Tomorrow morning, I’m not teaching, I’m learning. I’m trying a little classroom experiment: live-streaming a presentation by two photographers.
The photographers are Robert Semeniuk, a B.C.-based documentary photographer, and John Lehmann of the Globe & Mail. I’ve met John, and he’s been to the classroom before, to the delight of my students. I’m looking forwward to meeting Robert. I greatly admire the work of both of these fine visual journalists.
The mini-forum is exploring the role of visual journalism in maintaining (or building) civic society — how explorations of the world by photojournalists and documentary photographers (and, increasingly, filmmakers) helps us to understand our world.
The experimental part of this in live streaming the event, using cheap tools and software. I’ve set up a UStream channel (one of the free ones, so expect an ad or two to pop up), hooked up a $300 SD video camera set on a tripod at the back of the room and I’ll be stringing an $80 mike from it to somewhere near the front of the room.
The goal is not to produce a TV-quality broadcast. Expect amateurish camera work (but no over-exuberant zooming, I promise). There may even be a browser crash or two (I had one happen during a trial run earlier today).
But if I can get decent image and sound out of this — as well as discussion through UStream’s chat feature — without having to turn the classroom into a kitted-out TV station, live casts may become a more frequent part of my teaching, to benefit my students and others who may be interested.
Feel free to tune in tomorrow starting at 8 a.m. PST. And, if it’s crap, feel free to say so in the chat and leave.
Lehmann and Semeniuk? That’s totally not fair! Almost makes me wish I was back in school. Will this be recorded to view later on? I’m being sent out on assignment.
Will it be recorded so others can view at a later point? I’m very interested in seeing it but won’t be able to view at that time unfortunately.