Krzysztof Bolejko, School of Natural Sciences, CoSE
Modern classes are often delivered online: usually using Zoom. Even when workshops/seminars are delivered in person, it is common for teachers to use PowerPoint slides. This exemplar addresses some of the technical challenges that teachers may face: especially important when they are required to switch between multiple windows.
The exemplar presents a teaching practice of incorporating the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio that was developed as a response to online teaching initiated by the COVID pandemic. The practice is, however, also useful in face-to-face sessions.
OBS Studio is an alternative to the ‘share full desktop’ option in Zoom, and allows the teacher to create a few ‘scenes’ with various windows pre-arranged. For example: PowerPoint slides (for lectures), MATLAB (for coding), whiteboard (for solving equations) and multiple cameras (for showing the experiment from various angles at the same time). OBS Studio allows the teacher to change between these ‘scenes’ with one click. This saves time during the face-to-face sessions, and can be a ‘lifesaver’ when presenting via Zoom with multiple windows opened: which in turn may lead to difficulty in finding the correct window to share at a particular moment.
In summary, this exemplar addresses Domain 1b (Development of learning resources and activities) of the UTAS Teaching Principles and is dedicated to colleagues in the developing teacher category. The aim of this exemplar is to share some tips on how to use OBS Studio, and make it accessible to those developing teachers who would wish to incorporate using OBS Studio in their classes.
View the exemplar on the Teaching Matters 2023 intranet page.