all that you need to share, return to the Virtual Classroom. Click on the “Stop Sharing” button in the small message window and it stops right away. 

Attendees can also share screens in the class if writing control is transferred to them. They can begin sharing by following the same steps listed above. They need to have Java installed on their system. Only one user can share screens at a time.

System requirements to use screen sharing in the Virtual Classroom

To make it easy for you, run a check here to know if your system is compatible.

Here are the system requirements: 

1. A laptop or desktop with a Windows OS or MAC (Linux not supported yet)
2. One of the following browsers: Internet Explorer 6 or above and Firefox 3.5.0 or above on Windows OS , and Safari 4.0 on MAC
3. Java enabled browser
4. At least 512kbps Internet connection
5. Java's JRE version 1.6 (recommended). Install now
6. Port 1935 opened on your system

Tips and Pointers:

* Working within one Windows application (say a browser, MS Word or Visual Studio), there is hardly any latency, so you will find it very smooth.

* When you launch a new application for the first time, give it about 20 seconds for all the viewers to be in sync. After that, its pretty much instant transmission.

* When you are displaying high-graphic applications or websites (we noticed this with Google Maps and sometimes with Flickr), go slow describing things since you might experience a latency of a couple of seconds during transmission. This is because it takes longer for the screen sharing codec to transmit high quality, heavy images.

* If the presenter and attendees are working on different resolutions and an attendee finds some problem in the quality of the shared screen, then the attendee can switch to "Full Screen" mode (by using F11 key or using the menu option of the browser) to optimize the quality of the shared screen shown at his/her end.

In future releases we will be building on this feature further to support more browsers (currently successfully tested on Internet Explorer and FireFox on Windows and Safari on Mac), reduce latency wherever possible, and improve on quality of the screen seen by your attendees. 

I would like to mention a special thanks to Vladimir and his team at Hmelyoff's Labs who made this feature possible in WiZiQ. We will be continually bugging him to give us more features in the future as well :)

We hope you enjoy using this feature in the Virtual Classroom. Your valuable feedback helps us address your issues in future releases. 

Regards,

Harman Singh,

CEO @WiZiQ

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Discussions:
On the e-teaching community: New Screen Sharing on WiZiQ
In the WiZiQ forums: Screen Sharing Update - November 2009

Class Calendar is No Longer Available

"Class Calendar" was one of the features available to all WiZiQ members. It was the first link in the drop down sub-navigation for the Classes link [in horizontal navigation - after you sign in to WiZiQ]. This feature is no longer available. We have decided to remove this feature to make the navigation lighter and easier. With this change, the three options in the drop down sub-navigation for Classes, Tests and Content are consistent.

• The first link relates to creation [Schedule a Class, Create a Test, Upload Content]
• The second link relates to WiZiQ member assets [My Classes and Recordings, My Tests, My Content]
• The third link relates to Public Assets on WiZiQ [Public Classes, Free Online Tests, Educational Content]

We do plan to allow you export your class schedule to your web/ desktop calendars soon - something which most members have asked for.

This enhancement is in keeping with continued refinement of features available to both Free members and Premium members on WiZiQ. We plan to add and refine more features, over the coming month. We welcome and solicit feedback from all WiZiQ members. If you have an opinion about any of things we are changing or should be changing, please do let us know :)

Now Conduct an Online Class/ Session/ Webcast/ Web Conference with 500 Attendees - For Free

Yes, you got that right.

WiZiQ, is now the only platform in the world that lets teachers, presenters, experts, workshop organizers, conference speakers and consultants to hold online classes or sessions with as many as 500 attendees - free of cost.

As of last week, you could conduct an online class with 50 attendees after signing up for free with WiZiQ. All it took was a valid email address. This limit of 50 attendees per class was already higher than other similar offerings in the market. And now, this limit becomes even more flexible. You can now have up to 500 attendees in your online class/ session/ conference. All you need to do is: register for free with WiZiQ>>schedule a class>>invite attendees and conduct the class. If it sounds simple, it is.

This enhancement is in keeping with continued addition and refinement of features available to both Free members and Premium members on WiZiQ. We plan to add and refine more features, over the coming month. So, keep watching this space :-)

Moodle Live Class GMT +13 Default Time Zone Problem

One of the most common problem, people who use WiZiQ Live Class for Moodle face is that the WiZiQ Virtual Classroom defaults to GMT +13 for all classes and all classes are scheduled in that time zone.

One of the simplest fix suggested by one of our teachers, Bryce lists these simple steps:

1) Open up the session.php file from the wiziq module [download] and go to line 33;
2) Look for $tmzone=$USER->timezone;
3) Change it to $timezone=$USER->timezone;
4) Save and upload the updated file

How to set your timezone in Moodle [so that it reflects while scheduling a class]:

Under "Location Settings", the administrator would need to select these specific values in the fields. For In Default timezone you must select the Server's local time option and In Force Default timezones, the administrator must select Users can choose their own timezone. Please note that these settings can only be done by the Moodle Administrator/ System Administrator.

Now individual users can go to Edit Profile link and select their specific time zone [time zone in which they are located or wish to showcase their classes in]. For instance, in the image below UTC-5 has been selected. After selecting this time zone, these settings should be saved.

Once you [teacher] changes as specified above, you would be able to schedule web conferencing classes for your time zone [as selected in your edit profile settings].

For any questions or comments, please write to us or post a comment on this blog post.

Teachers : Schedule a Public Class on WiZiQ the Easy Way

Public Online Classes are a great way to be noticed, get feedback on your teaching style, make contacts, showcase your work and increase your visibility on Google and WiZiQ. There are two ways to schedule a public online class on WiZiQ:

1. Apply for a public online class
2. If you have access you can create your own public classes

A few teachers have access to create public classes [point 2 above]. Applying for a public class meant someone contacted you, checked the information and then scheduled the class. Starting today, we are making the process simpler. From today on WiZiQ, all "teachers" would be able to schedule a public online class from the same interface that you schedule a private online class.

You can select "Public" option under "Privacy", if you want to schedule a public online class. Fill in the information like you do for your public class [we recommend at least 300 words for your self and 300 words for your class as well as at least 5 relevant tags] and select a date/ time [at least 48 hours or later], and that's it. For the first few public classes you conduct, we will approve the class. This is to ensure that good quality class is being offered to the students and miscreants do not take advantage of the open window with content, not appropriate for children. However, after a first few classes, we are happy to give you the control and not require approval.

For questions and comments, please write to us at support@wiziq.com