Tag Archives: Content Providers

Learning Beyond the Horizon: Global Learning through Videoconferencing

Sunday ISTE Global Poster Session: Presenter: Carol Scott, Mustang Public Schools with Lynn Tilley
Videoconference ideas, examples, and success that empower students to become integrated 21st-century learners with global travel and collaborative projects.

Carol Scott had a sweet poster session last night with lots of interested people attending. Her online resources and links should be online here soon (but isn’t there yet).

Note all the cool VCs represented by Carol’s poster:

The poster session was well attended. See the crowd gathered around:

A few pics of Carol enthusiastically sharing with the attendees:

This was a great poster session, and I was so happy to see videoconferencing represented so well!

4th Grade Videoconference Recommendations

This morning I opened up early bird registration for my schools for next year’s videoconferences. I always offer to give advice on selecting programs. My first request came from a 7th grade science teacher who loves videoconferencing, and is moving to fourth grade. I thought I’d share here what I told her.

Preview Calendar

I always make a preview calendar for my schools that is by month and grade level. The information on this page applies only to my schools, but you might find it interesting as an example. I don’t have it done for 2010-2011 yet, but my teachers can still use it as a guide right now to plan for next year.

Social Studies

The fourth grade social studies curriculum covers: “Using the context of the United States, fourth grade students learn significant social studies concepts within an increasingly complex social environment. They examine fundamental concepts in geography, civics and government, and economics through the lens of Michigan history and the United States.”

My top four for this area are:

Language Arts

The top choice here is:

Science

This is what I said to my teacher: “Plus you might want to do a science content provider program. Other fourth grade classes this year did mini-grants for these programs. (My schools apply for mini-grants for our assistance in paying for content providers. Districts must contribute at least $25 towards the cost of the program.)

Those are the only science content provider programs my 4th grade teachers did this year. I know there are many others; and have on my todo list to update our GLCE guides to videoconferencing for the new curriculum. But it isn’t done yet. Feel free to comment if you have other recommendations for 4th grade science.

Compare this list to the 4th grade Best VCs List I did in 2005. The 4th grade social studies curriculum has changed since then, but the science recommendations are still great.

Don't Miss the ISTE SIG IVC Playground: Early Bird Reg Ends May 1

This year at the ISTE Conference there will be an interesting new playground: a videoconference playground, complete with pirates, treasure maps, and gold (chocolate)! The SIG IVC playground runs Wednesday morning from 9 am to 1 pm.

Come search for treasures to enrich your classroom! Join video conference experts from around the country as they share their expertise in content and hardware to use with H.323 video conferencing. Connect with zoos and museums that offer video conference content to schools, as well as an author and other experts! See the latest in HD technologies. If you are interested in globalizing your classroom, this is the playground for you! Come and learn from practitioners and walk away amazed.

You’ll get hands-on time with various videoconference options, while you dial out to IP addresses to discover who is at the other end. Don’t miss this fun experience at ISTE, as well as other great videoconference workshops and sessions.

Register Quick Before the May 1 Early Bird Deadline!

Lest We Forget: Korean War

Today we had another Lest We Forget session with our Korean War veterans. We had high school classes from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas participating.

Our panel members today were (l to r) Jim O’Malley, Redmond Sage, Al Rosinski, and Bill Gobert. Here is a sample of the questions students asked:

  • How much sleep did you get?
  • Do you think we should still have the draft?
  • Did you have any fond memories while you were overseas?
  • What did people do to support the Korean War at home?
  • I studied about Taskforce Smith. Why did we go into the war when we weren’t ready?
  • Were you drafted or did you volunteer?
  • What did you think of Truman firing MacArthur?
  • How did the local Korean population treat you?
  • Who decided to divide Korea?
  • What books or movies do you recommend to learn about the Korean War?
  • What did you miss most when you were overseas?

Mr. Bill Gobert brought his sleeping bag to illustrate the cold conditions. In this picture you can see how he modeled this experience for the students.

The veterans always appreciate patriotic decoration for these videoconferences, which this ROTC group did very well:

As always, these videoconferences are a great opportunity for students to hear first hand experiences from historical events. In addition, the veterans sure appreciate the opportunity to tell their stories and know that the younger generation is interested in their perspective.

We still have room in the May 14 Vietnam sessions, and we’d love to have YOUR class join us!

GNG and Haiti: Results of the VC

It’s always nice to know the results of a videoconference. Last week I got this email from the teacher at St. Joseph High School who participated in the GNG videoconference with students in Haiti. What an amazing experience that was!

Videoconference was good, some technical difficulties because Haiti is having power issues but that only happened once.  Overall, I know the kids enjoyed it.  Now we are selling the wristbands at lunch.  Next week Joe Rommel’s kids are going to be selling them too.  We hope to raise about $300 to buy tents for the school.  That was what they said they wanted most because their rainy season is fast approaching and they have nowhere to hold classes.

Here is an example of the real power of videoconferencing to give students an experience and empathy not possible otherwise, which motivates them to service and action!

World War II Veterans Picture

On Wednesday, March 31, we had a videoconference with our World War II veterans. I didn’t get to blog it then because I was having problems with two other VCs at the same time as I was facilitating this one. But I just got the photographers pictures in my email this morning, and this picture is so good I have to share it!

The veterans from left to right are: Captain Jimmy Butt, Sgt Arden Pridgeon, Sgt Val Ripsco, and Captain Frank Smith.

In this picture, Captain Smith was just explaining to the students the difference between American weapons and the enemy’s weapons (in his case, Germany). He was mimicking the sound of each, so loudly, that it made Sgt Ripsco jump! And then everyone laughed. It was a great session!

By the way, we still have room in the April Korean War Veteran interview, and the Vietnam War interviews in May. ($50 each; high school; everyone is welcome). Hope you can join us!!

Interviewing Congressman Fred Upton

Today Coloma, Edwardsburg, and St. Joseph High School are interviewing our U.S. Representative Fred Upton. Mr. Upton comes here to Berrien RESA annually to talk about issues with local civics and government classes. Here are some of the questions students asked today:

  • What can we do about the federal debt? (Students learned about the line item veto, earmarks, and ethics).
  • How can we increase manufacturing jobs in the U.S.?
  • Do you think the electoral college is still a valid way to elect our president?
  • What is your view of the unemployment rate in the 6th district and do you think it’s getting better or worse?
  • How can we improve green energy in Michigan?
  • How will the healthcare plan affect southwest Michigan?
  • President Obama announced yesterday that he wants offshore drilling. What is your view on this?
  • Can you describe your routine in a regular day?
  • How do you feel about Whirlpool closing down plants and moving to Mexico?
  • What do you think we can do about the Asian carp problem? (Mr. Upton told us about an April Fool’s Joke played on him this morning – someone said they caught an Asian carp in the St. Joe river and threw it back.) For those of you not from the Great Lakes area, read about the Asian carp problem here.
  • You have a great voting record. With technological advances, couldn’t they develop a more efficient way to vote?
  • How is the cap and trade bill going to affect the economy?
  • Social security benefits seem to be a concern for our generation. What do you think can be done to make sure that we have these benefits as we get older?
  • How can we get more money without raising taxes?
  • Is there going to be federal money to help kids go to college?

These videoconferences continue to be a powerful learning experience for our students and a great opportunity to make the issues in civics and government classes come alive!

Interviewing Women Business Executives

Three of the executives participated from California.

Last Friday afternoon we had several local classes participate in a Polycom Special Event. Students from business, management, and economics classes interviewed four Polycom women executives as a celebration of Women’s History Month. The students had prepared great questions:

  • Did you know this job existed when you were going to school?
  • Were you always interested in this field?
  • What skills and/or abilities were really helpful to you in this job?
  • Why is following your skills and interests so important in choosing a job?
  • What are the most difficult aspects of your job?
  • Did you need to know a lot about technology?
  • Explain how technology has changed the way you do your job?
  • How will the job outlook and advancement affect your career plans for 5 years from now?

Students appreciated the opportunity to talk to women in the work force to hear about their experiences and their advice for high school students.

Thank you, Polycom, for offering these special events to our students!

International VCs and Service Learning

Today we have several amazing videoconferences for our rural students in Berrien County.

EcoConversations

Reed Middle School, in Bridgman, is connecting to a class in the UK to discuss environmental issues. The class in the UK shared with us information about carbon emissions, including some great posters and a RAP that started with:

hey hey, we’re here today, to tell our friends in the USA about CO2

Our students shared the issues around bottled water including health, media advertising, costs, public water supplies and more. After the thorough presentations, students asked each other questions about the weather, their school systems, uniforms. The students clearly enjoyed the interaction and learned from the other class.

Stand Up, Speak Out with MAGPI

Lakeshore Middle School has been participating in a unique serving learning program with MAGPI. In the kick-off conference, students interviewed holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissmann Klein. As a follow-up, they participated in service learning projects and reported on the results on the project wiki. In today’s session the schools at each site are reflecting on their experiences with service learning and the impact of the program on their understanding.

Talking to Students in Haiti with Global Nomads Group

Upton Middle School and St. Joseph High School are participating in the Global Nomads Group program with students in Haiti. You can read more about it here. The program was a two part connection, starting the conversation with the students in Haiti on Monday and continuing today. The participating classes are also raising money for Haiti through StudentsRebuild.org. You can see part of the action: watch the live webcast on Friday, March 26 at 12:00 Eastern. More details on the GNG home page. These are incredibly powerful experiences, as students hear the stories of the students in Haiti, building empathy and understanding. We also were moved by the interaction of between Haitian students in Florida and the students in Haiti. GNG’s programs are always incredible!

Seems like these VCs are a great way to celebrate this blog’s 5th anniversary! 5 Years since that first post!

Holiday Videoconferences

Well, I for one am glad for a two week vacation coming up. We had 70 videoconferences this week. The last two weeks have been full of holiday videoconferences. I thought I would share with you just a few links for your inspiration and planning for next year.

Holiday VCs We Did

  • Several classes participated with ESC Region 12’s Holiday Extravaganza. In the picture you can see one of the holiday math story problems that students presented for the other classes to solve. Holiday math problems are a great way to celebrate the season and practice math facts. I hope to have even more classes do this next year.
  • One of my teachers created a Holiday Christmas Classics collaboration to share classic stories and books with each other.
  • We were scheduled for TWICE ASK Winter’s First Snowflake, but due to a snow day it’s rescheduled for January.
  • We had 58 local classes videoconference with our Mrs. Claus, which was written up in the local newspaper.
  • A class participated in the holiday storytelling with Vanderbilt Virtual School.
  • We had several Gingerbread Boy VCs with the Center for Puppetry Arts. Love those programs!

Other Great Possibilities

There are some other great holiday programs as well that others shared via Twitter in the last few weeks. 

How did YOU celebrate the season with videoconferences this year? Feel free to share & comment (even if if it’s after the holiday!). See you in the new year!