Improvements to course tech / ideas

Do we have ideas about how to improve the online experience of the course?

The first thing I noticed was that several of our communication tools are not integrated. For instance, the User Profiles are hit-or-miss or not consistent. The Map, pins are not connected nor integrated with the forum or chat software. The chat names are tied to Google+ profiles, and the discussion boards are tied to local discourse accounts.
I saw another participant in my state on the Map, but could not find a connection across the other tools to send her a message.

The unhangout UI is lacking. https://unhangout.media.mit.edu/event/lcl

In several cases I chatted with someone, but had difficulty matching their name to an online profile; so we could take the conversation further using other tools.

The UI is profile avatar-centric. The thumbnails move around, and then I attempted to hover over each thumbnail to find the correct user's name which I was trying to contact.

Ah, it would be nice to have all those user links connected. But I'm not sure who can work on making those link across different sign-in/platforms.

For now, wondering if there are any workarounds you can think of? (For example, conventions people might use when logging into Unhangouts, in their Discourse "About Me", and/or posting on ZeeMaps?)

I'd love to see a higher resolution video for the class. I realize it may not be possible, but I think it goes along way in keeping my attention.

Maybe, if you put the camera in another direction (not facing the door and the light from the door (or window). It might improve the visual experience.

I'll find out what we can do about improving the image quality and changing camera setup.

Yes we have ideas, but we always appreciate suggestions. Thanks for starting the topic!

Identity > Profiles are tricky for two reasons. We wanted to use a set of services rather than one integrated system (which makes it harder to control identity). And we did not want to force users to set up another profile/identity. But I completely agree that it would be nice to follow others across the different spaces, and weave together the various conversations that happen. Since Discourse allows private messaging, maybe we should use that as our starting point and try to provide some link to and from the other services.

Unhangout > Making it easier to connect with other unhangout users is something we should make easier (possible). Do you have specific suggestions / ideas? We could try to compare google IDs and if the same ID exists in unhangouts and this discussion forum, we make your unhangout username a link to your discourse profile.

Yes, a combination of things would help the profiles. Like Natalie mentioned, convention; perhaps adding a "how to use the course... tools". It could explain a best practice and sequence of things to do. Like set up discussion profile, then xyz using profile link, etc. Essential tips like this should be listed on homepage or the syllabus.

In software, I suppose it could try to do some auto-matching of names. Having a "Link your Profile" edit form might also encourage and/or confirm profile correctness. Perhaps the names in the chat window could be UI-actions or have the ability to see profile info; like discourse app does.

On the flip-side, the current limitations did force many of us to engage in chat or hangout sessions to share additional info about each other; which was a good thing.