About NHSEBOne

NHSEBOne is a dedicated web platform for the National High School Ethics Bowl, which builds upon and works alongside the Zoom videoconferencing platform. NHSEBOne 1.0 functions an administrative interface to build and administer Ethics Bowl competitions using Zoom’s SDK/API, as well as a match “controller” which works alongside the match rooms to offer Ethics Bowl-specific functionality—cases, timers, scripts, notifications, in-platform scoring/reporting, and more.

Licensing and credentials to use the NHSEBOne platform for 2020-2021 Regional Competitions are available to all NHSEB Regional Organizers free of charge. Regional Organizers adopting the platform will provide invitations/credentials to all users: students, coaches, judges, and moderators.

NHSEBOne works best on late model desktop or laptop computers using the Google Chrome web browser and the Zoom desktop client. Both are free downloads. Good microphones and cameras are a plus. The NHSEBOne platform runs in the browser, and functions as a controller alongside Zoom videoconferences to administer Ethics Bowl matches. NHSEBOne also has basic functionality on Chromebooks and some tablets (so long as they have split-screen multitasking capabilities). NHSEBOne is not optimized for usage on smartphones at this time.

NHSEBOne is optimized for a one-student, one-computer model, in accordance with CDC recommendations for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. With permission from school authorities, students participating in NHSEB events may gather in one place and compete as a single “user” in NHSEBOne, but the NHSEB Executive Committee strongly recommends against this, and Regional Organizers will not require it.

On the day of the competition, students, coaches, judges, and moderators can sign in to the NHSEBOne platform, and will be met by a list of NHSEB Events. For most, this list will only contain the relevant Regional Event to which they are assigned, though advancing teams’ lists will soon include NHSEB Playoffs in mid-February and the NHSEB Nationals in April. Upon clicking into their events, users will see an Event Dashboard, listing all teams and matches for the day(s) of the event. The match list is personalized to the user, showing only those matches to which they are assigned, and is sortable by rounds. Each match row includes date/time information, a toggle to view which judges and moderators are assigned to each match, and a link to join the match.

The NHSEBOne match controller contains different controls for each user. Teams will have access to a user display, cases, timers, and conferral rooms (controls for which will appear at the relevant time). Coaches will play an observational role, and will not enter conferral rooms with their teams. Judges have access to these tools, and can also view a rubric or record their scores and comments using the match controller. Scores are automatically reported and tabulated at the end of each match. Moderators have full control over each match, and can set the match stage and timer, perform host functions on the Zoom call, confirm the match’s results, and end the match when it’s over.

NHSEBOne generates a conferral room alongside each match room for an event. During the match, a link to join this conferral room will be surfaced for the team whose turn it is to confer. When this is clicked, a conferring team will leave the main match room and enter a private conferral room, where they can discuss the case in question until the time runs out. Students in the conferral room will still be able to view the case, timer, and any notifications from the moderator in their NHSEBOne controller window.

Each judge should record their scores using the “Give Scores” toggle at the bottom of their NHSEBOne controller window. The scoring toggle is based on the official NHSEB Score Sheet, and displays color coded boxes for each scoring criterion, and follows the general match structure (with Team A presenting in the first half, and Team B in the second). In the “Final Scoring” stage, judges can score both teams for Respectful Dialogue and leave written comments if they’d like. In the “Reviewing Results” stage, judges can review all portions of their scores (from the first half, the second, or the “Final Scoring” stage). Once verified for accuracy, judges should submit their votes to the moderator by clicking “Confirm Score.” Votes will be assigned to the team with the most points (of 60), and the team receiving the most judge votes wins the match.

Yes! Regional organizers can use the match list’s information toggle (in the “Options” section of the table) to generate a list of direct match links for spectators. These links should remain secure, and only shared with a team’s family and friends. Links from NHSEBOne should not be posted publicly (e.g., on social media). Once they’ve joined a match, spectators should turn off their cameras and microphones to allow students to concentrate.

Yes. The NHSEB Executive Committee has approved some Expanded Guidelines for Online Competitions—including recommendations for social distancing, competition timing, videoconference troubleshooting and contingency planning, and more. Regional Organizers may adopt these guidelines at their discretion, so be sure and check with your Organizer for the most up to date local information.

If you need technical assistance that goes beyond our resources here, and your Regional Organizer is unable to help resolve your problem, please contact NHSEB Director, Alex Richardson, at ethicsbowl@unc.edu. You may also contact us at the same address with bug reports or feature requests.