This article is for Owners/Instructors. Click here for the student article.
Stimulus activities allow participants to record a video response to a prompt video (or other media) that you select. The recorded response will then be synchronized to the stimulus media, and the two will play side-by-side. This type is commonly used in interpreting and other language activities, for mock interviews, and other prompt-oriented responses. If you would like to see how students respond to Stimulus activities, see Recording a Stimulus video
How to set up a Stimulus activity
Create a new activity and select "Stimulus" as the type. Then, change the "Source Media" drop-down to "Owner Selected" to add the source media.
From the Library panel that opens, select the Collection your video resides in, or click the +Media button at the bottom to add a new video.
Choose Select and the video will be added as source media for the assignment.
With the Stimulus activity type, you can also have your participants provide their own stimulus. To do so, select "Participant Selected" in the "Source Media" drop-down. If you choose this option, participants will be prompted to add their Stimulus source media before they record their response.
How to critique a Stimulus activity
Giving feedback on a Stimulus recording is just like giving feedback on any other recording. To start, click the thumbnail of the video to begin playback. Then, enter your critique in the feedback panel on the right.
You'll see the Stimulus Media shown to the left of the participant's recording. These two videos can be resized by dragging the bar between the videos or the bar between the video and feedback panels. As you play the session, the Stimulus Media will play and pause when it was played or paused during the participant's recording.
Why do I hear an echo or double audio? If the participant recorded without headphones you will likely hear the stimulus coming from both videos. You can click the "Mute" button in the lower-left corner of either video to silence one of them and get rid of the echo.
System requirements for Stimulus activities
Stimulus activities require your browser to process two video streams simultaneously: playback of the stimulus video and the recorded submission. While this is easily accomplished by current-generation computers, older ones may struggle to smoothly render both the stimulus and the recording at the same time. The primary constraints are video processing power, system memory, and CPU horsepower in addition to internet connection speed. In general, having a dedicated video card and a relatively recent processor will provide the best results.
If your computer is struggling to keep up with both videos simultaneously, some options are:
- Restart the computer to free up the highest amount of resources possible.
- Close all other applications and tabs.
- Arrange to use a newer machine for your Stimulus activities.
Note for Chromebook users
Due to the widely varying hardware and (often limited) system resources in Chromebooks, their performance with GoReact may or may not be acceptable. In our testing, newer, more robust Chromebooks generally work fine, while older or more limited Chromebooks will struggle or can fail outright. If your GoReact experience on a Chromebook isn't satisfactory, you'll most likely need to use a different device.
Please note
Stimulus activities are not currently supported on mobile devices.