Live Video Streaming
On Friday, I watched Dr. Dennen's live streaming class event on Periscope while waiting in my doctor's office for an appointment. Video streaming has become one of the top Web 2.0 platforms for communicating, entertaining and sharing information globally. As the demand for live video streaming increases so too do the options that end users like you and me have for choosing services that provide this platform.
Some options are free, like Periscope, while others have a cost. Some have viewer limits and others do not. Some are on the tips of the tongues of mobile users and others like PHANDO are relatively new and trying to make their way into the market. I researched live streaming online and found that a CDN powered service, like DaCast, Ustream, Livestream, Wowza, or Brightcove, will allow you to stream content globally without hitting a viewer limit. I had some thoughts after I did the research that more closely ties this platform into what we've been studying in EME 6414 and I hope you will bear with me through this discussion. I'm going to focus on video live streaming platforms that Ph.D. students can use for FREE!!! My favorite word - FREE!!! They have limitations when compared to platforms like DaCast, but I think they will serve our purposes well.
Education - Google Hangouts
Dr. Dennen's short event showed us the potential for using Periscope's live streaming in educational settings. Shaun Harper has successfully used Google Hangouts to offer several Ph.D. courses on Social Justice, Racism, and College Climates, among others. I attended more than one of these live streamed courses and fulfilled all the requirements for the Penn Equity Institute for Doctoral Students (framed my certificate). The live lectures were interactive, and some of them were later placed on the Penn Equity Youtube page where they can still be accessed. Ph.D. students from around the world took part. This shows the potential that live-streamed educational content from recognized institutions holds for providing educational opportunities to students who would not otherwise be able to attend face-to-face classes. I later added a few of the students who took the courses with me to Facebook. These students were from diverse Ph.D. fields like Engineering, Marketing, and Medicine. My personal learning network expanded because I'd taken a live streamed class in Google Hangout.
Politics - Periscope in the House of Representatives
Strange place to put Periscope right? When Speaker Paul Ryan gaveled the House session closed, and the official cameras and microphones were shut off, a Periscope video broadcast taken by Representative Scott Peters showed a group of Democrats having a 'sit-in', and giving speeches with the official cameras and the microphones off. Rep. Peters' Periscope video was picked up by CSPAN!! For me, this was a pivotal moment even if everyone didn't realize it. Here was citizen reporting occurring in the House by Rep. Peters. Technology had outpaced the rules. Was there a rule against broadcasting outside of the conventional cameras? I couldn't find any. The public and not just the American public but the global public could log in and watch the Democrats' sit-in. Live streaming now had a place in politics. Now imagine that open meetings on college campuses could be live-streamed on Periscope. Imagine college and university Presidential candidate open interviews broadcast on Periscope. How else might we use live-streaming on college/university campuses outside the classroom to increase our networks in general and personal learning networks specifically?
This weekend I was emotionally spent. I had cried and been angry so many times in the past few days over senseless deaths and mourning families that I didn't know what to do with the energy.I donated to Gofunds and established loose associations with people who were at ground zero. I have never seen anyone die before but this week I saw people die in the comfort of my home. I continue to be astonished and in awe of the composure of Diamond Reynolds as she used Facebook live streaming to document the aftermath of a tragic traffic stop. I was shocked by what I saw and at one point I had to disconnect. It was simply overwhelming. I wondered if the live streaming was TOO MUCH (Rainie & Wellman, 2012, p. 232)! Maybe the technology had gone too far that I could peer into the final moments of people's lives and watch their last breaths AS IT WAS HAPPENING!
I wanted to shut it all down. Then protest rallies around the world began, and I could see those live as well. The ability of persons to organize using Web 2.0 tools was amazing. These were not personal learning networks in action but certainly Rainie and Wellman in Chapter 7 - Networked Information had lots to say about what I was watching. Particularly, information wants to be free! Before we would have to wait for newscasts or police reports to give us information but Web 2.0 puts it there, live and unedited for global viewers.
I could see the potential for Facebook Live for students nevertheless. Almost every student has a smartphone, and nearly every student knows how to work Facebook (even if they don't use it often or have deactivated their accounts). I read all the great ideas from my classmates about how to use this technology in the classroom. I found a trove of ideas for live streaming in education from a TedTalks GrandRapids event (I'll post the link to those at the end.) I agree with Rainie and Wellman (p. 255) The Conversation Never Ends. Even now the conversation continues on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and newscasts. It's a Pandora's Box of sorts. We can't close it and make it go away so as educators we can find positive ways to use the technology to help our students not only learn but thrive in the digital landscape. Leave me some feedback on the videos from the TedTalks or on what you have read here. I really want to hear from you.
In the Community - Facebook Live
This weekend I was emotionally spent. I had cried and been angry so many times in the past few days over senseless deaths and mourning families that I didn't know what to do with the energy.I donated to Gofunds and established loose associations with people who were at ground zero. I have never seen anyone die before but this week I saw people die in the comfort of my home. I continue to be astonished and in awe of the composure of Diamond Reynolds as she used Facebook live streaming to document the aftermath of a tragic traffic stop. I was shocked by what I saw and at one point I had to disconnect. It was simply overwhelming. I wondered if the live streaming was TOO MUCH (Rainie & Wellman, 2012, p. 232)! Maybe the technology had gone too far that I could peer into the final moments of people's lives and watch their last breaths AS IT WAS HAPPENING!
I wanted to shut it all down. Then protest rallies around the world began, and I could see those live as well. The ability of persons to organize using Web 2.0 tools was amazing. These were not personal learning networks in action but certainly Rainie and Wellman in Chapter 7 - Networked Information had lots to say about what I was watching. Particularly, information wants to be free! Before we would have to wait for newscasts or police reports to give us information but Web 2.0 puts it there, live and unedited for global viewers.
I could see the potential for Facebook Live for students nevertheless. Almost every student has a smartphone, and nearly every student knows how to work Facebook (even if they don't use it often or have deactivated their accounts). I read all the great ideas from my classmates about how to use this technology in the classroom. I found a trove of ideas for live streaming in education from a TedTalks GrandRapids event (I'll post the link to those at the end.) I agree with Rainie and Wellman (p. 255) The Conversation Never Ends. Even now the conversation continues on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and newscasts. It's a Pandora's Box of sorts. We can't close it and make it go away so as educators we can find positive ways to use the technology to help our students not only learn but thrive in the digital landscape. Leave me some feedback on the videos from the TedTalks or on what you have read here. I really want to hear from you.
Have you ever used Google Hangouts to give a presentation, or only as a viewer? I was thinking of giving a periscope demo for my students in lieu of meeting in person for class when I'm at a conference, but we already use Google Drive as a class, and I'm wondering if that might be a more useful space (no new apps to download) but I'm curious if you might offer suggestions for which would work best for a short presentation.
ReplyDeleteI've been a frequent (very frequent) end user. I've also done group meeting for group presentations using Google Hangouts. I downloaded Periscope because of the EME demo. I thought it was a great tool. I often say somewhere in my blogs, use the application that works best for you. I would suggest using both (first day with one then second day with other) and gather some perception data from your students. The content is for them and they might enjoy helping you decide.
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