For a tutorial on how to operate Virtual IA, click here.

What's New

Virtual IA has been updated to be easier to use as well as easier to support. Here are a couple highlights:

• Instructors use a touch-screen monitor instead of a black box.
• Students are able to view previously submitted questions.

Background

Virtual IA (Instructional Assistant) was developed to provide a means of communication between video streaming students (those watching the live class on the Internet via video streaming) and the course instructor during a class session.

Historically, human Instructional Assistants have filled this role. They sit in the classroom with the instructor and use a computer to participate in a "chat session" with the students watching via video streaming. If a video streaming student has a question for the instructor, the IA asks the question on behalf of the video streaming student.

Virtual IA was designed to mimic a human IA in these key areas:

• It receives questions submitted by video streaming students and displays them to the class instructor.
• It prevents the instructor from having to juggle additional computer applications such as chat applications or browser windows to accommodate video streaming students. This allows the instructor to focus on teaching without having to focus on the technology.

How to Use It

Virtual IA consists of hardware, software, and web page components. In the classroom, Virtual IA runs on a standalone computer system situated on or near the instructor's desk. Once the Virtual IA software application is running, the instructor controls the application using a touch-screen monitor. This empowers the instructor to manage incoming questions without having to manage another keyboard and mouse.

Virtual IA was designed to be unobtrusive for the instructor. In the most basic form, the instructor needs only to select their course from the course list at the beginning of the class session and then glance up at the computer monitor from time to time to view questions posed by video streaming students. As questions come in, they immediately appear in large text, which can easily be read from several feet away. If students ask more questions than can be displayed on the screen, the instructor can navigate between questions by using the on-screen navigation controls. The instructor is also given the ability to clear their question list.

On the student side, Virtual IA receives questions submitted via a web page. Video streaming students login to their course "launch page" to view the live class video and from there they may also submit questions to the instructor during class. Because their credentials are verified through the launch page login process, their first and last name is submitted along with the question each time they ask a question. This allows the instructor to know exactly who is asking the question.

It is from the course launch page that both instructors and students may view previously submitted questions. For students, this gives them the ability to see which questions have already been asked as well as verify that their questions have been successfully submitted to the instructor. From the instructor's stand point, this feature provides them the ability to print the question list after class so they have a record of the questions asked. Students and instructors may view the question list from the course launch page at any time unless the questions have been cleared by the instructor in the class.

Tips and Tricks for Virtual IA Use:

• Use Virtual IA to track video streaming student attendance. Ask each video streaming student to submit a question during class and make a note of their attendance.
• Ask video streaming students to participate in the live class discussion. Even though they may receive the video of your class up to 30 seconds later, they can still actively participate in the discussion. One great thing about comments submitted via Virtual IA is that there will not be any audible interruption. You can seamlessly incorporate video streaming student comments into your lecture without having lose your train of thought.
• Clear the question list once in a while. A large question list can become quite cumbersome because it requires you to have to wade through pages and pages of questions. A good practice may be for you to clear questions at the beginning of each class session instead of at the end of the class session. This will give you the opportunity to get back to your office and print the question list from the course launch page in between class sessions. Note: Questions are irretrievable after you clear the list.
• Students are able to submit questions to you from the course launch page at any time, even during non-class hours. Be sure to look out for new questions from students when you first come in to class. They may have submitted questions to you while reviewing the video streaming archive. Remember, you can view the question list at any time via course launch page as well. You do not always have to wait until you get to class.
• Virtual IA produces a tone whenever a new question has been received. If you have a tendency to walk around the class or forget to glance up at the screen, simply listen out for the "new question tone." If you happen to notice that the computer is not producing the tone whenever a new question comes in, please notify one of the Control Room Operators so they can adjust the speaker volume.