Boston Higashi School Uses ATEM Mini Pro to Live Stream Lessons
Boston Higashi School (BHS) is a non-profit, international school for children and young adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The school’s program originated in Tokyo, Japan in 1964 and was founded by the late Dr. Kiyo Kitahara who developed Daily Life Therapy®, an original methodology to educate children with Autism. BHS currently enrolls approximately 150 students ages 5-22, and about 60 percent of them are residential students who live in the dormitory on campus and receive around-the-clock education.
Hiroshi Abe (Hiro) is a Master Teacher with the Employment Education program at BHS. The program provides students with the opportunity to acquire and apply work skills to be able to hold jobs out in the community. In addition to teaching, one of Hiro’s main responsibilities is managing relationships with organizations outside of the school to assure quality internships at community-based job sites, as well as to create a wider variety of employment opportunities for the students. According to BHS, exposure to various career paths enables students to pursue endeavors that suit their interests and abilities.
Unlocking the Potential for Remote Learning
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, all off-campus internships were suspended for safety reasons, which set huge limits and created obstacles for the students and their learning styles, as daily routines, structure, clear expectations and repetition are key for them to successfully acquire their vocational and self-regulating skills. To fill the gap for students, Hiro knew he needed to create a remote learning infrastructure and live stream lessons on Employment Education and Life Skills. To accomplish this, he invested in Blackmagic Design’s ATEM Mini Pro live production switcher and has since live streamed more than 100 lessons.
“No matter where our students are located right now, all of them need to attend some virtual lessons for safety reasons with regard to the ongoing pandemic,” said Hiro. “Learning remotely and attending live streamed lessons was believed to be non-beneficial or impossible for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, we began live streaming in April 2020 and have been very successful in teaching students.”
A Unique Solution for A Unique Subject Matter
For the past year, Hiro has been relying on live streaming to teach a group of approximately 30 students with ASD who are enrolled in his Employment Education classes. His students are older than high school age, and some are learning at home while others are on campus. According to Hiro, due to the uniqueness of the subject matter, he needs multiple cameras to be able to show the students various demonstrations - e.g., how to fold towels, how to operate a washing machine, how to group recyclable items, how to stock beverages in the fridge, etc. All of the content he teaches is preparing students for their future internships. One camera is set up in front of Hiro capturing his face and body movements, and a second camera hangs from the ceiling to show items and demonstrations on a big table in front of him.
When he first started teaching virtually, Hiro presented his lessons via Google Meet, using the platform to switch his two cameras. However, every time he switched the cameras, there was a 5-10 second delay, which was distracting and interrupted the learning process.
Hiro regularly monitors YouTube to develop his teaching, supervising and event organizing skills, and he came across some Japanese YouTube videos that spurred him to live stream lessons using a live production switcher, specifically the ATEM Mini Pro, built for multi-camera production. Switching to the ATEM Mini Pro not only solved his latency problem but also provided him with many useful functions for the students, such as picture-in-picture effects. It also includes direct recording to USB flash disks in H.264, which lets Hiro record each lesson.
“The ATEM Mini Pro has helped the students focus during the live streamed lessons,” Hiro noted. “The picture-in-picture capability is especially useful as it gives our students extra assurance for their self-regulation because they can see their teacher’s familiar face while following along with the demonstration.”
Distance Learning in a Familiar Way
“Seamless switching between multiple cameras and picture-in-picture are the biggestgame changers for my lessons,” said Hiro. “The ATEM Mini Pro enables me to record my live streaming lesson with some switching effects simultaneously. Due to the future necessity to record my lessons to make instructional videos for our students and staff, ATEM Mini Pro has become my best friend for my lesson presentations. Additionally, the DVE transition feature helps motivate our students to watch the screen and allows for seamless transitions between the two cameras.”
Hiro’s current setup includes two cameras and a wireless microphone connected to the ATEM Mini Pro, with the output live streamed via his MacBook Pro. Hiro plans to add another laptop to show videos and lecture notes and also plans to begin editing any recorded lessons using DaVinci Resolve post production software to make instructional videos for his students and staff. This way, the videos can be shared by all students, parents, teachers, residential staff, and any other staff members who support the school’s Employment Education program.