High Schools and Content Provider Programs: A Match or a Misfit?

The Background
Early in October of this year, CILC’s CEO, Ruth Blankenbaker, did what she called, ‘a deep data dive’ to see how schools were using the content posted on www.cilc.org. The effort was rewarded by revealing a number of interesting phenomena. One such phenomena was Absegami High School.

Absegami High School
Our data showed that this high school had participated in 107 videoconferences between 2004 and September 2009. Our data also showed that this is definitely not the norm for a high school. Curious to understand why and how Absegami stands out, we contacted their Site coordinator, Rick Fittipaldi, who began his work in videoconferencing at Absegami High in 2007.

Absegami High School, with 2,245 students and 148 teachers, is located in Galloway, New Jersey, a few miles west of Atlantic City. It is a member of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. The high school began videoconferencing around 2003.

A bit more research shows that this school year alone, between October 7, 2009 and March 3, 2010, Absegami High School has either scheduled or participated in 34 content provider programs, involving 8 individual teachers and 10 unique content providers!

Making It Work: A Three Pronged Approach
Setting Goals
Absegami High School uses their technology to achieve two main goals:

• To get students involved with content provider programs pertinent to teacher lessons
• To enable administrative and teacher meetings with their sister school, Oakcrest High School

Employing Multiple Strategies
The following strategies have helped Rick gain teacher involvement:

• Targeted emails: Emails to specific departments listing programs which may have relevance to teacher lesson plans
• Individual Discussions: Spending a lot of time talking to teachers, reminding them of the service
• Newsletters: Addressed to the faculty as a whole
• Previews: Notices to other teachers in the same subject area invite them to stop by and checkout the videoconference in progress
• New teachers: Spending time to share what videoconferencing can do for them.
• On-line Calendar: Indicates availability of videoconferencing facilities
• Ease for Teachers: Rick takes care of all the scheduling, payments, etc.

Support
Absegami has the full support of their principal and administration. They allocate a budget for programming and mention videoconferencing opportunities during departmental and faculty meetings. Rick’s easy process allows teachers to focus on their lessons.

Does It Really Work: What is the Impact?
For Students
Rick says, “It is always a positive experience for the students. They enjoy meeting with people from outside the school. We’ve even had dance classes come in, move all the desks out of the way, and take lessons from a professional dancer. Theatre students have met with actors to learn about makeup and set design. Museums and zoos that are nearby have exposed students to extra-curricular learning activities available locally.  Students get all this in addition to adding to their curricular understanding, knowledge and skills.”

For Teachers
“My teachers generally find the experience helpful for their lessons. While there are the occasional snafus with the technology or other outside issues that interfere with a scheduled program, most teachers remain positive. Those that do often continue with the programs they’ve liked and will add it to their lesson planning year after year.

What really makes a difference for teachers is that most of the providers are willing and able to cater the session to their needs. For example, the Cleveland Museum of Art offered a program on Impressionist Art. Our teacher asked if they could focus on just Monet and they obliged. Most recently, the dance instructor from CESA 7’s Day of the Dead program subtly tweaked each successive program to suit the abilities of the dance students for each of our three classes. I have always been impressed by the providers’ willingness and ability to help create the best program for us.”

The Key to Success
Awarding students points for their participation in the conference is the most useful technique Rick has seen for ensuring the success of a videoconferencing program experience. What constitutes participation ranges from managing extra supplies sent by the provider to asking questions during the program. “The most satisfying experience for both the students and the content provider comes when students understand that the session will be a conversation, not a lecture. This is the key to success.”

What Next for Absegami?
Absegami High is looking to expand the equipment in their distance learning lab. Currently they have one SmartBoard which is being used for the video feed. They plan to add an additional board which will enable them to project topical content, such as maps, website, and close up image from a computer or a document camera, to enhance the experience.

Taking It Further: Questions for Rick?
To start a discussion or set a time for a chat with Rick, link to his profile in the CILC NING for Site Coordinators.

Definitely a Match!
Absegami High School is living proof that high schools and Content Provider programs are indeed a match! CILC thanks Rick Fittipaldi for sharing his strategies for success in a high school environment. We hope that some of them will work for you as well.