Tag Archives: Resources

Do VCs raise students' self-esteem?

Over lunch today I read an article on Overcoming Underachievement in Edutopia. In a nutshell, the study showed that a simple 15 minute writing exercise where minority students wrote about attributes “they value, such as relationships with friends or being good at art” (p.58). This little activity increased the students’ achievement, startling the researchers with the impact on their learning.

So I wonder, do videoconferences raise students’ self-esteem? I’ve seen some students get really excited when they are called on, get to talk, or are able to be on camera. If they share their work (poetry, writing, art, etc.) with another person, school, expert, author, other students… does that raise their self-esteem? And in doing so, does it make them more confident and motivated to do their other work?

Isn’t that a great research question? I’ve added a new category to my blog for research so I can record these “wonderments”. Maybe some graduate student looking for a research topic will take it on….

New NETS & VC

Did you know that ISTE is updating the NETS for Students? Now is the time to give feedback before the deadline of March 31.

I thought I’d share with you a quick little comparison I did. I wanted to see where videoconferencing fits into the new NETS for Students and if it seems appropriately represented.

The current standards potentially address videoconferencing in the 4th standard: Technology Communication Tools.

  • Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
  • Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

Have you noticed or thought about the fact that these standards are focused more on students interacting, communicating and collaborating than on “receiving” content? There’s definitely a basis here for collaborative projects and highly interactive programs, don’t you think?

The draft of the new standards move the communication standard to number II with the new heading of Communication and Collaboration. Higher importance? Don’t you love the word Collaboration in there?!!!

  • Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
    A. collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and others employing a variety of digital media and formats.
    B. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences utilizing a variety of media and formats.
    C. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
    D. contribute to project teams to produce original works.

Emphasis mine. Note how the wording in B is very similar to the previous standard, but the focus is on the learning task at the beginning of the sentence instead of the technology used. Excellent!

Isn’t C. awesome!! I love that line! Succinctly expressing the need and value of international connections. Can anyone say Read Around the Planet or Megaconference Jr.?
D. sure gives food for thought. I’ve had simmerings of ideas before on projects that could happen via VC. Time to dig up those ideas again and see how they could be implemented. Science MysteryQuest, Global Business Uses of VC, VC in the Real World, Dream Factory. How could we have students collaborate at a distance to produce original work on some “big problems“?

I am pleased that the new standards make a stronger case for videoconferencing and other forms of communication technologies. Wouldn’t you agree? Then give feedback before the deadline of March 31!

Newspaper Articles about RAP

Thank you to Ruth Blankenbaker, CILC, for sending me this article from Morinville, Alberta on a Read Around the Planet connection with one of my schools, Sylvester Elementary. It’s a cute write up and the teachers decided to be pen pals after the connection. A common response to Read Around the Planet.

Do you know of any published news articles about RAP connections in your area? Please comment and share!

The Eye of the Storm

I feel like I’m in the eye of a storm. Today, March 8, is the day between the Read Around the Planet and the RAP World Language Connections. And for once in this year, I have NO videoconferences scheduled. Silence in my office. I can’t believe it! So I’m catching up and part of that is cleaning up my clippings of things to blog about. So here are some odds and ends.

Muskingum Valley ESC
In February, one of our schools tried a program from Muskingum Valley ESC. I didn’t get to see it because I was running a MysteryQuest. However, here’s the evaluation comments from the teacher:

The presenter was excellent, she used lots of different mediums, and she was wonderful with our students (positive, calling them by name, etc.). We have an anti-bullying program in our weekly LifeSkills Classes so I would recommend this to schools without a program in place; perhaps for 3rd grade level (we had 4th). The presentation was long…75 minutes, but our kids enjoyed being taught by a long distance teacher.

They have several interesting programs for all the grade levels. Check them out!

VC Used in Congressional Hearings
In a quiet moment of catching up on reading a while ago, I found this article from Eutopia intriguing because of the picture! The caption reads:

Alvin Toffler appears on a television monitor as he testifies before a Congressional Economic Committee in June on Capitol Hill. This is the first time that interactive video and teleconferencing technology has been used during congressional hearings.

Nice to know Congress is using VC to get work done too!

Albany Institute of Art
This little snippet is pretty cool. The Albany Institute of Art put together a little promo video about their programs. Check it out!

Cool Stuff Paul is Doing
Are you reading Paul Hieronymous’ blog? Here are some project ideas I saved for future reference:

Thanks, Paul, for documenting all these good ideas!