Buffalo Zoo is IP now!!

The Buffalo Zoo has added IP; so now they can do IP and ISDN! We use the Buffalo Zoo for our Ice Bear & Little Fox ASK programs and they are excellent! So, if you need a zoo program, and want to connect to a zoo that does flexible scheduling (on demand), try the Buffalo Zoo. We really enjoy their programs!

MAGPI / Constitution Center Election Program

Check out this program from MAGPI and the National Constitution Center:

ISSUES FACING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: A New Exchange Program from the National Constitution Center!

DATE: September 23, 2008

TIME: 1-3 p.m. EDT

TARGET AUDIENCE: High School Students

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

In order to be an interactive videoconference site for this event, your site must have H.323 videoconferencing capabilities. Your site must also be connected to your national high speed research and education network (i.e. Internet2 in the United States).

DESCRIPTION:

The National Constitution Center is excited to invite your school to participate in the latest installment of its national student program, The Exchange: A Marketplace of Student Ideas. This event will take place on Tuesday September 23, 2008 from 1pm-3pm EDT. This installment of The Exchange, Setting the Student Platform 2008, asks students to consider the issues facing the presidential candidates in 2008 and work together to create a political platform for the nation’s students. This Exchange will follow up on the work done by students in May 2008 to create a student agenda. The discussion will be hosted by SuChin Pak from MTV and Dr. Michael Hogan from the Center for Democratic Deliberation and Pennsylvania State University.

The Exchange allows students all over the country to converse with one another about current constitutional issues using Internet-2 videoconferencing. It is an exciting way for students to explore issues with their classmates and peers in other parts of the nation.

Schools that participate in The Exchange will be asked to use the provided curriculum to prepare their students to be part of the conversation. Students will also have the opportunity to create and post their own media include art, video, and websites in The Exchange online community, which can be accessed from the National Constitution Center’s website at: http://www.constitutioncenter.org/ncc_edu_TheExchange.aspx. Some student created media may be selected to be displayed during the video conference. If your students decide to create any video or audio clips, we ask them to not exceed 2 minuets in length.

If your school chooses to participate in The Exchange, you will be asked to select one student to be part of the videoconference round table. During the videoconference, students will have an opportunity to interact with each other and share their thoughts on numerous issues facing the country. Students will use this deliberation to assess each issue, and create a student platform for the upcoming presidential election. Additionally, students who are not taking part in the discussion will be able to send questions and comments to SuChin and the participating students via a simultaneous online chat.

Participating schools must have connectivity to the INTERNET2 network and the ability to do H.323 videoconferencing.

While there is no cost to participate in this event, we do will ask schools to work to make sure this event is a success. Schools will be responsible for the following:

• Selection of student representative
• Preparation of students through the use of the provided Exchange curriculum
• Support student created materials and submit them to our new social networking site being developed for this project
• Participation and successful completion of videoconference testing prior to the event with the National Constitution Center

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

I hope you are able to participate in this remarkable opportunity. If interested, please contact Jason Allen at either jallen@constitutioncenter.org or 215.409.6644 by September 12, 2008 for registration and information. Mandatory videoconference testing will be the following Friday, September 19, 2008.

Heather Weisse Walsh
MAGPI Applications Coordinator
3401 Walnut Street, Suite 233A
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228
phone: 215-573-6417
email: hweisse@magpi.net

Elevating Conversations

Here at Elevate 2008, my favorite part is the conversations I’m having with VC friends from here and there and everywhere. Here are a few snippets of those conversations.

Tracy from BC
I met Tracy from BC, a teacher-librarian. We had several great conversations about Read Around the Planet, using Web 2.0 tools, and professional development opportunities. We hope to connect our classes soon.

Chris from Australia
I told Chris about our connections to Australia in May. We talked about things we could do together. I know some of my schools would be willing to connect to Australia in the evening during a parent night or something similar. We also talked about my idea in the projects booklet of time-delayed collaborations with the Polycom RSS or a similar device. I’m hoping we can actually make some of those happen this year.

H.239 with Ken, Shane, Roxanne
I learned another reason not to use H.239 / People Plus Content / DuoVideo. Did you know that only one site in the conference can send H.239 at a time? I can think of several projects we run where we show each other content at the same time. This standard is designed for one way presentation style communication, not the interactive-engaging-collaborative-constructivist-learning experiences we prefer to do.

CILC Content Dollar Bank with Ruth
Ruth Blankenbaker and I had a chat about their dollar bank program. It’s a really cool service for anyone struggling with the challenges of scheduling and managing the funding of a lot of content provider programs. She said schools are using it for managing grant funding and for after school programs.

Chatting about firewalls with staff from an unnamed district
It’s so unfortunate when networks are locked down so tight that you can’t call another school in your building, and your tech won’t give you an IP address to give to the place you want to connect to. It’s so challenging to solve the connection problems with H.323 and firewalls. It’s nice to get together with friends and mutter together.

These are just a flavor of the conversations from Elevate 2008. If you were here, what conversations did you learn from?

VC7 – Brain Based Learning Techniques

James Tapankov: The VC7 – Brain Based Learning Techniques in VC
At Elevate 2008

This session will explore the use of brain-based learning techniques in the videoconferencing environment. The VC7 is a list of seven approaches that are guaranteed to enhance the level of interactivity and value to every VC, regardless of its focus. The session will involve the history of the development of the VC7, from its beginning roots to the current project with the VCRLN (Videoconferencing Regional Leads Network) to develop an online multimedia reference to highlight effective aspects of learning via VC.

I’ve been really looking forward to this session since I read the blurbs for the sessions at Elevate. I’m so interested in what the 7 things are!! James doesn’t have this information online anywhere that I could find, but last night at dinner he gave me permission to blog his session, so you too, can learn about the VC7.

James’ work is influenced by that of Marcia Tate of Developing Minds and Stephen Covey, and Viktor Flankl – Man’s Search for Meaning. I’m impressed with the connection and grounding in theory.

His handout has room to write down the 7 things, room to scribble and draw. He does this session via videoconference as well.

Keys to Brain-Based Learning

  • Relaxed alertness
  • Orchestrated immersion in complete experience
  • Active processing

#1. Make it meaningful.

Get everyone involved ASAP. Give meaning right away. Why are we here? Allow input into the “how”. Have everyone to something in the first 5 minutes instead of listening. Aim learning at solving problems together. Process learning in multiple ways. Connect life experiences. Build in reflection.

#2. Get them active.

Build in reasons and opportunities to: move. talk. draw. role play. play games. sing/dance. SHARE. “The last thing you want is a videoconference that could be recorded and sent out and it would have the same effect.”

#3. Keep it fresh.

Chunk it up, change it up. Take timely breaks. Give things to do OFF camera. Do unexpected things. Plant a “mole”. Change participant perspectives. Use new tools.

Marcia’s rule – maximum length of an activity: average age – up to 20 age/minimum. Grade 5 students who are 10, then chunk 10 minutes. Adults, 20 minutes max.

Example of unexpected things. He had some “moles” to pull out this snack that he likes – and everyone would taste it. Garlic sauce covered pretzels.

#4. Engage the senses.

Use A/V cues. Involve peripheral learning. Provide physical props. Use music. Use smell/taste. Use touch.

Visuals around and behind you but you don’t actually reference. This goes along with my idea to crunch MysteryQuest to an hour and change some of the clues to being nonverbal – like the climate and human environment interaction clues.

How do you convey the other senses when VC only conveys sight and sound?

He talked about the project he did with Santa and how they used clues. One of the squares in a multipoint is a sign that said “everybody scream” and after they did, Santa came on screen. When the grinch came on that same screen they hand to ring their bells and sing a song to make him go away. They used a green screen to transport Santa in & out of the different places. Like Santa got stuck in the dungeon and they had to answer questions to get him out.

#5. Make it personal.

Connect a camcorder. Tell (appropriate) personal stories. Give things to do OFF camera. Do unexpected things. Plant a “mole”. Change participant perspectives. Use interactive digital tools.

He thinks the robotic movements of the camera are impersonal, so he likes the camcorder instead hooked into the aux ports. You can really quick zoom in on what is going on that you want the other site to see. Of course you have to have enough bandwidth to handle all the motion.

When you build relationships with people, you want to see their reactions. Kids love to be behind the camera running it. Hmm. I wonder if a camcorder plus PVX plus Promethean is where I should be heading with my “every classroom” project

#6. Engage their emotions.

Use music to direct/adjust mood and focus. Create opportunities for empathy. See first five points. James wants us to contribute too so that these don’t repeat quite so much.

#7. Celebrate the experience.

Encourage/reward risk. Enjoy your time together. Be silly when you can. Highlight progress made. Provide opportunity afterwards.

Celebrate what happens at the end of things – like the big bang finale in Jazz.

Low threat / high challenge for brain based learning.

So many “one-offs” happen, so provide an opportunity to keep connecting.

Presentation Tips

  • Play music while the people talk. When the music stops, everyone stops talking.
  • Use a parking lot to write down questions and comments for afterwards.
  • “I’d love to hear 3 comments.” and he gave away 3 pens.

James has set up a wiki to continue the conversation and wants us all to contribute and extend these ideas. Gotta add this to the Read Around the Planet materials for this year!

Sessions I Wish I Could Attend

The bummer about presenting a half day workshop here is that I’m missing some really cool presentations! Look at these two in particular:

Gord Smith, Bev Knutson-Shaw, Belinda Crowsen
Family Treasures – Museum Project
Videoconferencing is allowing schools and museums to work together in new and creative ways. Expanding on a 2006 pilot program with County Central High School in Vulcan, seven classes from across the Palliser Regional School District worked in cooperation with the Galt Museum & Archives to research and present their Family Treasures. This year, Grade 7 and 8 students from Vulcan, Champion, Arrowwood, Milo and Coaldale began their work on October 18 and presented their findings to fellow students, Galt Museum staff, parents and community members via VC.

Jocelyn Littlefair, Cathy King
VC Circles: People, Culture, Language
This session will focus on the use of videoconferencing in second language instruction. Tools, tricks, and techniques for using videoconferencing and supportive technologies in full course delivery, as well as examples of multipoint videoconference events involving French Immersion, Francophone, and French as a Second Language students will be shared.

Though they are during my workshop, they are in the same general area. So maybe if I give everyone a break I can sneak over and grab a handout!

Creating Connections: Cool Collaborations

In Julia Heighway‘s keynote this morning, she featured some interesting collaborations. Both of these ones here are using other Internet technologies to support the videoconference.

Human Rights Club

Several high schools videoconferenced about genocide and the holocaust. The students decided they wanted to start a Human Rights Club. They created a wiki to support their work together. Check it out at The Human Condition

Hong Kong
We videoconferenced during the keynote with Chun Fung from Hong Kong who posted this project request on CILC. Roxanne’s school, Clifton Elementary, did one of the first videoconferences with his class. Isn’t the world small!?

They started with cultural exchange, dances, group games, etc

Now they are looking for longer lasting collaborations. “To obtain the full benefit of VC, it must be used as a wholistic program.” They combine VC with pen pals to establish relationships ahead of time. Videoconferencing as just a “one-off” is just a pity. It’s better to establish a long-term relationship. They did a children’s art festival to raise money for an AIDS orphanage.

Now they are working on long term programs in computer science, ICT, and math. They are doing a project with Google Sketchup. They emailed the models to each other, and then videoconferenced with each other to explain their model.

Now they are doing projects with Scratch – where the students are learning programming with icons. The students will create games, send them to each other, play and dissect each other’s games, and then videoconference with each other.

“There’s so much more to gain from a sustained collaboration vs. a quick “one-off” collaboration.” – Chun Fung

First International Math Olympiad for elementary students. There’s one for high school, but not for elementary. So now they want to focus on specific subjects instead of just cultural exchanges or practicing English. All of their projects are open and they are looking for long term partnerships.

As a sidenote, I was sitting next to Roxanne in this session and it was pretty interesting that her class did the To Kill a Mockingbird project featured, the connection with Hong Kong, and my class was the audience for the winning KC3 project featured.

Training Hosts at the Canadian Space Agency

This morning at breakfast at the Elevate 2008 conference, I chatted with Marilyn Steinberg from the Canadian Space Agency. I commented that I heard their programs fill up quickly, so she described how they focus on quality, particularly how they train their “hosts” – the scientists and engineers who videoconference with the students. Her training program isn’t published or researched, however, Alberta Education is conducting a three year research project on their student programs.

I learned some really interesting things from Marilyn as she described their training program for their experts. Sometimes the best learning is in the conversations at a conference!

Components of the training

  • An annual 7 month training that consists of 2-4 hours a month
  • Three levels of training – beginning, intermediate, and advanced
  • Beginning focuses on room presence when presenting face to face
  • Intermediate and advanced include speaking the same curriculum language as students and teachers, body language in a videoconference, initiating a warm connection in the first 2.5 minutes of the connection, etc.
  • Pairing beginning and advanced presenters in the first face to face workshops at the Space Agency so the beginners aren’t alone

Lessons for communication
Marilyn shared some really important communication points for videoconferencing. I asked her how she learned them, and she said by observing. They’ve been doing videoconferences for quite a long time. So here are a few of her tips.

  • An early tip for their experts is how to engage with students and teachers who come to sessions on-site at the Canadian Space Agency. The experts learn not to turn their back to the audience – “only your spouse should admire your backside” – a humorous way to remember the lesson! Moving around instead of staying in one place to present requires the audience to multi-task and follow you.
  • Don’t point to the kid on the front row. Pointing is very aggressive. Instead, call on the student in the first row with a green shirt – with an inviting smile on your face and your eyebrows raised. The student will respond with a smile and you’ve engaged them and made a human connection.
  • Don’t break eye contact with the audience. She talked about how when you’re thinking, you might look down or up to the left. But this just makes you look really scary and shifty in a videoconference. Their presenters practice in the mirror and with each other in preparation for looking at the audience and not breaking eye contact. She described the results of this training in a session where the students are working in the room under the supervision of the remote host/scientist – and students just approach the microphone to ask questions of the scientist. Clearly the scientist is “in the room” in the students’ minds.

The scientists improve so much in their presentation skills that they come back from their conferences and comment on the poor quality of presentations done at their scientific conferences. They’ve learned so much they’ve become critical consumers of presentations.

Curriculum Connections
The other part of her training program is in depth learning about the curriculum requirements of the schools. The scientists and engineers learn how to use the same language that the students are using in their scientific curriculum. This is so critical! How many poor expert presentations have you seen? Marilyn commented that they are “talking to themselves”, which I thought was pretty funny because it’s so true!

Assessment
A really brave (in my opinion) component of their training is annual assessment. This isn’t just a three year training where you just walk through the workshops and then you’re done. Each year they assess the experts to see what training they need to focus on for that year. The training is tailored to their needs. She didn’t describe how they did the assessment, but this seemed really brave to me. How many guest experts would be willing to go through this? Yet, clearly they are able to get past the initial hesitancy of their engineers and scientists to the point where they value and appreciate the training. They come back and say this interaction with the kids is their favorite part of their job because of the positive feedback they receive.

I look forward to future publications and presentations of the great work that the Canadian Space Agency is doing!