Talking/Audio Considerations

The talking feature to eLive is one of its strengths. This feature combined with the whiteboard and other communication devices has the potential to make eLive sessions highly interactive and engaging. However, this is all predicated on whether or not the audio has been set up well for everyone. If there is no good quality audio, there can be no ensuing conversation. In this area, there are two main points of consideration:

Audio setup
Simultaneous talking

Audio Setup
This doesn't require everyone to become a sound engineer, however. In fact, the one counter-intuitive element to eLive audio is that everyone has to be able to see if their voice is broadcast well. To see this, the audio level in the lower left corner of the window should be showing as much green as possible (roughly 2/3 of the space) without staying in the yellow and red. Go for green, like in the image below.

Some students may still not be broadcasting their voice well. Faculty have the ability to increase or decrease the student's microphone level by clicking on the + and - signs next to the "Talk" button in the lower left corner.

eLive audio level with mike level controls highlighted

One last consideration is for Windows users only. Many Windows computers have a microphone boost activated. This needs to be turned off to allow more control over the microphone level. To do this, the student would need to go to Tools and then Audio and choose "Boost Microphone..." At that point, students will have to make sure the box is NOT checked.

Simultaneous Talkers or Just One?
UAA's version of eLive allows simultaneous talkers, however, this can bring with it some complications. The first is that if there are any students using a 28.8 Kbps dialup connection, audio will take up all the student's bandwidth, leaving no room for whiteboards or chat messages. To access simultaneous talkers, go to the Tools menu, then Audio and choose the last option "Allow Simultaneous Talkers..."

As well, using simultaneous talkers will create echoes and feedback if all your students are not using headsets or using echo-canceling microphones. This is most likely to happen with students on Macs as these computers have built-in microphones. Students on Macs will have to use USB headsets to meet the guidelines above and make simultaneous talking possible.

Recommendation: Check connections of students and whether or not students are using headsets before using simultaneous talkers.