Notes from MysteryQuest USA

Today we had the first two of nine sessions of MysteryQuest USA in the next couple weeks. The first one this morning was really rough with just about everything that could go wrong with the technology actually going wrong. But the students weathered through it and had a great time presenting and guessing.

Here are two neat items from the presentations today.

First, one class presented all their clues from a car!

With the PowerPoint presentation behind, it worked out very well.

We’re starting to see more presentations projected on Smartboards, like this one. This class did very well with huge fonts and easy to read clues.

Finally, we had some game shows. My favorite was “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?” Very fun, considering that all the students participating today were 5th graders. The adult in the game show was….. guess…. none other than the teacher!

In the last session today we only had four schools, so we had some time for questions at the end. My two favorite questions were:

  •  Texas asked Michigan, “What is your air quality like?”
  • And, “What is the best part about living in Texas?” (asked after hearing that the temperature can go up to 110 in the summer!)

Great learning happened yet again today! Yeah!

Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections Starts April 23

Finish your year with a bang! Take our upcoming online class, Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections. It’s four weeks long, online via Moodle, a dynamic learning community, and we have international participants this time around! One videoconference assignment has you meet with another person in the class. This is the 10th session of this popular class.

Take this class to maximize your use of videoconferencing! We’d love to have you. More information and registration online here. Questions? Email me.

Do This Survey!!

Another chance to contribute to the research about videoconferencing! If you didn’t get this yet in your email, do it now!! (Posted here with permission from Linda.)

Greetings Distance Educators.

I am so happy to say hello to all of my distance education friends and colleagues. If I have not met you personally, Im thrilled to include you in this industry survey. Some of you may be familiar with the K-12 Video Guide that was published in late 2005 by TANDBERG, which I co-authored with Jan Zanetis. TANDBERG is in the process of updating this document and felt it extremely important to update the industry trend section. As we all know, the technology has changed quite a bit over the past couple of years, and so has the sophistication of our applications and users.

TANDBERG asked me to conduct this survey again, as an impartial third party, to look at current utilization and education industry trends. Your response is essential to reflecting an accurate representation of the state of distance learning and technology utilization in schools today, tomorrow and in the future.

The survey is brief and includes multiple choice and a few open ended questions. A final question has been added at the very end of the survey on behalf of the ISTE IVC SIG Research and Resource Committee. Data collected will also help this committee determine direction and strategy for some of their 2007-2008 research and resource efforts.

Please click on the following link to access the Education Videoconference Survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=45713679149

DEADLINE: Please complete the survey by 9:00 p.m. EDT, Friday, April 20, 2007

TANDBERG, ISTE IVC SIG Research and Resource Committee and I all thank you for your time and assistance with this task.

We apologize if you have received this message in duplication. Your email address was provided by an industry expert as a distance learning contact, in which case that may have been more than one person. Your email address will NOT be shared or used for any other solicitation purposes.

Regards,

Linda L. Lentz
Principal
Lentz and Associates, Inc.
8539 N. Park Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317.502.7992 Phone
317.536.3785 Fax
llentz@comcast.net

Kids Reflect on Read Around the Planet

RAP picture from RAP Photo GalleryGoogle Alerts picked up some more notes about Read Around the Planet for me this week. My favorite are these kids’ responses to Read Around the Planet a week or two ago. Students reflected on their own presentations, their nervousness, what they learned from the other class, and gave ideas on how the presentations could be better next time. Titles are exactly as the students entered them. Having students reflect on their learning and performance in a videoconference seems like a great evaluation tool to me. Would you agree?

Meet an Iditarod Musher

Lincoln Elementary students are meeting sled dogs in Alaska today. It’s part of the Meet an Iditarod and/or Jr. Iditarod Musher program from Kigluait Adventures. Before the program starts, students listen to an Iditarod trail song. Before getting into the content, Christina, the presenter, shares a geography lesson with the students, helping them see where they are compared to Alaska.

Next, they play a “dress the musher” game with a junior musher (15 years old). Next they go outside to meet the dogs. Lots of questions and answers during this section and great constant live images of the dogs. You can hear the dogs yapping in the background the whole time.

Students learn about a day in the life of a musher. The program ends with an activity to help them understand the relationship between the dog and the musher.

These are excellent programs and fill up very quickly in Iditarod season. We had to wait til April to get a slot for our classes studying the Iditarod. We’re going to request way ahead of time next year!

ASK: Lest We Forget: World War II

Today we had another session of our ASK: Lest We Forget sessions. Students interviewed a panel of five local World War II veterans. I’ve written about it before: December 7 and The Greatest Generation. So you can read those to get more information about it. My favorite question from today was, “What items did you keep with you to keep you motivated?” One of our local veterans was married just before he shipped out, and now he is celebrating his 65th year of marriage!

I recorded today’s session on the RSS 2000 we have on loan from Polycom for special events. You can watch it here. Because one of the schools didn’t have permission for the students to be online, I forced the video to the veterans only. So you won’t see the students, but you’ll hear their questions.

We also have room in the session with our Vietnam Veterans coming up on May 23, if you want to participate with us. Check the website for the latest availability.

Blood, Sweat & Tears – Civil War Medicine

Today Edwardsburg Middle School is connecting to Fort Mifflin on the Delaware for their program Blood, Sweat & Tears – Civil War Medicine. The students are studying the Civil War in English and Social Studies classes.

Lee Anderson, presenter, is dressed in period costume and explains the weapons and fighting methods used in the Civil War. Then students learn about the instruments and methods used by the doctors to take care of those wounded in battle.

Students learn about how the soldiers were fed and how that affected their ability to heal. Lee demonstrates how a doctor would deal with the cases coming in. Then the students work in groups to solve cases that were mailed to the teacher ahead of time. As the students reported on how they handled each case, they heard what actually happened in that case in history. It’s pretty amazing how primitive their procedures were back then. Students really got into solving the cases.

This was our first time connecting to Fort Mifflin. We’ll definitely be looking at their other programs for next year.

35 Staff Meeting VC Demos

Part of our RUS Grant requirements for each of the buildings with new videoconferencing carts this year has been to participate in a 30-90 minute staff meeting overview of videoconferencing. Today’s session was rescheduled three times due to snow days and fog delays, and we almost had a snow day today! Yes, that’s the view out my window this morning!

These professional development sessions were all conducted via videoconferencing, and most of them were during regularly scheduled staff meetings.

Overview of RUS Grant
We start with a quick overview of the USDA RUS DLT grant and how it came to their building, along with an explanation of the eligibility requirements of the grant. Some of the districts in our service area weren’t eligible, so I always explain why they were included.

Overview of VC Equipment
Next we talk about what they see in front of them. I always like to ask teachers questions that they can ask their students to make sure they understand this isn’t broadcast quality TV. “How can I see you?” “How can I hear you?” We talk about muting and etiquette. I compare the pixelation to the blocks you see on digital TV and joke about a local student who thought the presenter was morphing into a monster. Then we play a game with the remote. I ask for a volunteer and have them “pick on” another teacher and zoom in with a nice head shot. We set a preset and then that teacher gets to pick on someone else. I usually do 2-3 of these depending on how much time we have. Then we process how fast presets are and how long it takes to move the camera without them.

VC Projects
Next we cover the three main categories of VC use in our service area. I always start with projects since they are free! I put on my hat and talk about Read Around the Planet. I tell them about the MysteryQuest sessions available for their grade level(s). I usually show a video clip of MysteryQuest World for middle school. For elementary I show either Where in Michigan or my tape with clips from Read Around the Planet and Michigan Week. I talk about projects they can come up with on their own, usually using my worm farm story for elementary or the ESL story for middle school.

ASK Programs
I talk about our ASK programs and feature upcoming sessions with openings. I show them a picture book kit and explain the difference between connecting to an author and connecting to a specialist. I emphasize that these programs are free to them but not to me! REMC funds these programs because we believe they are powerful learning experiences.

Content Providers
Finally, we end with content providers. If time, I show them how to search and we talk about possibilities for each grade level represented. We cover local scheduling procedures and how our mini-grant program works. Finally we take time for questions and wrap up.

It’s a very quick overview, but it sets the teachers at ease with the idea of videoconferencing and helps them realize the potential for their curriculum. This year, buildings who did the demo earlier in the school year were more likely to have more teachers participate in videoconferencing throughout the year.

So, how do YOU introduce your teachers to videoconferencing? Share a comment!

Girls2Women

Today Sam Adams Elementary 6th grade girls are connecting to HealthSpace Cleveland for their program Girls2Women. The program is FREE this year due to sponsorship by Tampax.

HealthSpace presentations are high energy and visually rich. Lee, the presenter, handles sensitive and sometimes embarrassing subjects with grace and humor, putting the students immediately at ease. For example, “the model body’s name is Anita Shirt. Get it?”

Students learn about personal hygiene, PMS, toxic shock syndrome, reproductive anatomy, and more. Lee explains what ads for various female health products are talking about. Symptoms that indicate possible infections, toxic shock syndrome, or other diseases are also covered.

This high energy program is perfect for girls in grades 6-9 and would be a great addition to a health class. HealthSpace Cleveland still has room on their calendar, and this program is free! So if you haven’t visited HealthSpace yet, there’s still time this school year!