Category Archives: Videoconferencing

Three Main Ways I Find Partner Classes

This morning I had a great conversation with Tim Boundy, who coordinates videoconferencing for JANET in the UK. We compared notes on projects we’re running, the trials and challenges of scaling collaborations, and the different ways to partner classes. In the course of the discussion, I realized there are three main ways that I make my collaborations work.

Matching Events in CAPspace

One of the easiest ways to have a lot of classes participate in an event is to participate in a project that’s coordinated by someone and matched in CAPspace.

  • Read Around the Planet is an obvious one. I usually have 70-80 classes participate annually.
  • Partners are assigned by the project coordinator (randomly matched by the system in CAPspace).
  • I have to do test calls with 70-80 different places (unless I’m lucky to get some overlap in who we matched with).
  • Materials for the project are already created for the teacher.
  • Other examples include TWICE’s We the Kids, Michigan Week Exchange, and Monster Mayhem that we do with Whirlidurb.
  • These matching events account for about 125 of our collaborations annually.

CAPspace Collaborations

Another major source of partner classes is the Collaborations option in CAPspace (create or search collaborations).

  • I post 7-10 collaborations a year looking for partners for various ideas by my teachers. On most of those I need one or two partners.
  • I have a few schools – maybe 5 out of 70 – where the teachers respond to collaborations on CAPspace or post their own collaborations. In most cases they then ask for help on connecting the videoconference.
  • These account for maybe 20-30 of our collaborations annually.

Asking VC Friends

The final major way that I find partner class is to ask friends.

  • For some projects (like EcoConversations), I have a list a people we partner with every year.
  • For some projects, I pick someone I know at a regional level (i.e. Dallas ISD) and try to get all the partners from that region. It makes it super easy because then I don’t have to do any test calls!
  • For some teacher ideas that are just one or two connections here and there, I may also ask friends. I also have some VC friends who email me and ask for one or two partners for this or that idea.
  • These types of collaborations probably account for another 30-40 collaborations annually.

My Email List

Want to get on my email list? Sometimes I use that advertise for partners just for people interested in specific projects that we run (MysteryQuests, etc.). Sign up here.

What about you? Do you use more than one method to find partners for your teachers? Which works best in which situation? Do you have a favorite method? Please comment!

Constitution Day Reflections

On Friday we had 17 classes participate in a Constitution Day program. It was a smashing success and super busy, so I didn’t get to blog it last week. Here’s a bit of information about what we did.

First Some History

We’ve tried a few things with Constitution Day.

This Year’s Inspiration

This year, I have a graduate student intern from Andrews University who aims to teach history and social studies. He really wanted to facilitate a VC, so I thought we could try again. We aimed to:

  • Meet the 4th/5th grade Michigan curriculum on the Constitution; using a lesson idea from the Michigan Citizenship Curriculum.
  • Have no prep: the prep would be built into the program. (Since Constitution Day came only 9 days after school started.)
  • Include a collaboration idea: students presenting to students. The prep for that part was DURING the program.

It Was a Hit!

We were going to just do 4 sessions with 3 classes each (12), facilitated by my intern. But we had so much demand that I facilitated three sessions with 2-3 classes also.

  • We started with each class sharing a classroom rule and a fact about the constitution.
  • We had a 10 minute overview of the Constitution, the branches of Government, and the Bill of Rights.
  • We played a great little YouTube video rap about the Bill of Rights and students listened for all 10 to check off on their handout.
  • Then students worked in groups for 10-12 minutes to generate 3 amendments to their classroom rules that were inspired by the Bill of Rights.
  • Then we spent the remaining time rotating through the classes as they shared their amendments.

Kids made great connections between the Bill of Rights and their classroom. Some were humorous and entertaining! For example:

  • We should have access to Twitter and Facebook (Freedom of Speech).
  • We should be able to whisper quietly to one another if it doesn’t disturb anyone else (Right to Assemble).
  • We should be able to bring squirt guns to school (Right to Bear Arms).
  • We should be able to have our cell phones on (Freedom of Speech).
  • If someone hits me, I should be able to hit them back (Right to Bear Arms).

Of course, some of their ideas started a discussion of balancing my rights and the rights of others!

We also reminded students that their classroom is not a democracy, and so their teacher would be the judge and decide which (if any) of the amendments would stand.

Comments from Teachers

  • [Students] were able to think of how they would like to change the rules of their classroom and see how those people who helped to create the Bill of Rights had to think. They enjoyed having “a say” in how they would change our classroom.
  • Since we haven’t covered the Constitution yet, our students went from having little or no understanding of the Bill of Rights to having a grasp on what it is and its purpose.  I hope this will help them to have a foundation to build from when we actually study it.
  • Participating in the Constitution Day fulfilled the federal requirement.  We had built prior knowledge in the morning on the Promethean Board which facilitated understanding of the Bill of Rights.  Your activity gave the students an opportunity to put that knowledge into action in a meaningful, realistic way.

Next Year

Since I won’t have this intern next year, and we had such a great demand for it, I would like to figure out how to do it without the facilitator. This way it could scale more easily. Adaptations I’m considering include:

  • The teachers could team-teach the overview at the beginning. I heard some great teaching going on as the classes connected before it started.
  • Do the prep ahead of time; and share the Bill of Rights activity only during the VC.

What do you think? How did you celebrate Constitution Day? Can you think of another way to do a low prep classroom-to-classroom collaboration?

Continuum of Videoconferencing Collaborations

We’ve looked at a continuum of equipment/software solutions for videoconferencing, a continuum of interactivity, and a continuum of depth of learning. Today, let’s think about a continuum of collaboration. We can think about it on several levels.

Continuum of WHO Collaborates

Continuum of Collaboration

The level of collaboration in a videoconference is closely related to the continuum of interactivity. Think about this:

  • The simplest level of a collaboration is where both classes present to each other; then ask each other questions. This is the most common method and the easiest way to get started. Many Read Around the Planet connections start at this level; and most of the collaborations in CAPspace are at this level too. The Around the World with 80 Schools uses this simple format as well. Is that bad? I don’t think so! Teachers have to start with something simple and easy; not too threatening and with a low commitment/preparation level. I am reminded of Jen Wagner’s concept of puddle projects vs. well projects. It’s ok to do puddle projects!
  • Involving the other class in your presentation. You may still present, but figure out a way to involve the other class in the presentation. Roxanne Glaser shared many ideas in the Read Around the Planet teacher guide, and in this blog post: Lights, Cameras, Interactions.
  • Students collaborate within the classroom. There are many collaboration or project formats where students work in groups to collaboratively solve a problem: MysteryQuests, preparing ASK questions, Math Measurement Riddles, etc.
  • Students collaborating across classrooms. This method of collaboration seems to work best when supporting technologies such as wikis as used to provide asychronous support between videoconferences. These collaborations tend to be longer term as well. One example would be the novel in an hour format Roxanne Glaser used in her ISTE workshop this year. See the results on the wiki here. Another example would be the CILC Vistas in depth projects, where students work collaboratively to solve community problems.

Have you experienced this continuum? Where do most of your videoconferences fall along the line? Any other insights to share? Please comment!

Depth of Learning Continuum with Videoconferencing

We’ve looked at a continuum of equipment/software solutions for videoconferencing, and yesterday a continuum of interactivity. Today, let’s think about a continuum of depth of learning…

Depth of Learning Continuum

Depth of Learning

  • Some videoconferences require no preparation at all.
  • Some videoconferences are only 5 minutes long! (see the suggested agenda here for Skype calls)
  • Some content providers send a PDF of materials or a kit with materials for hands-on in-depth learning.
  • Some projects, like Read Around the Planet, allow the teachers flexibility on how in-depth the videoconference really is.
  • Some projects, like Hometown Holidays, require research, connect rigorously to the curriculum, and integrate multiple subject areas and required standards.

Have you experienced this continuum? Where do most of your videoconferences fall along the line? Any other insights to share? Please comment!

I Have a Dream: Giving VC to People Off My Network

I have a dream!

  • I want to give a login to my (as yet undetermined) desktop videoconferencing solution to an author in her home so she can talk to my students.
  • I want to give a login to a guest speaker my teacher invited to talk to her students (a guest speaker with no access to an H323 videoconference appliance).
  • My teacher knows a teacher in Oregon (or California or the district across the state) and they want to VC together. My teacher wants to use our H323 Polycom system. The other teacher doesn’t have access to H323. I want to give the other teacher a temporary login to our desktop solution.

Some day, this dream, and others will come true!

Spanish Partner Classes, International Matches…

Are you starting to think about your videoconferences for the 2010-2011 school year? Maybe you want to connect to another country.

I notice many collaborations on CAPspace looking for partners in Latin or Spanish countries to practice Spanish.

I also got an email this summer from someone complaining that they had registered on many sites, but had not yet found an international partner.

Here’s my advice:

Start with North America!

  • The time zones are easier to manage.
  • There are many culture differences available if you just look carefully.
  • You can learn to be sensitive to and appreciate other cultures within a more comfortable framework. Then you’ll be ready to do more international connections.

Bilingual Spanish Classes

Skype call arranged by Silvia Tolisano between Jewish students in Florida and Muslim students in Minnesota. They showed each other their prayer books and demonstrated how they pray.
  • For Spanish, try bilingual classes in California, Texas and Florida, for starters. Plenty of native Spanish speakers delighted to talk to your students! Enough classes to share around with all of us! Enough that you could have a partner class for each section/hour that you teach.

Compare World Religions

  • Silvia Tolisano arranged a VC between a small Jewish day school in Florida and Muslim students in Minnesota! (See photo.)
  • Connections to large urban districts almost guarantee an “international / global” experience.

So, don’t get discouraged! But start small and by using resources close at hand!

Reflections on Desktop Videoconferencing

Last week I taught 3 sessions of Skype for the first time. I found it fascinating and want to share some of the comments and reactions from my teachers.

What I Covered

  • An intro to how Skype is used in the classroom: heavily dependent on pictures and videos from Silvia Tolisano. She seems to be the “queen” of Skype in the classroom as far as I can tell!
  • We installed Skype, added contacts, practiced chatting, calling, and sending video (by muting our speakers to avoid awful audio in the room). We set the privacy settings to school recommended settings: only receiving calls or chats from my contacts.
  • We connected to one or two people, depending on the length of the workshop.
  • We had a lot of discussion on best practices, classroom management, comparing to H323, etc.

Here are some of the areas we discussed and how the teachers reacted.

H.323 Standards Based Videoconferencing

Since almost everyone in my workshops were already familiar with and using their Polycom cart, they really wanted to compare! I thought I should try to teach Skype for Skype, but they asked too many questions!

  • I ended up adding slides to my workshop PPT to compare H323 based on these two comparisons: from March 2010 and July 2010.
  • We couldn’t talk about Skype without bringing in a conversation about H323 desktop videoconferencing. That is the “in between” solution that has the best of Skype and the best of H323.
  • My teachers don’t want to go to just Skype. They want H323 as well, preferably in their classroom.

Ideas for Using Skype

I found it very interesting to hear what teachers wanted to do with Skype:

  1. First and foremost: they want to connect to family. One participant last week added her college age son to her Skype contact list and before the workshop was over she was talking to him at college!
  2. A journalism teacher wants to use Skype for students to interview sources for their articles. The students would do individual Skype calls. We discussed using use science fair poster boards to reduce sound challenges having more than one skype call in the classroom at the same time. She also wants to be able to record the interview for evaluation/grading. There are a lot of tools for recording – but I don’t yet know which is the best. Do you have an opinion? Please comment!
  3. Using the conference call feature (voice only) to do grade level meetings across the district.
  4. Middle school scientific data collection to increase test validity (better quality data).

Teachers Want Support

While I’ve heard edtech types say “Skype is easy; teachers can do it on their own”; that is not the feedback I received last week.

  • Teachers want a “21st century learning facilitator” like Silvia Tolisano is for her school.
  • Teachers don’t feel comfortable with the challenge of finding a partner class on their own or building their personal learning network (like Silvia has 200 people on her Skype contact list). They want help with this!
  • One teacher, with a fairly high level of ed tech skill, confided that he found it very difficult and discouraging trying to find a partner class for a Skype project. He had tried for a full school year with no success.
  • When they thought about registering for CAPspace or Silvia’s Around the World site,  they didn’t want to get a lot of email. This again shows the need for a “coordinator” to build the network and assist.

It seems that just like support is needed for H323 videoconferencing, it is essential for Skype as well.

Access and Capabilities

  • Teachers are super super excited about VC in their classroom. There are issues with vc in the library and noise if another class is there too; issues with scheduling the space (not the equipment – the space!) for VC; etc. Access in the classroom!!
  • Tech directors are worried about the loss of capability with desktop VC compared to VC systems/carts: loss of zoom, pan, tilt, presets, ability to plug in multiple peripherals. Teachers don’t care about that. The access in their classroom is worth that loss.

Logistics, Webcams and Microphones

  • Before last week’s trainings, I thought I wanted to mount the webcam on the interactive whiteboard or somewhere at the front of the room. But I found all week that it was nice to be able to pick up the webcam and move it around: angle it one way or another depending on the need, etc.
  • One participant had noticed that using the built in camera/mic on a laptop there was no echo (in his own use of VC); but more likely to get echo when using a webcam. This is an interesting observation that I would like to verify and test further.

So, what do you think? Are you hearing these same kinds of reactions from your teachers? Did anything in this list surprise you?

Literature Circles Lesson Plan

I’m cleaning my website still, and archiving old things here on my blog. This lesson plan was co-written with our language arts consultant. It was an attempt to scale a literature circle project done between two of our middle schools.

Literature Circle Videoconferences

Preparation

  • Talk to your partner teacher via phone or email and discuss the steps.
  • Decide how often to meet.
  • Discuss and plan for a culminating activity.

Step 1: Getting to Know You
Knowing the students in your partner class will help make the discussion more engaging. Use at least one of these strategies in the first videoconference to help the students get to know each other.

  • Create a grid with the students names and fill in topics such as favorite movie, favorite weekend activities, etc. Idea from Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles. p. 40
  • Or try some of ice-breakers for distance learning.

Step 2: Teach Discussion Skills & Set Ground Rules
Both classes should use the same set of skills and ground rules for a smoother discussion environment. Here are some resources for teaching discussion skills and setting ground rules. Discuss with your partner teacher which of these you’ll use in your respective classes.

  • Create a T-chart for friendliness and support in a discussion. What does it sound like and what does it look like?
  • See also Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles page 48 for discussion skills and page 115 for setting ground rules.
  • Teaching Students How to Discuss
  • Making Discussions Work
  • Literature Circle Qualities
  • Literature Circle Levels of Questioning

Step 3: Use Response Logs to Prepare for Discussion

Written responses will focus students on the reading and prepare them for the discussion. You can also take the opportunity to have students focus on comprehension strategies.

  • Written responses for literature circles.
  • Literature Circle Pre-Meeting
  • Super Six Comprehension Strategies by Lori Oczkus, 2004, for ideas to support predicting, inferring, questioning, monitoring, summarizing, and synthesizing.
  • Create a Comprehension Strategies Bookmark
  • Directions to Create a Strip Poem (suggestion: make it across the two classrooms)
  • Questions in Preparation for Literature Circle
  • Student Response Sheet
  • Synthesis Prompts
  • Writing Questions After You Read

Tips for the Videoconferences

  • Divide up the literature circle tasks/jobs across the two sites to ensure interaction.
  • Use a strategy to make sure all students contribute to the conversation. For example, you may give each student 5 slips of paper. Each time they talk, they put a slip on the table. This helps even out the conversation between the talkative students and the quieter students.
  • Have a culminating event to celebrate success. For example, students may create projects and share them with the partner class. Or the two classes may create a strip poem with lines created by both classes.

Evaluation

  • Literature Circle Portfolio

The New Kid on the Block

Did you know there’s a new kid on the videconferencing block?

Have you learned about Whirlidurb yet?

Whirlidurb is a solution that provides engaging learning opportunities for students. The Whirlidurb team loves video conferencing and collaborating. We create learning opportunities for teachers and students. Read more…

Whirlidurb services include:

  • Content for the classroom
  • Professional Learning Network
  • Video bridging management and operations
  • Video conference scheduling
  • Consultation and new site registration
  • Help desk and technical support

Shane Howard and Roxanne Glaser are the dynamic duo behind Whirlidurb.

Do you remember my research from last year?

One of the results was that schools who are using curriculum videoconferencing more have two essential external supports:

  • An organization offering and targeting programming to the school’s curriculum
  • Outside technical support for videoconferencing

In my research, this type of support was offered by an educational service agency, or by organizations like CILC, TWICE, etc. You can see the full list here.

Well now, you have another choice for bringing this type of support to your school. Guaranteed to generate increased use of curriculum videoconferencing in your school, and increase the best practices of VC in your school. I say this because I’ve partnered with Shane and Roxanne for 5 years, and I’ve seen the results in their schools.

So, if you’re in need of a boost to your VC program, or need help dusting off a unit in the closet that could be used to bring the world to your classroom, think about Whirlidurb.

Full Disclosure: Berrien RESA has a partnership with Whirlidurb and I am clearly a fan of Shane and Roxanne’s work.

Tech Camp Skype Planning

To my Tech Camp Around the World in 80 Clicks Session 1 participants:

Here is the link to many Skype resources.

Assignment: Please use the comment feature below to document your plans for using Skype in your classroom this year.

  • What ideas do you have?
  • Where do you want to connect?
  • What do you want to learn from/with another class?