By Felicia Coleman Jordan
One of my favorite realtime tips came about due to a CART assignment at a college in my area. Upon arriving at the classroom, I set up my laptop realtime software and netbook for my student. I taped down my extension cord and cables to make sure that no one would trip while walking around the classroom. After hooking up, I checked my laptop and the student’s netbook to make sure that there was a proper connection on both computers. Initially, both computer screens were connected. A few minutes later, however, I noticed that my student’s screen had gone blank. I went to the student’s netbook to try to troubleshoot the issue and was unable to immediately resolve the problem.
It was important that I get the student’s netbook up and running, so I had to quickly decide how to troubleshoot the issue. I knew if I moved my computer in front of the student, she would be able to read my screen and join the lecture. As my extension cord and cables were currently taped to the floor and class was getting ready to start, I realized that this may not be as simple as I first thought. I had to make sure not to disturb the professor or the rest of the students while troubleshooting the problem. Time was of the essence at this point, as the lecture was only seconds away from starting.
I quietly pulled the tape up from where my cables ran and swiftly moved my laptop over to where the student was seated. I placed my laptop in front of the student so that she was able to read from my screen. She was now up and running. I was so thankful that I was able to resolve the problem before the lecture started — I must admit, my student was, too!
Immediately following the lecture, the professor approached me with a wonderful compliment. He indicated that he was very impressed with how quickly I was able to resolve the issue and that the student was able to continue the lesson with the rest of the class. I was pleased with the professor’s compliment. However, this was something that I was determined to avoid happening in the future.
I was aware that realtime was done with or without cables, so I researched available products to determine which one would work best for me. I also reviewed material that I had gathered from realtime seminars and finally decided to go with a product called ME2U from Stenocast. This piece of equipment allowed me to write realtime in a safe and secure way. Using ME2U at my next CART assignment, I was able to transmit my realtime feed from my computer to the student’s netbook without a problem. Its quick USB connection took away the pain of taping down cables and cords and gave me more time to do other things in preparation of the student’s lectures. I may not choose to write wireless realtime in the courtroom, but for my CART assignments, this was the way to go!
Felicia Coleman Jordan, RPR, is a freelancer based in Detroit, Mich. She can be reached at feliciajordan@aol.com.
