Tag Archives: Content Providers

Day 7: Managing Your Online Accounts

20 Days to Being a Better VC CoordinatorGuest blogged by Roxanne Glaser

Last week, I shared some tips to help you manage your time and to use a binder and a manila folder to help manage some of the information the you will need to support videoconferencing.

Next step is to have a process for managing your online accounts. Many content providers can be scheduled via fax, email or phone, but there are a few that we regularly use that require you to create an account.

Download a copy of  “Managing Your Online Accounts” to help you be organized as you work through creating accounts on the following sites.  The key is that you want to have everything related to videoconferencing in one place and easily accessible.

Comment Challenge:
1. Create an account on each of these sites. If you already have an account, try to remember the username and password and log in.

2. Write down all usernames and passwords on this sheet and attach it to your password folder and then keep it in a safe place.

3. Add any other usernames and passwords that you use for scheduling or requesting videoconferencing events at your location.

4. If you have any questions, add them in the comments of this post. We will be checking and replying there.

Day 6: Promoting Videoconferencing in Your School

Last week we focused on settings and such. This week in the 20 Day challenge we are looking at tips for before the videoconference – focusing especially on the nitty gritty of working with teachers.

Today’s topic is how to hook teachers on videoconferencing and promote the possibilities of this technology within your school.

TeacherIt’s the Curriculum!
Owston (2007), in his study of schools implementing technology initiatives, found that teachers need to see the benefit to students before they will adopt a new technology tool. So, how do you help teachers see the benefit?

  • Use the correlations to national and state standards found in the popular database (Berrien RESA and CILC).
  • Use the Grade Level Guides to VC. Yes, they were done for Michigan and are now outdated even for Michigan curriculum, but they give a starting point for teachers.
  • Pick a couple willing teachers, find out what they are teaching for the next few months, and find a VC for them. Print the flyer or the program description for them. Put it in their mailbox. Start small like this, and then later teach them to find their own programs.
  • Help the teachers see how the programs fit their curriculum and help them teach that content better. Don’t push doing VCs just for the fun of it. Find the curriculum connection.
  • If you need help doing this, take Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections, a popular four week course for coordinators and teachers integrating VC in the curriculum.
  • Help teachers see how videoconferences meet their curriculum and can be used in place of some lessons to teach the same content.

Of course, all of this takes time. So set yourself a reasonable goal of a few of the teachers/grade levels and target those. Then as they get comfortable, work on the others. Some teachers will probably never be enthusiastic about videoconferencing. Sweeney (2007) found that constructivist teachers were more likely to use videoconferencing in the curriculum. So, realize that and work with those who are interested.

Experience is the Best Teacher
Teachers need to see a videoconference to understand what will happen and to get over the fear of the unknown. In the words of one of our coordinators:

“It seems a little daunting until you actually go through it and then you realize this was not too bad and in fact it was really awesome!”
  • Don’t just TALK about videoconference opportunities in a staff meeting or workshop. CONNECT somewhere. Don’t let the content provider just TALK either. Have them demo the most interactive part of one of their programs. Try this list to get started.
  • Wherever possible, allow two teachers to do a videoconference together. Not all of the providers will allow 50-60 kids in a videoconference. However, going to the program “with someone” is much less threatening for first time VCers.
  • When one teacher is doing a videoconference, have the principal help you arrange for someone (maybe even yourself?) to cover for another teacher for a few minutes so they can see the videoconference.
  • For that matter, make sure your principal and superintendent experience a good videoconference too! Some principals in my area actually require each teacher to do one per year because they have seen the value to the students.

Tell the Good News
Make sure the staff hear about the great experiences by the participating teachers.

  • Get a write-up in the school newsletter.
  • Encourage your principal to let the teachers share their experiences at staff meeting. Let them hear from other teachers besides you!
  • When participating in Read Around the Planet, put up a bulletin board with a map with all of your RAP partner classes marked. Share the success!
  • Have the students present at a board meeting and share their experiences and what they learned.

Advertising
Figure out ways to stop being the middle man whenever possible.

  • If your educational service agency or district office provides scheduling services and sends info on an email list, get the teachers on the email list directly. This reduces time forwarding emails and soon teachers can do their own registrations (in some cases).
  • Use grade level or subject team lead teachers to help you promote VC. It helps a lot when the lead teacher for a grade level or subject area encourages everyone on their team to sign up for a videoconference. Train and support these teachers so they can help you.

Be Sensitive
In all your promotion, be sensitive to how teachers are doing with work in general. Several of my schools are doing less VCs this year because the science and social studies curriculum changed and everyone is just trying to stay above water dealing with the change. In another district, so much new technology is being installed so fast that teachers are quite resistant to do anything extra. Factors like these can affect the use of videoconferencing, and are beyond your control. If this is the case in your school, give yourself and your teachers a break and try again the next year!

Wordle
Finally, I’ve been sharing research results of a survey of my top teachers using videoconferencing from the 2007-2008 school year. One of my questions was – how did you come to know about videoconferencing? Invariably, their school coordinator helped them get excited about videoconferencing. What words stand out for you? (Click the picture to make it larger.)

Wordle

So, Your Challenge Is:

  • Find one program that meets the curriculum for a teacher who hasn’t used VC yet.
  • OR Invite your principal to a videoconference (if you haven’t already).
  • OR Pick another of the suggestions above and make it happen!

Please comment and tell us how it went!

References
Owston, R. (2007). Contextual factors that sustain innovative pedagogical practice using technology: an international study. Journal of Educational Change, 8(1), 61-77. doi:10.1007/s10833-006-9006-6
Sweeney, M. A. (2007). The use of videoconferencing techniques which support constructivism in K–12 education. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (AAT 3257352)

Day 3: Working with Content Providers

20 Days to Being a Better VC CoordinatorDay 3: Working with Content Providers
As a videoconference coordinator, a major part of your work includes interacting with content providers to bring programs to your students. So in today’s challenge, we look at some tips for working with content providers.

What is a content provider?
First, let’s make sure we’re all clear on what we’re talking about. A content provider is a zoo, museum, or similar organization that offers specific programs (content) to schools via videoconferencing.

Two of the most popular databases for finding programs are:

There are several others as well; please feel free to comment and share another favorite site!

Scheduling With Providers
When you first start to work on scheduling with content providers, it seems overwhelming! Each one has their own registration system and different procedures. Here are some tips to help you get organized.

  • Get all the possible dates & times from the teacher.
  • Check all your testing, event, PD calendars, as well as your videoconference schedule.
  • Have everything ready before you register online.
  • If you are registering via email, send all the information in one email.

Here’s a list of the information you’ll need whether registering online or via email or even phone.

  • Your IP address (or ISDN number if you still connect ISDN)
  • What speed you connect (usually 384K)
  • You tech name, email, and phone
  • Trouble number the provider would call DURING the videoconference
  • Teacher name, email, phone
  • Your name, email, phone
  • Billing information
  • The program name that the teacher wants
  • The range of availability the teacher has

I try to get teachers to give me the days of the week they can do, the range of dates they want it, and the times they can do. i.e. (M, W or F; February 1-15, from 10:35-11:25).

I use an email template for emailing content providers, so I can just fill in the needed info and send off the request, knowing that I’ve sent everything they might need.

When you give the provider the range of dates & times you can do, they just have to pick when it fits their schedule, and you’re done! But if you just give one time, then you have to go back and forth until it’s scheduled.

CILC Content Dollar Bank
Now if scheduling is driving you completely crazy, or you just want to consolidate your spending and make it easier, you should check out the Content Dollar Bank offered by CILC. This is a really cool service and can really help manage the daily chores of scheduling VCs.

Content Provider Etiquette
Don’t forget that the distance learning coordinators at the zoo or museum are people too! I can’t think of any content providers who are actually making a profit on offering these programs. They do it because it’s a service to education. Some of them break even on the cost of the materials etc, but they still have staff and technology costs to bring these programs to you. So….

When you have a problem with the program, a cancellation, a snow day, etc…..

  • Call them!
  • Email them!
  • Talk to them!

Most providers have cancellation policies; a few have rescheduling fees.

  • If necessary, get a replacement teacher!
  • Pay attention to their policies and respect them.

Show your appreciation:

  • Thank them for offering these programs!
  • Encourage your teacher to complete the evaluation form.
  • Offer feedback to help them improve.

Challenge
You challenge choices for today are:

  • Make an email template for scheduling with providers.
  • Make yourself a handy sheet with all the details about your system so it’s ready when you need to register.
  • Check out the CILC Content Dollar Bank and see if it might work for you.

comment1 When you’re done, please comment and tell us how it went. Do you have any other tips?

Comment image by Mark James under Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License.
Papers image by lotyloty on Flickr
Money image by jenn_jenn on Flickr

Videoconferencing Adjectives

I’m continuing this little mini-series with some of the results from a recent survey of my top VC-using teachers. Read more about it in the first post of this series. Remember, they are using videoconferencing to support curriculum instruction (not full length courses).

The question featured in this post is the following:

If your principal or superintendent walked into your classroom during a videoconference, give five adjectives to describe what they would see happening.

Videoconferencing Adjectives

Now isn’t this a nice set of words!

Notice the motivation adjectives: excited, smiles, amazed, happy, laughter, interesting, interested.

Notice the learning adjectives: learning, engaged reflective, involvement/involved, attentive, cooperative, active, interactive/interacting, communication, higher-level, knowledge, perform, reinforcement.

I did take out the word students – as many teachers wrote “students” after each adjective – and so it was huge again like the first wordle I did in this series. But I wanted you to see the adjectives larger and clearer.

See if you can find the one word that isn’t so positive. 🙂 Yes, I’ve seen a few kids do this in a VC. Have you?

Are these good reasons to use videoconferencing in your curriculum? Why or why not? Please comment.

Negative Things About Using VC in the Classroom

Yesterday we began this little journey of examining results from a little survey I did last May. Review the previous post for more information on the survey.

Today, let’s look at the companion question:

Please identify three to five negative things about using videoconferencing in your classroom.

Negative Things About Using VC in the Classroom

What words jump out at you this time? TIME! What ways are time challenging for videoconferencing?

  • Time zones
  • Time to schedule a videoconference
  • Time to prepare the students (and yourself) for a videoconference
  • Time to get all the classes at the level/grade to participate
  • What else can you think of?

Scheduling and technical problems stand out in this list too. While these teachers tend to be in my schools with better bandwidth and infrastructure, they still have done enough VCs to run into glitches.

I’ll share a couple full answers with you. This one is from Lacy Payne, F.C.Reed Middle School, in Bridgman, Michigan, (RUS grant school) whose students have done ASK programs, MysteryQuest, The Cleveland Museum of Art (to name a few), and has also participated in the Jazz workshop.

I have a couple of experiences where I had to reschedule because of technology problems, scheduling problems sometimes occur, time availability, and cost. I have two sessions of classes I teach and in order to get them both in I have to have them at the same time which creates a large number of students upwards of 50-60 kids. If money wasn’t an issue it would be much easier to do one conference per class.

From Peggy Clore, Coloma Middle School, (RUS grant school) 6th/7th grade language arts teacher:

1) Preparation takes time out of other lessons I’ve planned, so I have to make sure I’m covering as many of the GLCE’s as I can. Editor’s note: GLCEs are Michigan’s Grade Level Content Expectations.
2) Snow days cancel programs:)
3) Hearing may be difficult due to the other classes’ facilities.

And of course, this one is my favorite answer from a teacher who preferred to be anonymous in the survey results.

I don’t consider any part to be a negative worth griping about. If forced to nit-pick, the time frame is sometimes out of classwork sequence.

Are these negative things a barrier for these teachers? Read yesterday’s post!

So, please comment – either with your own list of negative things about using VC in the classroom, or with your own interpretation of the data represented above, or your own ideas of how to address these challenges.

Positive Things Abut Using VC in the Classroom

Last May (2008), I asked twenty of my teachers who used VC most often to complete a little survey. This is the beginning of sharing the results. Each teacher had used videoconferencing at least 6 times in the school year, and the teacher using it the most had done 12 videoconferences in the 2007-2008 school year. All of these were “curriculum videoconferencing” or using VC to support curriculum instruction.

In this post, I’ll share the answers to one of the questions. I decided to use Wordle to represent the data visually. Interestingly, it’s quantitative data (counting the number of times the word is using) represented in a more qualitative way.

Please identify three to five positive things about using videoconferencing in your classroom.

Positive Things About Using VC in the Classroom

Isn’t it interesting that the word students is so huge?! Learning, experiences, and opportunity jump out at me. It’s all about the students, isn’t it! Click the graphic to see the words much larger. Think about each of those other descriptive words.

And, I selected one full answer to share with you. This answer is by Peggy Clore, 6th and 7th grade language arts teacher at the Coloma Middle School, Coloma, Michigan (one of our RUS grant schools). She took the Jazz workshop a couple years ago and has been hooked on VC since. One of her more memorable VCs was the Around the World project in April 2008. She has also participated in the ASK interview with Jim Stovall and Read Around the Planet.

1) Students have an authentic audience, causing them to take greater care with their work.
2) Students learn to create valid questions through the ASK kit.
3) Students reflect upon what they learn and sometimes change their thinking or make connections to what they know.
4) Some of our challenging students’ behavior is so much better because they’re interested in what we’re doing.
5) When we connect to another part of the country or a foreign country, we open our students’ world to ideas they may not learn through a text book. Most of our students do not have opportunity to travel or see areas outside of our rural community and county.

So, how would you answer this question? Please comment – either with your own list of positive things about using VC in the classroom, or with your own interpretation of the data represented above.

Best Practices for Mrs. Claus

We’ve been doing three days of Mrs. Claus sessions again this year (65 videoconferences and 5000 students). I have noticed that some sessions go very well because of how the teachers and coordinators help us. So here’s a list of some of the best practices that we’ve noticed this week:

  • Zoom the camera in on the students asking questions. This allows Mrs. Claus to comment on shirts, missing teeth, etc. Some classes zoom in on students standing up; others mark a spot on the floor where they have a preset.
  • When calling students for questions, say their name clearly and stand fairly near the mic so Mrs. Claus can hear and use their name. i.e. “Erin has a question.” “Hi, Erin!”
  • Facilitate the conversation. In some of the connections, the teacher guided the conversation and helped the students ask appropriate questions. Sometimes the teachers also tell us what they’ve talked about in class.
  • Keep the mic unmuted. Mrs. Claus likes to hear the reaction of the students, and also what the students say before she comes on camera. It’s nice to hear the reaction during the story too.
  • Bring it to a close when the kids gets antsy or start asking odd questions. “Well kids, we have to go. Let’s say goodbye to Mrs. Claus!”
  • Scheduling classes. We had several schools that scheduled their sessions back to back. We found, though, that it was really hard to transition fast enough. Next year we’re thinking it would be better to have another school in between. This way when we connect, the kids are there sitting and ready. This makes it easier to have a new class every 15 minutes.

Some of these tips are appropriate for all kinds of videoconferences. Next big project is Read Around the Planet. Are you participating this year?

New Weather Watch program from COSI

Today we have a class trying out the new Weather Watch program from COSI Columbus (content provider of our favorite Gadget Works and Knee Surgery).

Weather WatchThe program starts out with students sharing their hypothesis for what happened on the presenter’s vacation last year, by using the barometer readings and other weather statistics.

Students are organized into groups with titles like Atmosphere Scientist, Data Specialist, Technicians, Forecaster, etc. Each group has a set of materials for the experiments.

The experiments cover topics like high pressure and low pressure; cold fronts & warm fronts, etc.

Students were highly engaged throughout the videoconference – running the experiments, predicting what might happen, and discussing hypotheses in groups. This was a cool new program from one of my favorite providers. I didn’t get to watch as much of it as I had hoped, though, because I was setting up for Mrs. Claus tomorrow. Still, it looked very interesting!

Musical Geography of Europe

This afternoon, a middle school geography class from Bridgman, MI is connecting to the Cleveland Institute of Music for their program the Musical Geography of Europe.

Cleveland Institute of MusicFor each country featured, pictures and foods are shown from that country and students are encouraged to try to guess the country represented. Then they listen to a piece of music from that country.

For Scotland, we heard a lively violin piece, so rousing that the students started clapping along!

Students learned about geographical themes such as natural borders, cultural tidbits from the various countries, and event paintings (from France).

Several student musicians were featured throughout the program, so it’s also neat for our students to see and be inspired by the variety of musical talent.

This program fits well with geographical studies of Europe.

"Two Page Selected List"

I know many of you use the “two page selected list” that I do every year. I’m really late getting it out this year because my schools are signing up for so many videoconferences, it’s keeping me busy! I don’t have to advertise as much anymore.

Still, I finally got it done! I could not keep it to two pages this year. So now it’s four, but if you copy it front and back it’s still “two pages”. 🙂

The links are on the top right of the TWICE Field Trips page.