Tag Archives: VC Community

"Videoconferencing is Old Technology"

At our state ed tech conference last week (MACUL), someone said to me, “videoconferencing is old technology.”

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion! What do YOU think? Here are some of my thoughts:

  1. Videoconferencing is old like computers are old. The technology has been around a long time; but it keeps growing and getting better. Does that make it old?

Next, let’s think about what makes it old? and what makes it new? What do you think?

What Makes VC “Old”?

  • Old equipment. If your equipment is 10 years old, it might seem old. However, our 22 Polycom Viewstations from 1999 are still running strong (except for a couple that randomly turn off now and then!). But, just because your equipment is old doesn’t mean the technology itself is old. If you have an old computer, what do you do? Buy a new one! So there you go!
  • Old uses of the equipment: shared classes. Teaching classes over videoconferencing is over 20 years old. Does that mean we should quit? In some areas, especially rural areas; it continues to be a viable strong application of the technology. Upgrading to HD quality end-to-end vastly improves the quality of the picture and improves the shared classes. VC classes may seem old compared to online, web-based classes; however, a recent study suggests that a mixture of face to face and online is more effective than either alone (Zhao, Y., J. Lei, B. Yan, C. Lai, and H. S. Tan. 2005. What makes the difference? A practical analysis of research on the effectiveness of distance education. Teachers College Record 107 (8):183684.). Some courses, like languages, really need the real time interaction to be effective.
  • Old uses of the equipment: broadcast only. Sometimes VC is used like a satellite broadcast, which also feels “old”. Videoconferencing is designed for interactivity and face to face conversation. Connecting hundreds of sites to “view only” seems “old”; only because it would be much more efficient and user friendly to share that content via a webinar or webcast instead. I like how many of Michigan’s statewide broadcasts are recorded on MIstreamnet.com; where educators can watch essential state content at their leisure at their own computer.
  • Big equipment. If the equipment is big and complicated, it can seem old. I think of fancy $100,000 room installations from by-gone days. Smaller, simpler, more accessible is the name of the game. Videoconferencing technology just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Have you seen, for example, the LifeSize Passport? I haven’t seen one in person, but hope to soon!

What Makes VC “New”?

  • HD. For one, the move to High Definition videoconferencing is pretty cool. For that matter, so is telepresence, even though I don’t see us ever using that in K12 education. It’s still cool to know about. Certainly not OLD!
  • Desktop VC in all its forms is bringing videoconferencing to the massses: Skype, Polycom CMA, Tandberg MOVI, LifeSize Desktop, DimDim, TokBox, etc. etc. etc. etc. Read more about my recent learning here. There is definitely a two fold push in videoconferencing – down to the deskop; and up to high definition. These are definitely new and exciting trends!
  • New Uses of VC: Collaborations. The third wave of videoconferencing [PDF] in education is rapidly expanding, and if you think VC is “old”; you’re probably missing out on this latest application! The third wave is the classroom-to-classroom, student-to-student collaborative project based use of videoconferencing. The increase in participation in Read Around the Planet is evidence of this; the jump in CAPspace users from 2800 to 6000 in the past 12 months is another evidence. Even as funds dwindle in my area; our use of videoconferencing in the curriculum stays strong: authors, content providers, and collaborations remain the staple of our VC program.

What else would you add? What did I forget? What do YOU think? Is videoconferencing “old technology?” How would YOU respond? Please comment!

Exploring Videoconferencing Options

Cross-blogged with the Official MACUL Conference Blog.

Yesterday Danielle Letter (TWICE Prez-Elect) and I led a SIGTC workshop together. We explored a little collection of different videoconferencing options. The group was especially interested in:

  • DimDim for a free AdobeConnect-like product
  • Polycom CMA for meetings, professional development; we were all inspired by the vision of Saginaw ISD (guest speakers Rod Rock and Aaron Schippert)
  • Vidyo was very exciting and everyone was jazzed to talk to Craig in Alaska
  • I was excited to hear Aaron Schippert praise the $20 Hercules web cam. Must try it out myself!

Wiki Resources
Instead of a PowerPoint presentation, we made a wiki, and kept adding to it throughout the workshop. Check it out here.

REMC Bid Buy
Don’t forget, also, that there are several deeply discounted videoconferencing systems on the REMC Bid Buy.

Look at the videoconferencing section for speakerphones for Skype, and Polycom QDX and HDX systems ranging from $3600 to $8000. I heard there was a LifeSize unit on the REMC Bid Buy too, but it’s not on the website right now. Maybe it will be added soon.

Just a few more resources for you if you are considering videoconferencing for your school/district.

Do L.A.P.'s for Michigan!

Cross-blogged with the Official MACUL Conference Blog.

Blogging the first videoconferencing session in the TWICE room. Arnie Comer is presenting; and we are videoconferencing with Eagle Lake Elementary in Edwardsburg, MI and Great Oaks Elementary in the Anchor Bay district.

The session is about LAPS: LAPS focuses on selected state parks of Michigan, and each class presents part of the lesson. Macomb ISD offers this program in conjunction with Edco Publishing to statewide schools. Read more here.

February covers Waterloo State Park, and these two classes we’re connected to – are sharing their classroom presentation to us.

Eagle Lake presented first – they told us about the petosky stones and other stones with a venn diagram.

Great Oaks students presented to us about paleontology and the study of bones. Their presentation included flashing lights to travel back in time. Very cute, students were the dinosaurs back in time.

Afterwards, the audience asked the teachers and students questions.

  • How long did you take to prepare? About three class periods.
  • What materials do you use to prepare? The LAPS materials and other online and print materials.
  • What do the students enjoy best about participating in LAPS? We like everything about it. It’s fun to do. I like it because we work together to learn and we get to teach other people about what we learned.

After we disconnected, Arnie told us more about what each session includes:

  • Class introductions
  • Video of the state park
  • Classroom presents
  • Drawing lesson
  • Goodbyes

The materials for LAPS are all on the Macomb ISD Blackboard site. The program is open to all students; free; funded by Edco and Macomb ISD.

Here are some pictures from the session:

10-03-10laps1

Before the session started, a view of the two presenting classes and the PPT set up, etc.

10-03-10laps2

Anchor Bay kids doing a cool skit.

10-03-10laps3

Another shot of the skit….

Thanks Arnie for a great presentation!

Don’t forget to fit a TWICE session into your MACUL conference. We’re in Gallery Overlook G and page 14 in your conference booklet has an overview of all the TWICE sessions!

Thank you, thank you very much!

Today I was honored to receive the MACUL Educator of the Year Award. There wasn’t time for an acceptance speech, so here it is online, where you can skip past it easily!

Thank You, MACUL

Photo by Orin Zebest
Photo by Orin Zebest

I remember the first time I attended and presented at MACUL in 1998. I had just been hired by Jim Bembenek (past MACUL president) and he told me I was presenting at MACUL. I will never forget my feeling of awe when we faxed in the application and he wrote on it “This one’s good!” Wow, he has so much power, I thought! To a young teacher just back in Michigan, it was mind boggling!

Ever since then, I have presented every year, and soaked up the great learning and networking that the MACUL conference offers. This organization has provided so many of the opportunities that provided me professional growth: serving on the board, serving as an ATA Technology Trainer, organizing featured speakers, printing my column, supporting the TWICE videoconferencing sessions, and many others. MACUL has and will continue to make a significant impact on my learning and networking.

Thank You, Sue
It was Jim Bembenek, Sue Porter, and Connie Solis who thought we should have a videoconferencing organization in Michigan. We met in a restaurant and discussed how we could start TWICE. Just a few months later Sue and I started the videoconference celebration of Read Across America for TWICE (now Read Around the Planet). Sue taught me so much as we started our distance learning program, including the paper towel demonstration of how video and audio are compressed! Thank you, Sue, for all that you’ve taught me and shared with me!

Thank You, Arnie
When TWICE got started, I met Arnie Comer, distance learning manager at Macomb ISD. Arnie taught me about the ASK program started by Jim Wenzloff at their ISD. Arnie shared a few ASK programs with me and then he and Jim helped me get my own ASK programs going. Thank you, Arnie, for bridging connections for me that I couldn’t get to work on my bridge, and teaching me so much about best practice in videoconferencing! Particularly, thank you for the nomination for this award, and all the mentoring beforehand that got me to where I am now!

Thank You, Kevin
Thank you also to Kevin Clark, my current supervisor, for the nomination, as well as for support, feedback, and great input on all my crazy ideas.

More Thank Yous
Thank you to everyone who has taken my online classes (PICC & K2K), then created great projects and shared them back with me to benefit my schools.

Thank you to all my local coordinators and teachers, without whom we wouldn’t have a successful videoconferencing program. Each of you have worked so hard to bring engaging learning experiences to our students in Berrien and Cass counties. I appreciate your time and effort!

Finally, I thank God for providing opportunities and blessings so that I can do my work. I give Him the glory for what I’ve accomplished, for without Him I can do nothing.

MACUL's Phenomenal Support of Videoconferencing

Cross-blogged with the Official MACUL Conference Blog.

Today as I was riding up to the 2010 MACUL Conference, I was thinking how lucky we are in Michigan to have consistent support for the TWICE videoconferencing sessions at our ed tech conference, year after year after year…

Sometimes I listen to VC buddies in other states and I can’t think of very many (any?) that consistently and annually plan to have a videoconference session at every single breakout time slot during the conference.

So this is a thank you from a long time TWICE board member, and videoconferencing fan, who loves to see this particular technology supported and promoted every year. Thank you MACUL!! And thank you to the MACUL support staff and volunteers who sometimes stand on their heads to make VC work on the conference network!

A MACUL Conference Success Story

Selection from Read Around the Planet Image Gallery
A selection from the Read Around the Planet photo gallery.

Sometimes it’s nice to know the results of the conference. And once in a while, it even gets in the paper! Here’s a story from Owosso, MI:

  • Computer teacher attends MACUL conference.
  • Stops by the TWICE room, learns about videoconferencing and CAPspace (TWICE’s social networking site for videoconferencing).
  • Gets access to videoconferencing (Polycom PVX)
  • Signs up for Read Around the Planet
  • Luckily gets one of the 13 (out of 1950) UK partners
  • Gets written up in the paper.

And it all started at the MACUL conference!

Cool, huh?!

If you’re at MACUL this week, don’t forget to stop by the TWICE room for a videoconference session! Gallery Overlook G!

TWICE Videoconference Sessions @ MACUL

(Note: this is the beginning of cross blogging about videoconferencing at the MACUL 2010 conference in Grand Rapids.)

Read Around the Planet 2010 picture from Flickr
Read Around the Planet 2010 picture from Flickr

Don’t forget to plan to check out at least one session in the TWICE room @ MACUL this year! TWICE, Two Way Interactive Connections in Education, is Michigan’s K12 videoconference organization.

TWICE runs events such as Read Around the Planet, which officially ended March 5). Here’s a sample of what you can experience in Gallery Overlook G.

Thursday Sessions

10:00 am: LAPS the Distance Learning Way
Presenter: Arnie Comer
Remember LAPS? Learn From the Past, Appreciate the Present, Preserve our Outdoor Heritage. This curriculum, developed by EDCO Publishing from a grant from the Department of Natural Resources is now available to 3rd and 4th grade classrooms (or whichever grade level you teach Michigan studies) throughout the state of Michigan. Come see LAPS in action as we connect to two of our classrooms and find out how you can become involved next school year in LAPS the Distance Learning Way!

1:00 pm: Guess Who
Presenter: Danielle Letter
Are you looking for a highly interactive way to integrate technology with art and writing? Guess Who? is for you! Join us and some creative students for a live demonstration. Participate and collaborate with students from Atkins School, and see a demonstration of one way Adobe Connect is being utilized.

2:30 pm: Courtroom to Classroom… Civic Lessons Live from the Courthouse
Presenter: Terry Harrington
Learn how St. Clair County community leaders use videoconferencing technology to reach students. We will connect live with 72nd District Court Judge Cynthia Platzer and she will share her story of connecting courtroom to classroom

4:00 pm: Monster Match: A Descriptive Writing Collaboration
Presenter: Roxanne Glaser
Learn about a unique, collaborative, videoconference project. Two classrooms pair up and create a monster. Each class writes a description of their monster. Each class recreates the other class’ monster and then, via videoconference, they compare the monsters. Students improve descriptive writing skills, use math terms, and practice following directions.
Here’s a couple pictures for a taste:

Friday Sessions

8:30 am: Instructional Strategies That Work with Videoconferencing: Interactive Global Collaborations
Presenter: Janine Lim
Integrate the McREL and Marzano research on classroom instruction that works with your curriculum videoconferencing. Improve the learning quality and interactivity in your collaborative videoconference projects, whether you’re using room or desktop videoconferencing. During the session, we will connect to India for a taste of global videoconferencing.

10:00 am: Videoconferencing and Students with Special Needs
Presenter: Greg Marten
Videoconferencing opens doors for all students. This session will demonstrate some of the many ways interactive video connections can benefit students with special needs. Live video connections to students in classrooms will be part of the presentation. Facilitators will also show CAPspace, an online database where educators can find partner-classes.

Laurie Keller answering student questions in a TWICE ASK program.
Laurie Keller answering student questions in a TWICE ASK program.

11:30 am: ASK the Author with Laurie Keller
Presenter: Sue Porter and Laurie Keller
ASK (Author Specialist Knowledge) are special author interview videoconferences. Author Laurie Keller will demonstrate this process live as we connect to a classroom of students and will give the author’s perspective on the value of this program. Come meet Laurie Keller and bring some questions of your own!

As you can see, we have a great group of interesting sessions featuring videoconferencing. Hope you can stop by!

ISTE 2010 Conference: Videoconference Sessions

Are you going to ISTE 2010 this year? Here is a tantalizing list of videoconference sessions. Hope to see you there! I hear rumor also that there will be a videoconferencing playground. Should be fun!!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Monday, June 28, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Did I miss any? Please comment and let me know.

  • Which session(s) are YOU looking forward to?

Balance Your Screen Time with Green Time

I am well again, I came to life in the cool winds and the crystal waters of the mountains… – John Muir

Over the Christmas and New Year’s Break, I read an interesting book, Last Child in the Woods, which advocates for more unstructured free play time in nature for children. Think dreaming, imagining, playing, building, collecting… all in the “woods” or backyard corners that are natural.

Did you know:

  • that “studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of ADHD” (p. 35)?
  • that “the quality of our exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level” (p. 43)?
  • that “patients with a view of trees” out their window “went home sooner” (p. 46)?
  • that “the obesity epidemic coincides with the greatest increase in organized children’s sports in history?” (p. 48) and that children need more unorganized play for their physical health?
  • “joggers who exercise in a natural green setting with trees, foliage, and landscape views feel more restored and less anxious, angry, and depressed than people who burn the same amount of calories in gyms?” (p. 49)?
  • “children with more nature near their homes” “rated themselves higher than their corresponding peers on a global measure of self-worth“? (p. 51)
  • children who live in “places that allow for outside access have twice as many friends” as those who have restricted access due to traffic. (p. 51)
  • Nature, freedom, natural space, is a gift that has inspired American creativity, recognized by others, such as the Japanese (p. 97).
  • in an interesting study, participants who walked in a local nature preserve did better on a standard proofreading task than those who walked in an urban area or sat quietly reading magazines and listening to music (p. 105).

So, YOU, technology lover, just like me. I challenge you to consider:

  • how you are balancing your own screen time with green time (time in nature; seeing real green things; at least weekly if not daily…)
  • how you are making more green time for your own children
  • how you are balancing your technology time and advocacy at school with advocacy for children to be outdoors: real science, real collecting of specimens and data, real unstructured natural play areas for recess, etc.

I challenge you to make this your goal in 2010!

Resources for My K12 Online Conference Presentation

Instructional Strategies That Work with Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing can bring the world to your classroom. It allows educators to bridge the divide by bringing experiences to rural students; by engaging conversations and interactions between urban and rural students and by connecting students globally. Whether using desktop videoconferencing or room based videoconferencing, educators can bridge the divide between “dabbling” in videoconferencing to fully integrating with solid classroom instructional strategies.

Links are shared in the order referred to in the presentation video.

Curriculum Videoconferencing

Top VC-Using Teachers Study

Resources

Projects Mentioned

Final Slide Links: More to Explore

Be sure to enjoy the rest of the K12 Online Conference 2010!

Experimenting with Desktop VC Part 2

Last Wednesday Craig Mollerstuen from GCI Alaska hosted another experimentation session for desktop videoconferencing options. We keep talking about ways these tools can be used to bring VC to the classroom and to bring outside experts to the classroom.

I’m a little slow writing this up, but the need continues. I had a small private school call me on Friday with a request to get VC. They had a donation for $500. For now we are seeing if Polycom PVX will run on the older computers that the school has.

So on Wednesday, we had a group of people connected on the Vidyo side:

And another set of people connected on the H323 side:

Just like hooking two bridges together, it’s not possible to have all the sides in all the squares.

Notice the great quality of the picture on both sides of the VC (from the Region 12 perspective).

The Vidyo sites are connected through a Vidyo H323 router which was connected to a Polycom MGC which connected the H323 sites.

Audio & Video Gear
One of the things we talked about was different types of mics and video cameras that work well for making desktop VC work in the classroom:

  • Clearone Chat 50: Some liked it, some didn’t. The audio was a little low.
  • Phoenix Duet: This had more recommendations from the people attending; the Phoenix Quattro also was recommended but is in the $500 range.
  • The Logitech 9000 also had high recommendations, but isn’t easily mounted for classroom use. It’s designed for the laptop of course.

Some issues with Vidyo
Issues with Vidyo that came up during the discussion included:

  • You can’t change your audio settings during the call – you have to disconnect and reconnect after changing the audio source/settings.
  • Another issue is the regular updates that are required – something that can be problematic for schools that can’t upgrade constantly because of computers locked down. This raised another question for me – do all the sites in a Vidyo call have to be on the same version? That could potentially be an issue doing Vidyo across installations of it like we do with H323 between schools.
  • Sharing content (h239) doesn’t cross Vidyo to H323. For me, this doesn’t matter as H239 drives me crazy anyway. I prefer AverMedia QuickPlay to connect the computer to H323 unit; and I don’t expect to have h239 on my desktop/classroom VC rigged setup.

Potential Applications
Some ideas we discussed of how to use this included:

  • Bringing in remote sites without VC
  • Bringing in guest speakers, authors, lawyers, any single person who doesn’t have easy access to full VC

Issues with Rigging Desktop VC for Classroom Use
We also talked about some of the challenges of trying this.

  • The web camera doesn’t have pan, tilt, zoom. On the other hand, if we’re competing against Skype and/or trying to bring H323 VC content to schools that are using Skype, they don’t really need pan, tilt, zoom.
  • USB cables would be good to extend the length of the mic and webcam so that there is more flexibility to classroom use.
  • An appliance is simple and easy for the teacher to use; it is much more complex to get all this working. It potentially could take more tech support and tinkering to make this work for cheaper. Is that totally true? One of my district techs called last week for help – the SVideo cable for the main camera was in the wrong place. Even the appliance still needs VC support. Both would need support, I think.
  • Mic quality is definitely an issue. Nothing’s going to work as nice as my favorite Polycom VSX 7000 mic or Viewstation mic. The person speaking has to be right in front of the mic to work.
  • Integrated sound on an interactive whiteboard could really cause problems – echo – cancellation is an issue too. Vidyo is supposed to have echo cancellation soon.
  • Another issue is having a powerful enough computer in the classroom. Schools tend have older computers.

InPerson

We talked a wee bit about Creative’s InPerson.

  • It’s H323.
  • It has a fixed camera.
  • Costs about $800 ish.
  • People on a browser can connect to it.

Some Concluding Thoughts
Some thoughts from the group….

  • It’s possible to do this, but could be challenging to make it work. Could take a lot of tinkering.
  • If I missed anything that you found important from the meeting, please add comments below!

By the way, this was a pretty cool little meeting. When does it happen that someone sets up a videoconference to continue a discussion that started on a blog? Thanks Craig for making this possible!