Monthly Archives: March 2010

Installing a New LifeSize Room

Today was an exciting day! New equipment installations are always exciting! We were lucky enough to have a school eligible for a grant through Views On Learning to receive a new LifeSize Room system, plus really cool Ergotron cart and 50 inch display. Rolling the system down the hall in the school created quite a buzz!

This was my first opportunity to really test out a LifeSize unit. I did present from one in Nebraska last year, but didn’t get to really play with it.

Here’s the cart. Isn’t that a great cart – I love how lightweight it looks. Seems like it won’t be too hard to push around either. The display mount has some kind of cool technology that you can easily just move it up or down without any knobs or handles.

Of course we tested it fine to my office Polycom units, my Tandberg bridge. Registered it to our gatekeeper, tried out our dialing plan. Everything worked seamlessly.

I had to have a picture of the remote so I can assist the teachers when they call me on the phone needing help in a panic!

Hooking up the cables. It’s got an S-Video in, so we can use an existing document camera in the school. Here they are connecting the computer.

Testing sharing the computer (Mac login screen) with the other site.

Just like the new Polycom HD units, you can easily swap the layout of your picture in picture etc. on the screen.

H.239

If you’ve been reading this blog very long, you know that I have serious issues with H.239, so I was pretty nervous about how this would work. Of course it worked great to a Polycom HD unit with H.239 turned on. But what about when you connect to a unit that has H.239 turned off? Every other unit I’ve seen just complains and says the far site cannot receive the computer screen. Then you’re out of luck. One of the reasons H.239 really annoys me and I tell my schools never to buy the extras for H.239.

But. Wonder of wonders! I tested sharing the computer to my Polycom VSX 7000 with H.239 turned off. It sent just the computer. No errors or complaints!

I tested sharing the computer through my Tandberg bridge with H.239 turned off. Voila. It still sent just the computer. No errors.

Yay! Yay! I think this is the piece I’m most excited about.

It’s sooooo frustrating to have schools in MysteryQuests and other events where they want to share their computer and they think they can, but then it doesn’t work.

Hollywood Elementary has quite a few videoconferences this spring, so I’ll be looking to see how stable this unit is and how it interacts with other units in all the different types of calls that we’ll be doing.

Thank you to Views On Learning for the incredible opportunity to be part of this grant!

And thank you to Kevin Clark for taking the photos.

Super Early Bird Registration For ISTE Ends Today! Register Now!

Did you notice that the super early bird registration for ISTE (formerly NECC) ends today (March 31)? Hurry and register!

Besides all the great Web 2.0, online learning, and instructional technology topics you can learn about, there is an awesome line up of videoconferencing content. Plus, all morning Wednesday there will be an IVC Playground led by the one and only VC Rox! You don’t want to miss this amazing learning experience!

Are you coming?!

Interviewing Women Business Executives

Three of the executives participated from California.

Last Friday afternoon we had several local classes participate in a Polycom Special Event. Students from business, management, and economics classes interviewed four Polycom women executives as a celebration of Women’s History Month. The students had prepared great questions:

  • Did you know this job existed when you were going to school?
  • Were you always interested in this field?
  • What skills and/or abilities were really helpful to you in this job?
  • Why is following your skills and interests so important in choosing a job?
  • What are the most difficult aspects of your job?
  • Did you need to know a lot about technology?
  • Explain how technology has changed the way you do your job?
  • How will the job outlook and advancement affect your career plans for 5 years from now?

Students appreciated the opportunity to talk to women in the work force to hear about their experiences and their advice for high school students.

Thank you, Polycom, for offering these special events to our students!

Time to Register for Spring Quests

Registration is open for the spring “quest” events. You’ll need verified equipment in CAPspace to register. I can walk you through it quickly if needed. Just email me.

Click the project links to visit the wiki with all the preparation materials.

MysteryQuest USA

This project is designed for 4th or 5th grade students studying US geography. Through video conference technology, students are able to meet other students while learning about cities and states in the United States. Prior to the video conference each classroom will create a presentation with clues about their state and city. The other classrooms, using maps, the Internet, textbooks, and other resources, will try to discover the mystery location presented by each participating classrooms.

Dates: April 21 through May 13; lots of times open right now.

Cost: $35.

HistoryQuest5: Beginnings to 1800

This project is designed for 5th grade students studying US History. Through video conference technology, students are able to meet other students while learning about United States history.

Prior to the video conference each classroom will create a presentation with clues about a mystery person, event, invention, issue/problem or section from a document. The other classrooms, using maps, the Internet, textbooks, and other resources, will try to discover the history mystery presented by each participating classroom.

Cost: $35.

Dates: May 17-21. Lots of times available right now.

HistoryQuest8: Civil War

This project is designed for 8th grade students studying US History: Civil War. Through video conference technology, students are able to meet other students while learning about United States history.

Prior to the video conference each classroom will create a presentation with clues about a mystery person, event, invention, issue/problem or section from a document. The other classrooms, using maps, the Internet, textbooks, and other resources, will try to discover the history mystery presented by each participating classroom.

This one is FREE!

Dates: April 22-23. Only 5 slots left!

Student Comments:

Here’s a kid comment from April 2009 MysteryQuests.

It was great!  Problem solving at its best!  Really fun.  One student comment after I explained we would miss recess:  “That’s ok, this is a lot more fun than recess.”  Quite the compliment!  Thanks for making it possible. -Linda Cokley in Missouri

Hope you can join us this year! Let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.

International VCs and Service Learning

Today we have several amazing videoconferences for our rural students in Berrien County.

EcoConversations

Reed Middle School, in Bridgman, is connecting to a class in the UK to discuss environmental issues. The class in the UK shared with us information about carbon emissions, including some great posters and a RAP that started with:

hey hey, we’re here today, to tell our friends in the USA about CO2

Our students shared the issues around bottled water including health, media advertising, costs, public water supplies and more. After the thorough presentations, students asked each other questions about the weather, their school systems, uniforms. The students clearly enjoyed the interaction and learned from the other class.

Stand Up, Speak Out with MAGPI

Lakeshore Middle School has been participating in a unique serving learning program with MAGPI. In the kick-off conference, students interviewed holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissmann Klein. As a follow-up, they participated in service learning projects and reported on the results on the project wiki. In today’s session the schools at each site are reflecting on their experiences with service learning and the impact of the program on their understanding.

Talking to Students in Haiti with Global Nomads Group

Upton Middle School and St. Joseph High School are participating in the Global Nomads Group program with students in Haiti. You can read more about it here. The program was a two part connection, starting the conversation with the students in Haiti on Monday and continuing today. The participating classes are also raising money for Haiti through StudentsRebuild.org. You can see part of the action: watch the live webcast on Friday, March 26 at 12:00 Eastern. More details on the GNG home page. These are incredibly powerful experiences, as students hear the stories of the students in Haiti, building empathy and understanding. We also were moved by the interaction of between Haitian students in Florida and the students in Haiti. GNG’s programs are always incredible!

Seems like these VCs are a great way to celebrate this blog’s 5th anniversary! 5 Years since that first post!

Additional Reading on Desktop VC

If you’ve been following the discussion/investigation on here about desktop videoconferencing, you might be interested in some additional reading:

  • “Desktop Videoconferencing Will Challenge the Network“. Note that this is from 2008. Still interesting reading. Be sure to read the comments. What I found most interesting was the comment from Stefan Karapetkov that normal use is about 10% of the users/devices. Even though sometimes I feel like my schools are keeping me too busy, when I think about a really busy hour with 4-7 VCs at the same time; that is still about 10% of our 70 units. This number is useful in planning for capacity with server based desktop videoconferencing.
  • Get Out of the Videoconferencing Rooms Already! This article is from just over a week ago; and argues that we shouldn’t have to go to a “room” to communicate. It should be available where we are. It fits in nicely with the concept that instructional tools are most easily used by the teacher when they are available IN the classroom (i.e. computers, videoconferencing, etc.).

Videoconference Food Shows!

One of our local culinary arts classes is participating in a collaboration today with a school in Pennsylvania. Both classes are culinary arts classes and each class prepared a food demonstration. Teachers negotiated ahead of time what all would be included in the videoconference.

Our class made pretzels:

Their class made doughnuts:

Afterwards, the students asked each other questions about what they are learning in class; their school life; etc.

A simple collaboration; but another great way to apply the videoconference exchange format to a career tech class!

Thinking About Mirial Softphone

As you know, I’ve been on a journey to figure out how to get videoconferencing in the 21st century classrooms in our county. Last fall, on a recommendation from a blog commenter, I started experimenting with Mirial Softphone; a desktop VC tool.

Pros

I was initially interested in Mirial over Polycom PVX as a desktop stand alone tool for these reasons:

  • I didn’t have to make any network or firewall changes and it worked. So easy!!
  • It works on the Mac (Polycom PVX is PC only).

In addition,

  • It registered to my GK, and can do H.239.
  • It connected fine to my Polycom endpoints and Tandberg bridge.

Cons / Issues

  • One of the first issues I ran into was how to buy Mirial. With a school account it would be hard to buy something online from Europe that was in euros! I did, however, find a reseller in Michigan. I also found out that you have to buy it in packs of 3; and that it would be 3 Mac licenses or 3 PC licenses; but not a mix. This complicates things a bit.
  • I tried this out on three of our school networks. On two of them it worked great; no configuration needed for the firewall. On the third network we were stuck. Could not get it to work on the network without going through the hoops that we’d do for a full videoconference system (NAT, etc.).

Conclusions

I like Mirial for schools that are Mac based and are “on their own” – i.e. no regional videoconference support. I have connected to several schools who have a Polycom PVX “cart” with a laptop and projector, varying qualitys of web cam/PTZ camera, and a microphone. Mirial seems to be the best way that I’ve seen for doing this type of installation with a Mac.

Server Based Desktop VC

I’m just starting to learn about the advantages of server based desktop videoconferencing. The more I read; the more I realize that the cost is a huge factor. If we were to install standalone desktop VC (Polycom PVX or Mirial) in all the 21st century classrooms, the cost would climb very quickly. However, with server based desktop videoconferencing, many of the cost models are set up by concurrent videoconferences; NOT by the number of computers with the software installed. In places with regional videoconference support (like my area and my schools), it seems much more cost effective to go the server route. More on additional options (i.e. Vidyo and Polycom CMA Desktop) in future posts.

For now, though, one last tidbit from my email today: a Wainhouse Research Bulletin quote:

Milan-based Mirial released ClearSea, a new client-server desktop videoconferencing solution supporting both PC and Mac users as well as H.323 room systems. Features include a centralized directory, user group management, integration with Active Directory/LDAP, full remote configuration and upgrade of desktop clients. The port-based licensing and the possibility to download unlimited copies of the client makes the product extremely scalable without the need to worry about unused accounts. ClearSea provides the ability to connect the local (on-LAN) and remote (off-LAN) desktop users across their firewalls and to their SIP or H.323 legacy conferencing room systems, without the need of any external gateway or bridge. The product also embeds a video IVR to call users by extensions and an “autoscan” feature for finding existing room systems.

So, it seems clear that there are very interesting and promising developments in H323 desktop videoconferencing. Stay tuned for more reflections in future posts.

Videoconferencing in the 21st Century Classroom

Last week I compared using Skype in the classroom to using H323 videoconferencing carts in schools.

Are those our only choices? What if there was something in between?

  • Something affordable.
  • Something that any district could include when installing 21st Century Classrooms / Classrooms of Today / etc. (You know, classrooms with interactive whiteboards, short throw projectors, sound systems etc.).
  • Something that schools could get without a grant. How many VC units do YOU know of that were installed without a grant? Not many.

VC in Every Classroom

It’s been two years since one of our superintendents asked me how they could get videoconferencing in every classroom along with their interactive whiteboards. Since then I have not been able to stop thinking about this idea.

Why can’t we have videoconferencing in all these 21st century classrooms? If we don’t think of a solution soon; they will all switch over to Skype and miss out on all the great H323 content out there.

This year has been my year to investigate this seriously. Soon I’ll blog results of experimenting and thinking about:

  • Mirial
  • Vidyo
  • Polycom CMA
  • (I realize there are others; Tandberg Movi for example; but haven’t had an opportunity yet to learn about it/try it)

I Have a Dream

My dream is that all of the interactive classrooms in my service area will be videoconferencing-enabled!

  • A high quality web cam
  • Skype (for connections with people who don’t have H323; i.e. international ones)
  • H323 desktop software
  • Echo-cancellation that works with both Skype and H323

When this is possible and affordable; I think H323 videoconferencing will have a chance to become mainstream in schools – instead of just 30% penetration.

As I look back at my required components from two years ago; I think we’re getting really close to meeting those. Stay tuned for further discussion as I share the results of my experimentation this year.

What do YOU think? Is this an achievable goal? Is it a realistic goal? Do you see it as important or not? Why? Please comment!

Skype vs. H323 Videoconference Carts

It’s not too long ago, that I was comparing videoconference carts to “integrated rooms.” Now it’s time to compare Skype to videoconference carts. There are many ways and reasons to use Skype in the classroom; there are also many ways and reasons to use some form of H323 videoconferencing in the classroom.

Danielle Letter, TWICE President Elect, invited me to present with her last week at a MACUL preconference workshop. We started making a wiki, and spent considerable time discussing pros and cons of various tools. Since then, I’ve been thinking more about Skype in the classroom and H323 in the classroom; and the pros and cons of each tool. (I’m using H323 to be very specific about the type of videoconferencing I’m referring to. H323 is the protocol used to communicate.)

Picture Skype

Flat Classroom Skype by SuperKimbo
 H323 Videoconference Cart

From the Read Around the Planet Gallery
Viewing Unless connected to a projector; difficult for the whole class to see Monitor/projector usually designed for the whole class to see
Micro-phones The computer mic is designed for one person at the computer; so audio can be seriously problematic. You might have trouble with the other site not able to hear you. You may also have echo cancellation problems – where the school at the other site hears themselves talking.

This may be able to be solved if you purchase an echo cancellation mic designed for a conference room table or similar situation.

Another limitation may be the length of the microphone cable.

 The microphones with cart videoconference systems are designed for whole group use. They are usually on a 30 foot cord, easy to move around the room. They have echo cancellation built in, so no echo problems.

These microphones also usually do well with adults speaking from anywhere in the room; and often the students. But if students are presenting, it works better to have them come up to the mic as shown above.
Avail-
ability		 Access right in your classroom all the time. Easy to just jump in and use it. The cart may be in the library or down the hall. Have to schedule it and share among all the teachers in the school. In some districts, VC is mobile throughout the whole district; or only available at the high school.

Depending on cart design, it may be hard to move around the school.
Peri-
pherals		 You can share your desktop with another site, but you cannot hook up other inputs such as the document camera. Usually several inputs for DVD, document camera, computer, etc. Multiple types of visuals can be shared with the other site.
Sharing your computer
 Very easy to share your computer screen (PowerPoint, movies, etc.) with the other site. If you’re using H.239 (People Plus Content; DuoVideo; etc.), there are several scenarios where you may not be able to share your computer with the other site.

If you’re using S-Video to connect the computer to the videoconference system, it should work great all the time.
Camera Usually with Skype you have a little web cam which cannot zoom or have presets. The camera has great ability to pan, tilt, and zoom. You can set a preset on any spot in the room (at least 10 or more presets). You can set presets on additional inputs so you can easily switch between the document camera and students, for example.
Remote Usually you can only control the videoconference from the teacher’s computer. An infrared remote control allows controlling the videoconference from anywhere in the room.
Band-
width		 There is a potential that you could overwhelm the school’s bandwidth if every teacher did a videoconference at the same time. With a cart, there is a physical limitation to only do one videoconference at a time. Easier to control the bandwidth used.
Picture Quality
 The picture quality varies widely depending on the cameras used at both ends and the bandwidth of the two sites participating in the conference. Cameras tend to be higher quality, even HD, and so the picture quality tends to be higher than with Skype. It still can vary based on the bandwidth of the sites involved in the conference.
Multi-
point
 Skype only connects point to point with video. Yes you can have 10 audio participants in a call; but not video. With the use of a bridge/MCU, you can connect many sites together. Some essential applications include the ability to share the cost of amazing experiences from Global Nomads Group and COSI Columbus across several participating schools, as well as getting multiple perspectives from around the country/world at the same time. MysteryQuest and all its spinoffs are multipoint events; ASK programs work best sharing the cost of the author with 3 schools.

In addition, since I have a bridge, I can monitor even my schools’ point to point calls (by putting them up on the bridge and adding my site). This way I can provide support and encouragement to teachers as they participate. They aren’t “alone” with the technology. I also like to watch the VCs so that I can recommend the good ones to my schools.

None of this is possible with Skype.
Cost
 $100-200 depending on the quality of the web cam and microphone you invest in. Skype itself is free. $2000-$9000 depending on the size of the monitor/projector, type of cart, and additional peripherals used.
Available Content Many other classrooms to connect to; as well as authors. You can also arrange to connect with any guest speaker you can find. More resources here.

It is easier to connect to international sites with Skype as it’s more likely they can afford a webcam and Skype than the H323 videoconferencing software or equipment.

 In addition to other classrooms, authors, and guest speakers, there is a large community of zoos, museums, and other organizations who offer programs to schools. We call them content providers. Most of them cannot offer their content via Skype because they have so many awesome visuals to share with your students that they cannot connect to show via Skype.

It can be harder to connect to international sites as they may not have access.

What do you think?

To me, the content available via H323, and the quality of the conference are the two main reasons to keep using H323 carts; even though Skype is free and easy.

What do you think? Did I miss a comparison? What would you add? Please comment!

8/29/10 Update: Added a section about international connections to the available content.