Observation using Vuzix Blade

I felt overall the observation was a success we managed to carry out the assessment with Debbie observing me remotely and Paul wearing the Vuzix Blade glasses. As for me, this was my final observation for my Cert Ed course so I was a little nervous. Infect I preferred having one person watching me it felt less intimidating. Usually, I have two people observing me in the classroom this can sometimes be a little unnerving for the learners. However during today's observation, my learners were not fazed by Paul's presence they just got on with what they were doing. The learners were comfortable with Paul in the classroom wearing the glasses. They could see that his focus was on me and not them. What I also liked most about the glasses was that Debbie and Paul were able to communicate with one other privately during the observation. Debbie could ask Paul a question about the tasks the learners were doing or ask Paul to speak to the learner and be able to hear the learners answer in real time. This allowed them to work as a team without the need for both of them to be present in the same classroom a big positive I feel under the current COVID social distancing rules.

We experienced minor issues with WiFi and battery usage which were resolved fairly quickly, however the battery issue is a concern with the Vuzix blade. When in normal operation the glasses go idle and the battery life is up to two hours which is good. Bearing in mind that normal operation is the home screen with the time showing and the available apps. The battery life is significantly reduced once you start to use the built in apps. In the tests, I carried out prior to the observation the battery life was only 30 minutes tops when using the video or recording a video. During the observation we were using a minimum of two apps simultaneously which was a huge drain on the battery. We had two additional power banks that didn't work as well as expected so we decided to use the laptop to charge the glasses while Paul continued to record. The observation was successfully completed with the use of the laptop even then the Vuzix glasses shut down due to low battery. I am not really sure why the power banks and the laptop did not charge the battery. What I think happened is that the apps we were using were draining the battery faster than the laptop or power bank was able to charge the battery in the glasses resulting in the glasses shutting down. Another minor issue with the glasses is that after prolonged use the battery in the glasses gets very hot. This was noticed by most people who used them, especially when recording videos.

Despite the minor issues, I feel the observation was a success. We were able to carry out the objective we set out to do. I agree with Debbie we were probably being a bit too ambitious to record the entire session. Remote observation is possible to do but we are in the early stages in the use of this type of technology. With 5G and battery technology advancements, to come in the near future this could still be a game changer but until then we can use smart glasses to record short videos, observe remotely and take photos as evidence of the work carried out by the learners.