Future of VC in Schools

Today I’m pulling another comment out to make it a full post. This one is by Craig Mollerstuen from GCI, Alaska. Craig has been involved in VC for as long as I can remember, champions educational use in Alaska, and has served the NECC sessions with VC support for several years. He commented on my question, “what do you see as the future of VC in schools?” Here’s the full comment:

There are lots of different ways to look at this, from community, technology, equipment, pedagogy and other perspectives.

1) Community: Individuals vs. Groups

Skype isn’t optimized for groups where H.323 systems have been. One can connect a good camera (firewire camcorder) and echo canceling speaker/microphones (Phoenix Duet, etc.). But that have very low usability compared to an integrated appliance with high quality, pan/tilt/zoom cameras and good quality microphones with echo canceling built in.  Group ease of use goes to the incumbents.

Individual ease of use goes to Skype (and other desktop solutions.) This is because of the H.323 protocol. It is easy to make a high quality H.323 application (for Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) but the protocol sucks. It dies across firewalls.

Individuals are also looking for low bandwidth and high quality solutions as they are often “on the move.” Such solutions typically use adaptive encoding which H.323 doesn’t (easily) support.

For groups we accept high bandwidth requirements because we want significantly higher resolution (larger rooms) and we can typically afford to put more bandwidth into a limited number of fixed locations.

2) Protocols – Standard vs. Proprietary

In general, schools would do well to use VC equipment that supports open standards. Standards eventually lead to wider adoption, greater choice and lower cost. However it takes FOREVER for standards to develop and often we can’t (or don’t want to) wait.

Because of it’s reliance on proprietary protocols, there has been many fewer devices that support Skype. And it is hard to find a Skype MCU.

3) Point-to-point vs. Multi-point

We need to be able to do both point-to-point and multi-site conferences. Solutions that are only point-to-point don’t provide sufficient flexibility for education.

Multi-point conferencing needs to be easy to use. Today’s audio conferencing is a good model, dial a number, enter a code and you’re in the conference.

4) Pedagogy – Video conferencing vs. Web conferencing.

This isn’t really pedagogy, but I’m using the term to describe the gulf between “on-line” conferencing and “video” conferencing today.  We need video conferencing to support some of the really great tools that are available in “on-line”/web conferencing environments (chat, polls, forums, breakout rooms, etc.)

And “on-line” environments need to support better and higher quality audio and video, more video and audio streams and group environments.

So… What is the future of live Conferencing in education?

Long term, I can foresee technology that supports the gamut of teachers and teaching styles, learners and learning styles and content types.

Eventually we will have a conferencing protocol that will replace H.323, SIP, Skype and the rest. It will support multiple audio, text, video and content streams from each endpoint.

We’ll see conference servers that support the new protocol (and that can transcode the old protocols) and support a variety of endpoints (analog, wireless, audio, digital, video, room, desktop, appliance, etc.)

Care will have been given to the user interface, ease of use and to pedagogy. We’ll be able to have multiple PTZ cameras in the classroom, audio mics for teachers and students, content from multiple sources (computers, lab equipment, off-net, etc.) so that we don’t have to limit what we are sharing from the “classroom”.  (Develop an open API so that people can develop content widgets.)

Responsible learners will be given the flexibility to choose the streams that they want to view and hear. Learners who need more direction can be given fewer choices and more structure.

And we’ll get all this in a low cost, easy to use, high bandwidth environment with good professional development.

In the near term, we need:

  1. open standards and protocols
  2. conferencing that adapts to low and high bandwidth environments
  3. transport that traverses the net as easily as HTTP
  4. professional quality equipment for content providers, appliances for theatres, classrooms and desktops and software that runs on our computers (fixed and mobile) as endpoints.
  5. We need academics to study and solve the technology problems
  6. We need practitioners to study and solve the practice problems
  7. We need industry to build high quality and low cost solutions

Products like Elluminate, Mirial and Vidyo are good “next steps”. There is still lots and lots of room for improvement and advancement.

Cheers, -Craig-

To Schedule or Not to Schedule

Last week I received a good chunk of TMS training as I try to get up & running again with scheduling our VCs. I’ve been connecting them on the fly, but 900+ a year is getting too many! Too easy to forget to dial! Now I have to rethink my policies and strategies. You can think with me! 🙂

VC Like a Phone

Chris, the trainer from SKC, suggested that to increase utilization, we must train endusers to think of VC like a phone. You know how to dial your phone, and you know what to do if the call drops. If the endusers know how to dial and redial, they won’t be so afraid of it.

With that in mind, a few questions arise!

To Schedule or Not to Schedule

  • What calls should be scheduled?
  • Schedule: Multipoint projects and meetings.
  • Schedule: Connections to content providers where my school needs me to connect.
  • Not Schedule: Connections my schools can do on their own (i.e. their own projects, content provider connections where they can dial)

To Bridge or Not to Bridge

  • Which calls should be on the bridge? For some unknown reason, my schools get better quality when calls are off the bridge.
  • Bridge: When I need to actually facilitate, watch, or record the VC.
  • Bridge: Multipoint collaborations like MysteryQuest.
  • Not bridge: Point to point calls (now TMS will let me monitor their success)

To Dial Out or Require Dial In

  • Should I dial out to my schools or require them to dial in?
  • Since I’ve been scheduling on the fly, I have preferred to have them dial in. I can’t do 6 calls out at a time easily.
  • Dialing in puts the responsibility on the enduser. They can easily hit redial if the call drops (if trained).
  • I think I still prefer dial in.

Your Turn: What do you think? How do you decide these questions?

Standardizing Projects: Evaluations

Still continuing the discussion on project work flow. Since I did quite a bit of thinking on evaluation in July, I’m convinced I should add evaluations to all of my projects and improve the evaluations in the current projects. They can’t be too long, but they do need to collect some important information. See what you think of this list:

Evaluating the Process

  • Registration
  • Materials (did you use them; were they helpful?)
  • Facilitation (if applicable)
  • Communication re the project
  • Would you recommend the project? / Participate again?
  • What else?

Evaluating the Learning

  • Did your students’ communication skills increase as part of this project? (ISTE NETS standard #2)
  • Did your students’ collaboration skills increase as part of this project? (ISTE NETS standard #2)
  • Did your students [insert expected curriculum outcome here] understanding increase as part of this project?
  • Did you & your students learn from the other class? (yes/no & comments)
  • What else?

And of course, always ask for additional comments.

Your Turn: Do you evaluate your projects? What do you include in the evaluations? My evaluations have been in FileMaker Pro or Zoomerang, but I’m switching to GoogleForms for this next year due to quicker summaries. What tool do you use?

I think this is the end of the project work flow discussion. Did I miss anything? Now it’s time to start tackling the prep for my fall projects!

Standardizing Project Email Confirmations

Still continuing the discussion on project work flow. Let’s think now about confirmation letters. What should be in the project emails? I send at least three: a confirmation, a preparation reminder, and a test call reminder. I want to start adding the post email letter that includes the evaluation link.

To make this list, I looked at my MysteryQuest confirmation templates, my individual teacher project confirmation letter format, Down in the Deep confirmations, and Read Around the Planet emails.

Confirmation Letter

As I work through this list, I think it’s time to tighten up my confirmations so they aren’t so long & wordy — that’s Roxanne‘s influence and wisdom!

  • Project title, date & time
  • Test call date & time & connection details
  • Preparation information
  • Action Items: what to do next

Other optional components:

  • Information about recording and video releases (if applicable… I’ve been trying to record more to get examples to put online)
  • Contact information for partner teacher (for exchanges)
  • Suggested agenda (if not already determined/facilitated)

Test Call Reminder

Sometimes I combine the test call and preparation reminders.

  • Project name
  • Test call date & time
  • Connection info: IP, dial direction, trouble # to call

Preparation Reminder

Not all projects get a preparation reminder. MysteryQuests do for sure. Lots of reminders about presentation preparation and teachers really appreciate that!

  • MysteryQuest projects: don’t forget to send in your city-state / city-country / history-mystery
  • MysteryQuest projects: Tips on making clues, presenting clearly, making sure all the clues are included, a reminder to make a visual for revealing the answer
  • Encouragement!!
  • What else?

Post-Project Email

  • Thank you for participating
  • Stats on the success/participation
  • Link to evaluation form
  • What else?

By the way, if you’re reading this project work flow discussion and you don’t run any projects for your school(s), are you getting inspired?! I hope so! Remember Linda’s 3 questions for your teachers!

Your Turn: What do you think? Anything missing? What info do teachers need? What is too much? Where is the best balance? Content providers reading this – what do you think makes a good confirmation email? Do you do reminders? What do you include?

MysteryQuest Teacher Story

I’m cleaning up my MysteryQuest World site (to meet the new standard), and so I need to archive these on another site. Here they are for your enjoyment!

By Jeff Gaynor, Clague Middle School, Ann Arbor

I did Mystery Quest last year, with the idea that risk taking is good, and found it a fabulous experience. Besides being on the forefront of technology, having this live experience really did sharpen my students’ motivation and performance through the whole process. I put the responsibility on them – my job was to keep the project manageable and the kids relaxed – but they really did much of the work – with more effort and resolve than they usually put forth. Plus we had a good time and felt pretty special.

Know that we are all in it together – and there is no real pressure the day of the videoconference. Everyone will be understanding and supportive. It is not a competition – just a cool event. There were people with whom I couldn’t do this without. Janine, of course, was supportive the whole way through – and will go above and beyond, to make you comfortable. We had to bus to our local ISD and the tech guy there was incredible. He had me out beforehand and showed me just what would happen, made fantastic suggestions to make my job easier, and then ran the show, from the tech side, during the conference. The tech person should be able to give you specific guidelines too – depending on the set up and equipment available. I couldn’t have handled that and the class too – so check out how your end of the video conference will go. You need to have confidence that part is handled. (Oh there were glitches, but we dealt with them – and it was a big thing that they weren’t MY responsibility. 🙂

I have 2 groups for 2 classes (World Geography / Math) and I took each class on separate days. Each did it’s own country, which kept things interesting and we came up with a different ‘plot device’ for each one too. One class we did a ‘jeopardy game’ format, and the other a skit where a group of explorers crashed on the shore, not knowing where they were – they went on to ask questions of the people they met. I jazzed this one up by showing a video clip from unitedstreaming.com of a sailing ship going around Cape Horn – but that was just silly fun. Someone suggested we could have done jeopardy with a Powerpoint set up – but I just juggled 30 sheets of papers with the questions -and that many sheets for the answers, and placed them under a document camera (which the tech guy showed me :). For 4 classes you might want to keep things simpler though – come up with a format to use for each class – though a different country so YOU won’t get bored. Each class would present to a different group of kids, so THAT doesn’t matter.

We spent about a week, divided up into groups of 4-5 doing research on sample countries – to get a feel for the questions and answers, and the resources and web links we had. This also helped during the research time during the video conference as we knew where to look for different kinds of clues. Then a week researching and setting up the presentation for our chosen country. We wish we had twice as much time, but again, nothing gets stale and kids know they have to use every minute wisely.

I felt this was a great project at the beginning of the year to introduce students to resources they’ll use a lot during the year – encyclopedias, almanacs, and various web sites.

And if you are worried you don’t have enough time to participate, join the club – we all feel that way – but we’ll manage it the best we can. I think maybe what’s most important is to guage your class. Sell it well, but then ask them if THEY want to do it, explaining carefully that it means no free rides, and every single person will be on camera and has to do their share.

Good luck – go for it.

MysteryQuest World Student Comments

I’m cleaning up my MysteryQuest World site (to meet the new standard), and so I need to archive these on another site. Here they are for your enjoyment!

Kids’ Comments

Lance Middle School, Kenosha, WI

  • I learned that you can have a video thing with people in other places.
  • I learned how to look up facts and have fun at the same time.
  • I learned about teamwork.
  • I learned how to use all kinds of references.
  • I learned how to use an atlas and other resources better.
  • I learned how to work with other people in a group. It was nice to see the people in my group helping each other.
  • I liked the TV talk. I thought it was amazing.
  • I think the best part was researching because it was fun using all of the clues.
  • The best part was the camera because we got to talk to different states.
  • The best part was when we got to see the other people in different states.
  • The best part of it was our whole group working together to find answers.
  • It was fun because we got to use maps, atlases, and the computers.
  • I loved today. It was so fun and it was a good experience for teamwork and cooperation.
  • It was the biggest event of the year! I would tell other kids how awesome it was.
  • I loved it. It was awesome. We were so lucky. I would do over and over again.

Standardizing Project Web Formats

I’m enjoying the discussion on project work flow. I thought it would be helpful to continue by thinking about what should be standard in a project page. I’m working from Roxanne’s Monster Match; Lori’s Black History Month, and one of my MysteryQuest projects.

Critical Components for All Projects

  • Description: a three-four sentence blurb/ad
  • Agenda: sample agenda for the VC
  • Registration: and/or instructions for registration
  • What else?

Essential for Some Projects

  • Preparation information / teacher materials
  • Examples (pictures/movie)
  • FAQ (Roxanne how do you think of the questions to put in the FAQ?!)
  • Timeline
  • What else?

Registration Method Choices

  • A wiki for self-registration (see examples here and here)
  • A google form for the coordinator to make the schedule
  • What else?

I’m seriously thinking of moving my project websites to wikis. The question is: one wiki per project? or one wiki with all the projects? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages?

While thinking about this, I had another brainstorm. What if we had a “project wiki ring”? Remember the old web ring from the early days of the Internet? Each of our projects linked to one other on the ring and a teacher/VC coordinator could cycle through them. Too old-Internet-fashioned?

Thanks everyone who is joining the conversation!

Update: Roxanne has made a VC Projects Template Wiki for us to work from!!

Project Work Flow

August is my planning and technical month. I’ve been upgrading endpoints and infrastructure, testing new units, etc. I’m also working on streamlining my work flow in running collaborative projects for me schools. I’ve been inspired by Roxanne’s summer thinking on her digital workflow. So with that in mind, I’ve made myself a monster spreadsheet with columns for each project (in GoogleDocs of course), and the tasks on the left. Now I can color and check off tasks to my heart’s content! I can also jot notes to fix aspects of a project right in the appropriate cell. I can also see at a glance how it’s going.

Spreadsheet Screenshot

Projects

Just as a reminder of the projects I run, here is a sample of the projects that are included in my monster spreadsheet. Some of them I collaborate with others, some are organized by other people, some of them I run on my own.

Preparation Tasks

  • Set dates
  • Set times
  • Set test call date(s)
  • Update/create materials
  • Update/create website
  • Update/write email templates: Confirmation, Prep Reminder, Test Call Reminder, Post Project/Evaluation Reminder
  • Decide registration method (some are in FileMaker Pro, some are a Google Form, some are in CAPspace)
  • Create evaluation form in GoogleDocs

Facilitation Tasks

  • Open registration
  • Find partners
  • Send confirmation letters
  • Send prep reminder letters
  • Send test call reminder letters
  • Test calls
  • Facilitate live event
  • Send post project email with evaluation

My thought is that if I can make my process more consistent across the board, and do most of the prep before school starts, I’ll be able to scale my projects as the demand continues to increase in my districts.

I also have this tendency while running projects to write down random thoughts to fix something, and then the notes are scattered all over the place. Hopefully with this spreadsheet, I can write website fixes in the website cell, etc.

Your Turn: What do you think of my task list? Are you running projects for your schools? Did I forget anything?

3 Questions to Ask Teachers

If you are not subscribed to comments on this blog, you missed an awesome comment from Linda McDonald, queen of VC in Katy, TX; creator of Math Marvels and other cool collaborative projects. Her comment was in response to a question about how to start your VC program.

Be a listener!

  • Ask what about the critical target objectives based on testing data.
  • Ask about areas of curriculum that teacher think are important but don’t seem to have time to teach.
  • Ask which content students struggle understanding.

Help teachers build VC projects based on the answers above and you will have a “product you can sell.”

Do you ask teachers these questions? How do you follow-up? How do you help teachers see the connection between curriculum and potential content/projects/experiences?

Starting Your VC Program

Still cleaning out draft posts!

The end of May a team from The Talking Directory in the UK came to visit Berrien RESA to learn about our distance learning program. After watching me facilitate a MysteryQuest USA and HistoryQuest5, we videoconferenced with Arnie Comer, Macomb ISD and Roxanne Glaser and Shane Howard from Region 12, TX. Arnie and Roxanne and Shane shared some great tips for starting a VC program and I took notes. We all shared our signature programs too: ASK for Macomb; Singing with Shane, Monster Match, Weather with Rusty for Region 12.

Arnie’s Top Tips

  1. Hold teachers’ hands tightly at the beginning.
  2. Take the tech burdens on yourself so the teachers can focus on the students

Roxanne and Shane’s Core Philosophy

  • Teachers spend time teaching
  • Coordinators in the school or at least the district as our liaison with the teacher

Tips from the conversation
I didn’t record who said what, but here are more ideas:

  • Not everyone’s going to be as passionate about VC as you are – give them time!
  • Have meaningful programming for your teachers and share that with colleagues across the country so your schools can benefit from each others programs
  • Call coordinators in schools that aren’t using it much to see what’s going on – maybe they have a family emergency or some challenge

What is a “quick win”?

  • Start out by providing an ASK program or a project – something with a date & time and all the materials – and step by step what to do.
  • Create programs that are videoconferencing with training wheels – a way to hand hold teachers as they get started.
  • Get teachers involved in one project with success then they try out something else.

Your Turn: What are your tips for schools just getting started with videoconferencing?