Have you also tried going online with your classes in past few months? Have you encountered issues like delay in music and sound? Getting cut off due to music rights? Low video or audio quality? Low bandwidth and endless annoying loading icon? Here are some first hand experiences from instructors around the globe, which will help you perform better online.
Seen any of this before?
So annoying, I know!
I thought maybe we can learn a thing or two from each other. So I've asked teachers around the world, teaching dance fitness classes, dance classes and even some regular fitness classes to share their experiences, so it can help us all working online. Shared experience is always best experience. We've gathered close to 100 thorough responses and here are the official results of the survey. In the end you can find a summary if you are really not into reading everything.
The 5 platforms we have put most focus on were: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Zoom and Twitch. In this time Facebook has launched also Rooms and Google launched Meets, so they were not yet included in the survey, but we can conclude on their pros and cons based on other possibilities Facebook and Google were offering before. Zumba has also launched an app for online classes, which is not included here, since it is not open for anyone. There are for sure many more platforms possible, here are only the most popular.
The survey showed that in this period in majority we have tried more than one platform:
72% tried Facebook, 72% tried Zoom, 39% tried Instagram, 26% tried Youtube and 18% tried Twitch. Other platforms mentioned were Webex, Google Hangout... (under 2%).
The satisfaction rate varied a lot among those platforms. Here are some findings:
- The best experiences people had was with Zoom (33% of instructors placed it on 1st place), following by Facebook with 25% (the rate of people trying those two platforms is also highest), third came Youtube with 15%, further behind Twitch with 8%.
- Interestingly, for noone Instagram served as top experience (literary 0% of top 1 position). It seems though Instagram always came in as »second best« option (25% of instructors placed it on position number 2), second was again Facebook (23%), Zoom (8%), Youtube (3%).
It is fair to mention that people who didn't try various platforms couldn't vote properly here, but the patterns of those who could are interesting enough.
Further on, instructors were asked to share their good and bad experiences of each of the platforms. Find out what bothered instructors the most and what they found rewarding:
PROS AND CONS OF FACEBOOK
+ almost everyone is on it
+ doesn't delay video and audio (there were some exceptions though)
+ easy to use
+ video stays online even after live transmit
+ good sound quality
+ possibility of private groups (invitations only)
+ unlimited streaming time
- Cuts video due to music copyright
- It is impossible to forsee which music will get blocked as it constantly changes
- Even working with legal music got blocked
- Later copyrighted videos are muted
- Blocking videos stopped the workout progress and demotivated students and teachers
- No visual connection with students
- Students without FB account can't access
- Video framing is different than usual
PROS AND CONS OF INSTAGRAM
+ easiest access to livestream for followers (they get notified when you go live)
+ real time streaming, no video delay
+ request to be futured in live is a nice option
+ good sound quality compared to other platforms
- Cuts off due to music copyright
- Even paying for music for educational usage doesn't stop cutting off
- No visual connection with people
- Some comments got deleted afterwards
- Limited to 60min stream and dissapears after 24 hours
- It seems instructors got blocked after 20-30min of livestream regardless of copyright
- Hard to do a ladiesonly class
PROS AND CONS OF YOUTUBE
+ anyone can access
+ easy to work with
+ it doesn't get muted after copyright issue
+ easy to create private/unlisted class, having different links for different classes, so it's easier to keep track of payments
+ good sound quality
+ no delay between video and audio
+ prerecorded video is a great option too
- Missing seeing people
- Too much competition
- It requiers previous followers to be seen
- Bad connection sometimes, keeps loading during livestream, annoying for students
PROS AND CONS OF ZOOM
+ good connection with people, you see them
+ no music copyright issues
+ anyone can join
+ private space
+ recording option for later replays
- Extreme video delay, one needs a really good internet connection
- Security issues
- More complicated to log in, install app...
- Potential sound issues (depends on equipment)
- 40min cut off in free version
PROS AND CONS OF TWITCH
+ doesn't lag (some exceptions though)
+ no copyright issues
- Not private, anyone can see the live stream
- Ads in free version
WHAT DO INSTRUCTORS NEED IN A GOOD PLATFORM?
It does seem there are some characteristics that we all find necessary for online classes, some more important, some less. Let's see what instructors need most out of a platform:
1. No internet connection issues (pretty unanimous here – 87% find this as most important)
2. No music copyright issues (also pretty unanimous – 72% need this badly, I think those who don't, probably don't use music for their classes)
3. Seeing your students live (49% find it crucial, 13% important, 25% are indifferent)
4. Free app with no time limits (47% find this extremely important, 26% important and 18% are indifferent)
5. Possibility of live comments (45% find it most important, 29% highly important and only 10% as irrelevant)
6. Closed class, registration required (only 23% find it extremely important, opinions are very evenly distributed between important and irrelevant, 50-50)
SHOULD WE CHARGE FOR ONLINE CLASSES?
The topic that rose so many hot debates among instructors. Here's how instructors think:
41% The price should be set, but it should be lower than in real life classes
21% It should base on donations
13% It's a must, because we are working hard
And what would be ideal price for an online class?
Most answers varied around 5eur per class in Europe (depends on a country) and 5-10RM (per example in Malaysia).
WHY ARE INSTRUCTORS TEACHING ONLINE CLASSES?
A good question to think about on your own, why you really want to do it?
89% started because they wanted to keep their regular students active.
22% see this as a new business opportunity
16% want to promote their work across the world this way.
Less possible are answers: because everyone else is doing it, to spread joy during difficult times, to give people sense of purpose, to stay present within community...
ARE INSTRUCTORS HAPPY WITH HOW THEY ARE DOING ONLINE?
60% find it OK in current situation, but can't wait to get back to real life classes.
And 24% are pleasantly surprised of how this works and think about keeping it online.
Not many really really love it. (Only 3%)
When instructors were asked of what their students (those who were dancing along) accepted the most, it seems that students prefer Facebook streams, then comes Zoom and Youtube. For fans (those who were only watching) best option was Facebook and »second best« Instagram.
SUMMARY
We have a lot of data here, but some very interesting findings can be made.
1. Here is a table of all 5 platforms with their features, considering what instructors really need of a platform:
2. Facebook was very well excepted by students and teachers, though it got annoying to use due to unpredictable copyright claims. But instructors found most people had Facebook, so it is in a way the best solution to reach people.
3. Zoom was widely used probably because of the opportunity to actually see and interact with students. It got intolerable delays between video and audio though.
4. Instagram was never a first choice, it always came as »second best«.
5. Youtube was probably the most accessible solution for students, but without proper followers or good email base it was hard to reach people. The internet connection was upsetting as well.
6. Twitch was tried out only by a few. It seems the sound quality is not as good though, but the interaction with students is nice.
FURTHER SUGGESTIONS AND TRICKS
It's pretty obvious there is no perfect choice, that would have everything a dance fitness or dance class needs. So I'm gonna give you my thoughts on what best decisions might be and tricks on how to make them better:
1. My Nr. 1 pick was Youtube. If you are like me and your students don't have a Facebook or any other account and are not really IT educated to install or log into other platforms, you probably want to keep it really simple. As simple as having just one link to click on and be in. Youtube for me really had connection issues, so I would suggest you try the prerecorded version, post it as Unlisted (so only people with link can join in) and play it as premiere. You will loose the ability to communicate live with people, but you will gain video quality. You need a good email list or other base to notify people and they can join in with one click on the link.
2. If your goal is to reach new people, than social media is a better choice. You can outsmart Facebook, by trial and error. The more you will try, the more you will learn. If you want to charge people for class, you should create a group (or maybe Messenger room) and teach there. If you are going for new people, try Live video on your profile. In any case try to figure out which songs get blocked frequently (I would suggest not to play really popular and copyright protected artists like Pitbull, Maluma and remember all other artists you got blocked with. Try using less known artists. But there is really no rule, so you can't know in advance.
3. If your followers are on Instagram that is totally cool. Use music of less known artists and do a demo live class (it's cool because they will get notified you are live). But during that live demo I would suggest you invite them to another platform, where you can do a full class and can charge for attendance.
4. For Zoom you really really need a good internet connection. There is so many videos being streamed, so good connection is a must. You can check your connection status online, here is one random example. Check in the place where your computer/phone usually stands, test different positions and check upload as well as download, both are important because some videos you are downloading, some you are uploading. Try using a chord instead of a WI-FI and don't stream through a hot-spot. I think same goes for Twitch. For both, Zoom and Twitch, you need a members list before, to notify them how to log in. Zoom was made more accessible during quarantine time, but they do have a 40-minute barrier with free version. So if you are thinking on being serious with this, consider the Pro version for 15eur per month to avoid time limit.
5. One really cool trick for music copyright issues seems to be TALKING. If you talk a lot, first in the begging of streaming (no music, just bla bla bla), and later even over songs, especially if you have microphone, the music will not be automatically recognized and you stand a greater chance of not getting blocked or muted.
I'm sure there are many more tricks that could work. Do send me your ideas and solutions. I will be happy to read what you think, what you have tried and how this was helpful.
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