Behind the Scenes at the GSB: How Professors Have Adapted to Zoom

During the pandemic, our classrooms have collapsed from 360-degree spaces of stimulation and learning to flat, 15-inch computer screens. We know what it’s like from the student perspective, but have little insight into the professor’s perspective.

The five profiles below showcase professors’ ingenuity — with elaborate technology setups, herculean feats by their teaching assistants, and learning from one another.

Below are highlights in their own words.

Professor Jim Ellis (Course: “Formation of New Ventures”)

The Setup: It’s set up in my office down the hall from the kitchen. When we went virtual in the Spring we had 5 of our 6 kids home in the house taking classes virtually (we’re down to 4 on Zoom now) so I needed a space where I wouldn’t interrupt their studies.

Tech Highlights: My main monitor is a 75-inch TV that (much to some people in the house’s chagrin) I’m borrowing from the playroom. That allows me to see faces in a large enough format that I can tell who’s who.

My Microsoft webcam wasn’t terribly reliable — it would occasionally turn the whole screen an eerie Matrix night vision style green. I now use our family’s digital SLR camera (it’s not like we are going on many vacations). I had to purchase a “Cam Link” device that cleans the camera out data into a format that the computer can use, and connect an AC power supply, so the battery wouldn’t die during class. So far (touch wood) it has worked well and been reliable — I have yet to turn green this quarter.

Funniest Moments: Our kids at home are 8, 10, 11 and 13. The younger ones are accustomed to just crashing into my office to talk about anything that’s going on at any time — like our new quarantine puppy eating my shoes, or who said what on Zoom. Early on they would rush in, grab me and start talking only to turn to see themselves on the screen alongside a gallery of 40 students and run out laughing. I’m not sure students found it that funny, but my girls certainly did.

Professor Keith Hennessey (Course: “I’m Just a Bill”)

The Setup: I use a spare bedroom as a home office. My setup is all-Apple.

Tech Highlights:

• UPLIFT adjustable standing desk — I mostly use it seated, but can go to standing in 10 seconds when I feel like it.
• MacBook Pro, two big external monitors, an iPad Pro + an iPad mini for Zoom backup and as secondary Zoom clients so I can watch multiple breakout rooms simultaneously. This gives me five screens to use.
• Logitech StreamCam + HD920c webcams + Logitech’s Capture app to adjust the camera settings + Aputure lights (3-point)
• Googly eyes on both webcams, just below the lenses, to remind me to look at the camera (I still need to get better at this.)
• My new gigabit internet connection and hardwired network connection is a blessing. I no longer have bandwidth issues.
• 99% of the time I use a Stanford scenery video as my background image.

What’s Unique: For last Thursday’s Zoom class I made 38(!) breakout rooms for 48 students: 4 for Congressional party caucuses, 16 for committee leaders to meet with their members on the upcoming markups (House Pandemic Committee R, House Pandemic Committee D, and so on, …), 4 for each legislative leader for party meetings, 2 for the White House (one reserved exclusively for the President, labeled “The Oval”), 2 for the press to do interviews, and 10 “Hideaways” for private meetings at the students’ discretion.

It took me 5 minutes to explain what I had done and to establish the rules for who controls each room. And then it just worked. Students started in their respective party caucus rooms (with POTUS and White House staff trying to get themselves invited to the caucus meetings). And then they all just (virtually) “ran around” among rooms, meeting as they needed to.

Professor Becky Lester (Course: “Financial Accounting”)

The Setup: I teach from one of the teaching studios that the GSB set up; specifically, I use a conference room that was repurposed for optimal teaching.

Tech Highlights: It includes the same type of computer from the classroom, two large screen TVs/monitors (for seeing my slides and seeing my students’ faces), a high quality camera, and a Cisco video conferencing system for high quality sound. In addition, I use a microphone (to optimize sound quality), and I also dial into the call with my Surface computer, which is hooked up to a larger monitor for ease of observing the chat and participant hand raising. I also use a Kaptivo camera to capture what I write on the whiteboard. In total, there are seven devices and five screens that I’m running during class.

Making the Setup: It took a village! There was a lot of support from the Teaching and Learning team, as well as the GSB Media Services group. The Media Services group took me through different classroom and teaching studio options in August. Once I selected a room, they met with me at least twice in the room to make sure it was configured appropriately and also procured all of the additional equipment and cables necessary. The Teaching and Learning team did several mock practice sessions with me in July, August, and September, and I additionally did practice sessions with other autumn quarter faculty, a group of my MBA2 students that I taught last year, with other faculty friends who were generous to give their time.

Funniest Moment: The fire alarm went off during one of the classes, as I’m not sure facilities realized anyone was in the building where I was teaching! But the class and I just rolled with it.

Professor Rob Siegel (Course: “Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation”)

The Setup: The setup is in my home office, which is on one side of the house away from the kitchen, family room, etc. It is close to the family’s bedrooms, which was a bit annoying for my college sophomore and high school senior children in the Spring who were both greeted by my shouting, “GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!” at the top of my lungs at 8:30 AM when I taught Entrepreneurial Finance.

I created the setup myself during the break between Winter and Spring quarters [last year]. I wanted it to feel like a “Virtual Stanford Teaching Studio.” … Look for bobble head dolls of Stanford athletes, pictures of Global Study Trips, and gifts from students that I have been given over the years.

What’s Unique: Probably the biggest thing to my setup is that I have room to stand up and pace and move around the room while looking into the camera. I miss running up and down the aisles in G101 and G102 and getting close to the students to challenge what they say, and then running down to the whiteboard to write something horrifically obnoxious with the hope that the students are engaged and paying attention.

Professor Joel Peterson (Courses: “Leadership Perspectives”, “Managing Growing Enterprises”)

What’s Unique: I’ve tried to address [the lack of opportunity for intimate interactions with students] by i) being early to every class to talk with students in small groups, and ii) holding lunch every week with 5 or 6 students.

Funniest Moments: My first one was telling a joke and receiving no feedback with no mics on. I’ve also had the entire screen disappear, leaving me to present to a black screen.

To Students: I really appreciate students willing to take risks, role play, participate. Stanford MBA students are the best!