Category Archives: Videoconferencing

Blended Learning for the 21st-Century Classroom

SIG IVC Showcase: Elaine Shuck, Polycom, Inc.

Elaine started with a cute video clip about a student waking up in the morning to get engaged.

Polycom Special Events

She described the Polycom Special Event with blind author Jim Stovall, as well as other events: Dr. Ben Carson, Evelyn Coleman, Laurie Keller, Sarah Miller, Elizabeth Raum, Sue Stauffacher, Susan Thoms, Margaret Willey, Amy Young, Janie Panagopoulos; and other events for Black History Month, Women’s History Month.

Registration opens on September 1st inside CAPspace: Collaborations Around the Planet, where also registration happens for Read Around the Planet and teachers can post their own collaborations as well.

The programs are popular and fill up in a few hours, so get ready to register!

They also described a partnership with Global Nomads Group and showed how the lesson plans etc. are posted on the Polycom Special Events wiki.

The Polycom Special Events are free for Polycom customers, and there are only 5 slots for each session. They ask that only one school per district register for each event to make room for everyone.

The ASK Process

Sue Porter explained the ASK process: Ask, Specialist, Knowledge, where the students read a book, journal, write good questions, and then interview an author or a specialist. The video shown during the session is linked here at the top of the page.

Sessions in the Polycom Booth

Also FYI, there are a whole bunch of 30 min sessions throughout the conference at the Polycom booth – on CAPspace, with Global Nomads, with Andy Campbell at LearnNCO, and CMA Desktop, the new desktop videoconferencing tool; among other things.

Attendance: This session was JAM PACKED – it was great to see the large number of people interested in videoconferencing!

Video Conferencing to Promote Global Learning

Global Poster Session: Diane Midness, iEARN-USA with Tonya Muro Phillips, Global Nomads Group.

Last night in the poster sessions, Diane and Tonya explained how GNG and iEARN partnered to extend the learning in the GNG videoconferences. Global Nomads does amazing programs by taking videoconferencing equipment onsite to remote locations throughout the world.

Featured programs included Haiti and Uganda, and you can see more clips of their programs online here.

Tonya and Diane talk to interested poster session participants.

It was great to see how GNG and iEARN have partnered. GNG is good at videoconferencing, and iEARN is good at the asynchronous online community. The iEARN sites provide follow-up and continued conversations between the schools that participated in the kick-off videoconferencing.  A great model!

Learning Beyond the Horizon: Global Learning through Videoconferencing

Sunday ISTE Global Poster Session: Presenter: Carol Scott, Mustang Public Schools with Lynn Tilley
Videoconference ideas, examples, and success that empower students to become integrated 21st-century learners with global travel and collaborative projects.

Carol Scott had a sweet poster session last night with lots of interested people attending. Her online resources and links should be online here soon (but isn’t there yet).

Note all the cool VCs represented by Carol’s poster:

The poster session was well attended. See the crowd gathered around:

A few pics of Carol enthusiastically sharing with the attendees:

This was a great poster session, and I was so happy to see videoconferencing represented so well!

Learning about Skype Policies from a Pro

Chatting at the SIG IVC Open House

Today in the SIG IVC open house, I had a nice long chat with Joan Roehre from WI who is running Wisconsin HistoryMystery via Skype, connecting students in Guatemala to students in the U.S. and many more cool VCs.

Here are some of the tips I learned from her:

  • Teachers don’t get Skype on their computer until she has worked with them.
  • She makes sure their settings are locked down to receive calls and chats only from the contact list (CRITICAL for K12 school use).
  • When they had a T1, sometimes Skype was using 75% of the bandwidth!! Now that they have fiber it is no longer an issue. From the networking side they allow Skype and make sure it has the bandwidth it needs.
  • The teachers aren’t sharing the desktop yet – that’s too complicated.
  • Visuals for sharing history mysteries were posters or just students giving the clues orally. (I’ve been wondering how visuals work best with Skype.)

It’s good to talk to someone who actually has it working well!

Lest We Forget: Vietnam

Today we have a group of Vietnam veterans talking to students across the country about their experiences. We have several classes from MI participating, as well as classes from NY, PA and NE.

These are the panels that participated today:

9:30 Session Panel: SGT Jess Bowman, CDR Don Oderkirk, Major Weldon Burden, L/CPL Denton Kime

10:45 Session Panel: SGT Jess Bownman, CDR Don Oderkirk, COL Alsbro, L/CPL Denton Kime

12:30 Session Panel: SGT Jess Bowman, Major Weldon Burden, COL Alsbro, L/CPL Denton Kime

Here are some of the questions that students asked today:

  • Did you think the draft process was fair?
  • Describe your feelings/thoughts on foreign policy related to the domino effect?
  • What did you think of the Vietnamization process?
  • How much did you know about the war before you were drafted?
  • Do you think the media misrepresent the war?
  • Has your sacrifice been appreciated by society as much as you think it should?
  • Do you think there should be a draft today?
  • Are you able to watch movies about the war? and which ones do you recommend?
  • Do you think the comparisons between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam are justified?
  • What should we be doing differently to support the troops when they come home from our current wars?
  • If you could pass on one thing to the next generation of Americans, what would it be?

Students from Syracuse, NY, prepared great thank you posters to share with the veterans at the end of the conference. The veterans sure appreciate these expressions!

These are great videoconferences – a benefit to the veterans, who appreciate the opportunity to tell their story as well as the expressions of thanks from the students. And hearing first hand experiences of historical events always helps students understand the topic better. These are videoconferences you could easily do in your area as well! I’m sure there are veterans nearby who would love to have the opportunity to talk to students.

4th Grade Videoconference Recommendations

This morning I opened up early bird registration for my schools for next year’s videoconferences. I always offer to give advice on selecting programs. My first request came from a 7th grade science teacher who loves videoconferencing, and is moving to fourth grade. I thought I’d share here what I told her.

Preview Calendar

I always make a preview calendar for my schools that is by month and grade level. The information on this page applies only to my schools, but you might find it interesting as an example. I don’t have it done for 2010-2011 yet, but my teachers can still use it as a guide right now to plan for next year.

Social Studies

The fourth grade social studies curriculum covers: “Using the context of the United States, fourth grade students learn significant social studies concepts within an increasingly complex social environment. They examine fundamental concepts in geography, civics and government, and economics through the lens of Michigan history and the United States.”

My top four for this area are:

Language Arts

The top choice here is:

Science

This is what I said to my teacher: “Plus you might want to do a science content provider program. Other fourth grade classes this year did mini-grants for these programs. (My schools apply for mini-grants for our assistance in paying for content providers. Districts must contribute at least $25 towards the cost of the program.)

Those are the only science content provider programs my 4th grade teachers did this year. I know there are many others; and have on my todo list to update our GLCE guides to videoconferencing for the new curriculum. But it isn’t done yet. Feel free to comment if you have other recommendations for 4th grade science.

Compare this list to the 4th grade Best VCs List I did in 2005. The 4th grade social studies curriculum has changed since then, but the science recommendations are still great.

ASK Specialist: Harvesting Hope

For the last four years, we’ve been partnering with Region 20, in San Antonio, TX to do an ASK program on the book, Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. Our students read the book, and are interviewing a panel of former migrant workers at Region 20. This program is particularly powerful, as most of the districts in our area serve migrant workers who spend part of the year in Michigan and part of the year in Texas. Each of the panel members spent time working in Michigan, so the connection is strong.

Here is a sample of the questions students from three schools asked today:

  • What would you say to Cesar Chavez if he was still alive today?
  • How would you have done things differently if you were Cesar?
  • Would you rather work in the field or go to school?
  • We read that Cesar Chavez had 8 children. Do you know if any of his children are working to keep his legacy alive?
  • What are you thoughts on how migrants should have been treated?
  • What was your reaction to the harsh conditions? Did you ever join a protest or boycott?
  • What was your most memorable experience as a migrant worker?
  • Do you think it is better being a migrant worker or doing the job you’re doing now? and why?
  • How has Cesar Chavez’ work changed a generation of migrant workers?

As you can see, some very powerful learning went on! This program also helps our students understand better their fellow students who are migrant workers. A special thank you to Susan Altgelt and the bridging team at Region 20 for making this happen!

Light and Shadows with Wales, UK

Today we have a 2nd grade class connecting to Wales to share what they’ve been learning about light and shadows, via puppet shows.

First the students in the UK told us about some of the light-related vocabulary and facts they learned. Then they told a story about a worm with rhyme and shadow puppets, as well as the story of Goldilocks and the three bears and other fairy tales.

Then Calvin Britain students shared their shadow puppet stories, using their bodies to create the visuals. The effect was very neat, but is hard to capture in a still image:

Afterwards the students asked each other questions and learned about their communities! This was a very visually creative videoconference! Great work on the part of teachers and students!

ASK Specialist: Monkey Island

Today we have two local classes interviewing a panel of experts who work with the homeless in Berrien County. Students have read the book Monkey Island, a story about a homeless boy in New York. The students are interviewing people from various agencies in our county who assist the homeless.

Here is a sample of the questions the students ask:

  • Is the soup kitchen all volunteer work?
  • How many people usually come to the soup kitchen?
  • What challenges do people face when trying to overcome homelessness?
  • Why wouldn’t restaurants give their leftover food to the homeless? (Students learned about local restaurants and grocery stores who actually do!)
  • What type of illnesses do most homeless people have?
  • If a homeless person wants to get “back in the game” where do they go?
  • Where do homeless people stay if they are not in the shelters?
  • What are some of the ways that homeless can get money to pay bills or to buy medicine?
  • Was there any time in your life that you had an experience where you could relate to the homeless?
  • Why do some people not want to talk to or be involved with homeless people?
  • What city in Berrien County has the most homeless people?
  • Where do homeless people go to get medical care?
  • If we were interested in a job at social services, where would we go?
  • What is your daily work/job like? What do you do?

The learning in these sessions is incredibly powerful! If you like the ASK format, this is a really easy one to offer in your area. The people who work in various agencies serving the homeless will likely be delighted to have students learn about the issues and challenges in your area.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Do You Match?

Today we had another videoconference with a class in Wales, UK. This collaboration is a result of the Jazz workshop and is a spin-off of the Monster Match format. Both classes created teddy bears, wrote descriptions, and emailed them to the partner classes. Then they made each other’s teddy bears. Today’s videoconference was to see how well they matched. The students in this videoconference were preschool 5/6 year olds.

Teddy Bear

Each child from both classes had brought a teddy bear from home to show on camera.

The classes enjoyed comparing the teddy bears and seeing what was the same and where they had challenges. We found out that students in Wales don’t use the term “curly cues” and weren’t sure how to draw that on the teddy bear they made to match ours.

The classes also spent some time asking each other questions, such as:

  • Do you watch TV and what programs do you watch?
  • What time is it there?

They also compared how their countries address chicken pox – in the UK several students were off because they had chicken pox. None of our students have had it since they had a shot for it.

Our partner class in the UK also showed us a teddy bear they made with recycled materials that will be the mascot for their Eco Committee.

The students in Wales also sang a song to our students in Welsh, along with fun actions to say goodbye.

This format is so easy and enjoyable for young students. They learn so much from the program – speaking and listening skills, as well as drawing, describing, comparing, and of course what children are like in another country.