Overview
This article will cover details of the live classroom's Podium. Conceptually, the Podium is like the front of a physical classroom, where the instructor and any class participants who are addressing the entire room would be located. Within Engageli, participants on the Podium are represented by having their webcam videos (or avatars) being placed in an area at the very top of the page, as highlighted in the image below:
Learners and TAs can move to the podium by clicking the "Raise Hand" button from the bottom panel of their screen.
Below are some important points regarding the Podium:
- The Podium is divided into two sections: the left side displays Learners and TAs who have raised their hands, while the right side is reserved for classroom Instructors.
- The Podium accommodates up to six Learners or TAs at a time. Participants are displayed from left to right in the order their hands were raised. Once the Podium is full, any additional participants will be placed in a queue and advanced to the front as openings become available.
- The Podium can hold up to two Instructors at a time, which aligns with the classroom's limit for concurrent instructors.
- Instructors do not have a "Raise Hand" option, as they are always present on the Podium by default.
3-Dots Menu
Instructors and TAs can hover their cursor over the portrait of any user on the podium to reveal a button that contains 3 dots. Clicking this 3-dots button will reveal a dropdown menu of actions that can be applied to the user. The available options may vary depending on both your role and the user's role. Below is a sample screenshot of this 3-dots menu:
Below, we'll describe each option that appears in the dropdown menu:
- Block Mic / Unblock Mic - This will block the user's mic for the remainder of the class session. This is useful for learners who are being disruptive, as they will not be able to override this block. If the user's mic is already blocked, this can clicked to unblock it.
- Mute / Request to Unmute - This will mute the user's microphone. This is useful if the participant appears to have forgotten to mute their mic and their background noise becomes a distraction. Unlike the "Block Mic" option, the user is free to unmute themselves at any time. If the user's mic is already muted, this can be clicked to send the user a notification to unmute their mic, which can be helpful if the user is speaking, but has forgotten to unmute themselves.
- Turn Camera Off / Request to Turn Camera On - This will turn the user's camera off. Similar to the "Mute" option, the user is free to turn their camera back on at any time. If the user's camera is already off, this can be clicked to send the user a notification to turn their camera on.
- Lower Hand - This will force the user to lower their hand, removing them from the the podium. This can be useful if the user raised their hand without realizing it or if they are done speaking and has forgotten to lower their hand.
- Add to Panel - Select this option to place the user in the Panel view, which functions as Engageli's version of a speaker or presenter panel. For additional details about the Panel, visit the Live Classroom > Views Tabs > Panel section.
- Stop Screen Share - If the participant is currently sharing their screen with the classroom, clicking this will stop the share.
- Grade Learner - This feature is deprecated and will be removed in the future.