RAP is a "gateway drug" to videoconferencing

Yesterday afternoon I was chatting with Daniel Maas, RAP Verification Partner for Alberta, about the upcoming Read Around the Planet 2008. I’ve been doing training for our RAP Verification Partners the last couple days. As we talked about the benefits to kids, Danny mentioned the ways that Read Around the Planet plants seeds for other videoconferences.

  • It’s professional development. Teachers (and sometimes whole schools and districts) who see videoconferencing as a tool for full length classes and meetings suddenly realize the potential for classroom-to-classroom VC projects. After they have one great experience, they begin to brainstorm other curriculum ways to use videoconferencing for collaborative projects.
  • It spawns additional projects. We always hear stories of teachers who create continuing projects with the RAP partners. Teachers also design new curriculum projects based on what they learned in Read Around the Planet. There are many copy cat RAP projects as well. The model is easily replicated.
  • It’s easy. Danny shared how RAP can be easily adapted to whatever the students are covering in their curriculum during the event. Having students present their learning fits well into most curriculum areas.

After sharing these ideas, Danny quipped, “RAP is like the gateway drug to videoconferencing.” I thought that was funny enough to share with you! It’s an apt metaphor, isn’t it? Do you agree? Has your participation in Read Around the Planet spawned other projects and use of videoconferencing? Leave a comment & share!

Vote for National Distance Learning Awards (by Nov. 7)

Voting is now open for the National Distance Learning Awards hosted by CILC.

Be sure to read over the descriptions carefully. There are some really cool projects in the list! I definitely plan to “Google” some of the nominees to learn more about the neat things they are doing.

Vote by November 7!!

Preparing for Read Around the Planet

Yesterday I posted updated information about Read Around the Planet 2008 on the TWICE blog. I will be posting information related to RAP over there instead of here. So if you’re subscribed to this blog and want to participate in Read Around the Planet 2008, you really should subscribe to the TWICE blog too!!

If you need help with subscribing, here are a couple tutorials to assist you:

Complete this survey…

Please help out the content providers who offer us great content. Take some time to complete this survey:

Dear Colleagues:

I invite all K-12 practitioners involved with decision-making related to interactive videoconferencing to participate in a survey entitled “Understanding the Utilization of Interactive Videoconferencing in the K12 Setting.” This survey has been designed to provide Cincinnati Museum Center and other content providers with a more accurate picture of who is utilizing interactive videoconferencing in the K-12 setting and what factors influence their decisions. It is also hoped that practitioners in the K-12 setting may also find the information useful in better informing their decision-making.

The survey can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=JdJ429V8pxF1W_2fFwTn08hg_3d_3d (please note any potential line breaks).

After tabulation of results, findings will be made available in a variety of forms both on the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Distance Learning website (http://cincymuseum.org/distance) and in professional conferences and publications. No individual responses will be shared.

Your participation is voluntary, but greatly appreciated. If you should have any questions or concerns, please contact Jason Dennison at Cincinnati Museum Center at (513)763-2315 or by email at jdennison@cincymuseum.org.

Sincerely,

Jason A. Dennison
Director, Instructional Technology
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
TEL: +1 (513) 763-2315
FAX: +1 (513) 287-7095
MOBILE: +1 (513) 377-1585
E-MAIL: jdennison@cincymuseum.org
URL: http://www.cincymuseum.org/education

Spiraling Collaborative Projects

Have you ever had your collaborative videoconference projects take on a life of their own? Recently several projects that I’ve been involved in have spiraled (out of control?) to create even more events for students. Here are a few examples:

  • 07-10-30monster.jpgMonster Match. Roxanne Glaser was kind enough to use us to fill a few “leftover” spots she had in her local project, Monster Match. On October 11, she needed 3 classes from me. By the end of the next day, I had 25 classes participating!!! As Roxanne, says, the project “blew up” in my service area! Most of my schools are connecting point-to-point, and many of them are connecting locally.
  • Extending Monster Match. In addition, I’ve heard from a few teachers that they are planning future connections with their partners from Monster Match. One building partnership has expanded to grade levels that weren’t participating in Monster Match.
  • Canada partnership. A few weeks ago, someone who had attended one of my VC presentations emailed wanting to do a collaborative project. I think they were originally thinking just one event. Little did they know! I forwarded the note to one of my enthusiastic building coordinators, and now they have nine connections planned!

It’s exciting to see hours of training and professional development pay off. It’s exciting to see teachers realize from a model project (such as Monster Match) all the other curriculum activities they could do with their partner class. And voila! Here they are creating simple curriculum learning experiences to benefit their kids. My new model of “letting go” and training my buildings to be independent is resulting in ever more increasing use of curriculum videoconferencing.

Registration for Elevate 2008 is open!

I hope you’re thinking about attending Elevate 2008 in Banff, Alberta. Registration is open now and limited to the first 300 participants to sign up.

Also, don’t forget you can submit a presentation proposal as well.

The conference runs August 24-27, 2008 and is shaping up to be an amazing event. Check out the website for a video intro and list of keynote speakers.

First ASK Program of the Year: Ice Bear and Little Fox

07-10-24icebear3.jpgToday we have nine classes participating in our first ASK program of the year, on the book Ice Bear and Little Fox. Students have read the book, journaled, and written great questions, following the ASK process. Four of the classes are from Region 12, TX, as we are mentoring Region 12 in doing their own ASK programs too.

Students are interviewing Rebecca Balk, at the Buffalo Zoo. This is our first 07-10-24icebear2.jpgyear using the Buffalo Zoo for this program and we are delighted with the results. Rebecca is weaving into her answers extra visuals and items to show the students, related to the questions they are asking. She is also great at really quick answers for young attention spans. Sometimes we keep track of how many questions we get in an ASK program, and in the first session this morning, Rebecca answered 32 questions in 45 minutes. Which is quite a record! Since the ASK program is question based and students spend so much time preparing their questions, we sure appreciate authors and specialists who can give concise interesting answers.

Here are some examples of the students’ questions:

  • 07-10-24icebear1.jpgHow long is the mother polar bear pregnant with a baby polar bear?
  • Does the polar bear have bones in it’s body that humans don’t have?
  • How deep can a seal dive?
  • How long do polar bears live?
  • What do killer whales weight?
  • What is your favorite thing about polar bears?
  • How many polar bears are left in the world?
  • Do walruses attack polar bears?
  • Do polar bears hunt foxes?

If you’re thinking about starting an ASK program, this is a really easy one to start with. Rebecca knows how ASK works; her sessions are reasonably priced; and your schools probably already have the book! So you’d just need to share with your teachers the ASK training materials – linked at the top of the TWICE ASK page.

Interesting Characters to VC With

So, who could your students talk to today? There are some really creative ideas floating around on the vc blogosphere!

These are just a few. What ideas do YOU have?

"Videoconferencing Blue"

So, when you did your fall shopping this year, did you look for “videoconferencing clothes?” It struck me funny this year how much videoconferencing has affected my life; down to the choice of clothing.

I looked for solid colors that look great on camera. Not too dark; not too red; not too distracting.

My favorite color is what I call “videoconferencing blue.” That blue looks fantastic on camera. It’s also a favorite color for tech support staff. Here’s a sample:

So, how ’bout you? Does videoconferencing affect your shopping? What are your favorite colors on camera?