Education

Introduction  toc Videoconferencing (VC) in the classroom has an almost limitless amount of potential. This technology tool has enriched classrooms for over 25 years, enabling thousands of teachers to welcome hundreds of guest speakers and tour museums, aquariums, zoos, science labs, and many different government agencies. Videoconferencing has truly opened the door of the world for students and teachers alike. When thinking about VC, it is helpful to know some options for your classroom. Here are two options:

You can choose an established organization that will manage your information and provide IT support. Some sites offer one time uses and/memberships to the site. You will be charged based on the service provided; one time fee or an annual subscription for long term, multiple use.

Another option available would be sites that function as a "middle man". Teachers visit these sites when they are looking for another classroom or institution to videoconference with. They can search by subject or topic in order to be paired up with another school or institution. Some sites will do the pairing while others provide the information of the schools for you to contact yourself. By joining these groups, teachers have more responsibility managing their own information as it functions more like a platform. Most sites do require a membership or subscription although you can find free resources with limited privileges.

 =Top Leaders =

There is no "one-way" to conduct a videoconference and with such access to internet connection, free open sourced e-learning, and plenty of service providers, educators have great choices. **Service Providers**

 **Educator's Resources**
 * [|CILC] : The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, Inc.
 * [|Sclipo]
 * [|OnSync] by [|Digital Samba]

=**Educational Uses **=
 * [|Ladders]
 * [|Global Leap]
 * [|BBC World Class]

The uses for videoconferencing in the classroom include but not limited to: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">From authors, scientists, government leaders, etc. teachers have an opportunity to bring in people who have a first hand experience of the topic relevant to their subject. Students can ask questions of people who were once unreachable because of distance, time, and money. Bringing people into the classroom in this way makes learning for students more meaningful by enabling connections between subject matter and self. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This is again another area of undefined possibilities! Students can have a single videoconference and work on a unit together, they can be involved in a unit study lasting several days with ongoing collaboration. The teachers choose what is best for their students and how to best showcases the content. Another aspect of collaboration is [|teacher to teacher collaboration]. Sharing ideas, templates, worksheets, tests, etc. The possibilities are as numbered as the teachers are diverse. This generates new ways to present and inspire subject matter.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Welcoming [|experts] and other guest speakers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Distance learning] and [|collaboration]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As stated in the introduction, teachers can bring the [|places/people of interest to their classroom.] Besides the obvious benefits of learning, money is a big factor here. With the increased cuts in many district's budget, this allows for field trips that were once unaffordable.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Field Trips]

Another idea is to conduct a videoconference with students who were unable to attend a class trip due to poor health, physical handicap, or other unavoidable situations. For example: many middle and high schools have a school trip for the end of the year to Washington DC. With videoconferencing, teachers can schedule a time for students to connect with the students back home at different points of interest. They could then explain the significance of the monument and or other lessons of the day in order to keep them up to date. This is also helpful to the teacher as there will be less re-teaching of material previously covered during the field trip.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What do you do if the school you attend does not offer a class that you need? It is likely there is a school somewhere else offers that class via videoconferencing. This is a variation of VC as it is usually pre-recorded and then rebroadcasted. This eliminates the interactive possibility but is still a very useful avenue.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Accessing [|classes]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teaching teachers! Providing continuing education, in-services, and other training forums are all possibilities. Bringing these meetings to the teachers is efficient and effective. Teachers will always be continuing their education and VC can help them fit it into their schedules. Live as well as pre-recorded VC are applicable choices.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Professional Development]

There are many, many more choices and options as far as VC and education go. This is only a fraction of information that can be found. The article [|5 Ways Classrooms Can Use Video Conferencing] summarizes the above information.

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=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Case Studies =

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In 2008, A. Mark Doggett, the assistant Professor and Coordinator of the online Master of Science in Technology Management, Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciencesat Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky. conducted a study titled, //The Videoconferencing Classroom: What Do Students Think?//



In 2007, Adam Durant and William Rose, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USACrystal Mann and John Stix, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, wrote the article, Multi-University Internet Video-conferencing Course Provides Novel Approach to Student-Directed Learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After Sept 11, a successful videoconference was conducted between Senator Lugar and 10 high school classes. This shows how students prepared, presenting site, number of students, number of participating sites, and the number of host schools. Also recorded is the impact on learning.

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Emerging Technologies =

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This is an example of the capabilities //Meetingplaze// has to offer. More than videoconferencing, this service offers collaboration, white boards, application sharing and more. Connecting more people for less cost is definitely an attractive feature.

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">One of the most interesting innovations I've come across at the moment is from NTT COMWARE. This video demonstrates this system that gives the illusion of depth on a 2D screen as well as the ability to feel things like a hand shake.