We have tested a number of options available for arranging the IT platform for online lectures and decided to use the Zoom-YouTube link since it was found since it was found to be the most reliable and providing high quality connection. We realise that using these platforms from particular vendors may limit access to them in some countries, but hope that all participants will be still able to find the ways to connect.
The whole procedure will be organised in the following fashion. The Lecturer is given a link to Zoom meeting, where he/she is joined by several people – School Chairman (Director of IWP RAS, Prof. Alexander Gelfan) and Moderator (Prof. Dimitri Solomatine). Audience (participants) are not connected to this Zoom meeting, but rather are given a link to connect to the YouTube Channel “School for Young Scientists 2020 IWP RAS”.
It is advisable to bookmark this link in your browser for the future use.
LECTURE
The Lecturer uses Zoom to share his/her screen or PowerPoint programme, and starts the lecture. The signal is transmitted to the YouTube channel. Please note that there is an unfortunate technological delay due to the signal conversion between Zoom and YouTube servers, around 30-40 seconds (will be referred to as the Z-Y delay). It is unavoidable and we have to live with it.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Audience will be able to put their questions in the standard Chat Box on the YouTube channel webpage.
To be able to pose questions, you have to be logged in to your Google account (however you can follow the chat box and the lecture without being logged in). The lecturer will be busy giving a lecture so cannot answer these questions directly, and there is also a Z-Y delay, so these questions will be given to him after the lecture.
There will be several Question Integrators – Dr. Tatiana Millionschikova, Dr. Vsevolod Moreido, Dr. Andrei Kalugin, Dr. Alexei Sazonov, Dr.Pelagiya Belyakova. They are monitoring the YouTube chat box, picking the questions, and copying them to the Moderator. We have more than 450 participants, and 15 minutes for Q&A after each lecture, so obviously a limited number of questions can be selected and posed to the Lecturer. After the lecture there will be an approximately 1 minute pause due to the Z-Y delay, and the need to integrate all questions (so please don’t go away).
During this pause the Moderator will arrange the questions received from Question Integrators, will select 4-5 questions, and present them one by one to the Lecturer.
Since we will have such a large audience, we have a request to all participants concerning the use of Chat box for questions:
- during the lecture, please try to use the YouTube chat box only for professional questions to the lecturer (and not for one-to-one chats, greeting each other, or discussing weather). Please type your question in CAPITAL letters. Question Integrators have to be able to find questions in the chain of numerous messages.
- please ask a question if it is really necessary, and try to make a question also interesting to a wider audience
- please formulate it concisely, clearly and in understandable English
- please be polite, avoid using slang, judgemental statements, i.e. use generally accepted rules of communication
- due to a large number of participants please understand that the chance that your particular question is selected is not very high. It is however becomes much higher for good and well formulated questions.
Important note: after the live broadcast of a lecture is finished, the School YouTube Channel may automatically pick up some other video and start showing it.
In order to watch the broadcast of the next lecture it is necessary to refresh the page at the time of the next lecture, or click again the link which has been sent to you.
OUR SUPPORT TEAM
Overall IT support during is given by George Svetlanov, Information support: Eugenia Novikova.
We would like to thank all lecturers and participants for the interest to this School, and hope we all will have a fruitful and interesting week.
Take care, stay safe.
The School Organising Committee.