Have you been using Zoom for the online delivery of lectures and online office hours but are looking for an alternative? CSUN Academic Technology is piloting a new and engaging video platform called InSpace.
One of the biggest hurdles with Zoom is getting engagement from your students from the literal wall of squares in the interface. InSpace reimagines what virtual learning looks like by making human connection the goal. Created by educators for educators, InSpace aims to replicate some of the dynamism that happens in the physical classroom space. InSpace uses audio proximity allowing students to have one-on-one conversations without trying to talk over the entire class.
What if you could virtually walk around from student to student, or how about breakout rooms where students can easily move from one room to another? InSpace allows students to move freely among other participants having multiple concurrent conversations in one space simultaneously. Hear and be heard by those closest to you; audio will naturally fade as you move away, mimicking real life. All while being able to engage in unlimited whiteboards and beautiful backdrops without missing key points from the speaker.
With the InSpace and Canvas integration, you can have a dedicated class meeting area. You can have a single location for your virtual office hours, and a 24/7 student space where your students can collaborate. Closed captions and meeting recordings can be enabled by anyone, whiteboards can be shared among different courses
InSpace is currently being piloted at CSUN and a handful of licenses are still available. If you are interested and would like to learn more please contact ftc@csun.edu.
Here are two examples of what the InSpace interface looks like:
