How you can Gather in classrooms, dorms, and other enclosed spaces
How it works
This platform offers an alternative video calling experience. As you move around the map with your keyboard, the webcam video and microphone audio of the other poeple in the room fades based on your distance to them.
Features
Host up to 50 people in a room
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Free version feature allows up to 50 people in a space. (Premium allows for 500 people).
Designated conversation zones
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In one room you can have multiple conversations. Designated zones allows you to join conversations with people in that area. If you are outside of that zone you are not part of the conversation (you cannot hear or see the video feed of other people).
Gather in a virtual space of your choosing
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Mimic an in-person meeting experience.
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Make your own space or use free a pre-built space: general, conference, university, office spaces. (Premium space inquiries are accepted).
Private spaces never expire
- There is no time limit.
Limitations
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Support for FireFox and Chrome only.
- Experience spikes of lag when using free spaces, due to sharing of server space
Steps to use it
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Create an account.
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Create a space (with an option to require a password).
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Share the space’s url to your attendees and you are done!
But Gather.town is a third-party application, is it safe?
There are a variety of options using quercus tools to build a community atmosphere such as using a discussion board to host conversations between students or using Bb Collaborate breakout rooms to create small study hubs! Despite the fact that third-party tools are not recommend (as a primary learning environment for a course), faculty members may choose to use them to achieve a specific outcome in a course. If this is the case for you, it is suggested that you consider investing time to implement the third-party, non-U of T vetted tool (e.g. Gather.town). All things considered, our office has outlined, How to safely implement third-party tools in your course. In this blog post, we describe scenarios and strategies to use when considering third-party tools, with a focus on how to reduce risk and ensure confidence while using third party tools.
How can I apply the suggested strategies from the How to safely implement third-party tools in your course post to Gather.town?
These are some tips are discusses in our blog post:
1. Identify Risks
2. Access issues to consider
3. Test the tool in a simulated environment
Not only is this is a good way to zero in on whether or not this is the best tool for your project, but you can use this as an opportunity to filter out any bugs or drawbacks with the tool.
4. Ensure it is accessible to all locations
Ensuring that the third-party tool you are using is accessible is crucial in your role as an instructor. As a global leader in research and teaching, U of T has international students from 159 countires and regions. In 2019-2020, 13,845 U of T students originated from China and 1,553 from india. China in particular is known to have a filtering system which blocks over 8,000 websites. Using comparitech, it can be verified that Gather.town is accessible in China.
Conclusion
