CILC eNote - February 2009

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Tips for Site Coordinators
February 2009

FEATURING

Rebecca Morrison

Program Coordinator for New Links to Learning,
Cooperating School Districts' (CSD) Distance Learning Program
St. Louis, Missouri

Best Experience
I worked with one of my schools to bring the Great Barrier Reef HQ into the school via videoconferencing. We're in the Midwest, and Australia...isn't, but with a little bit of coordination, we scheduled a videoconference. On a Thursday evening (Friday morning in Australia), parents brought their students back to school where they all participated in the event: parents in a "view only" mode and students in an interactive one.

Initially, as we saw two gentlemen behind the desk, my thought was, "Oh, no, this isn't going to be very dynamic!" After introducing themselves and talking about Reef HQ, they turned it over to the third presenter, a woman who was scuba diving underwater while holding a camera and hooked up with a microphone. She started swimming and showing the students all the creatures under the water. It was very cool. All the parents leaned forward for a closer look! When I got the evaluations back from the students, some of the feedback included these comments:

• "It was amazing "
• "Sea cucumbers poop sand"
• "I think that was the best thing I ever don (sic)"
• "I really liked watching the people go underwater and see all the animals in a coral reef. It was like I was really there!"

Needless to say, this school is one of my top videoconferencing participating schools.

A Lesson Learned
I've found when I get requests, the more information I get at the beginning, the better. I ask for several dates and specific times the class is available. With elementary teachers, I have to remind them that I am not aware of their students specials or lunch schedules, so I need to know those times as well; scheduling "Monday and Tuesday mornings" are not detailed enough. Inevitably I'll schedule something during music or art. I remind middle school and high school teachers that I'm a "civilian" and don't know what third period or fifth hour translates to on a regular time schedule. The more details I get up front, the more smoothly the requesting/scheduling/bridging process. Luckily, I haven't had anything go terribly wrong during a videoconference...yet!

Lingering Question
How do we keep H.323 videoconferencing fresh and relevant in a world of Skype and other webcam applications? My answer to those inquiring about the difference between the two is that Skype is great for one-one-one conversations, but is not great for videoconferences that are incorporating SMART Boards, document cameras and Power Points. I'd love to hear what others think about the growing use of desktop videoconferencing (in classrooms).

You can address Rebecca's question on our NING Site Coordinator Community. It is open to all!

Final Comments: Come Meet Me
Rebecca will be attending USDLA's conference in Missouri on April 27-29th. She says, "I would love to meet people face-to-face!"

About Rebecca
Rebecca Morrison holds a BA in History from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  She has worked at CSD for four years, with the past three as a videoconference coordinator. In addition to assisting new Links to New Learning members, she helps coordinate videoconference programs with our content provider partners, like Carolyn Lesser's and Patricia McKissak's author series and the Mental Health Series with BJC.  You can learn more about New Links to Learning here.  You can also visit their blog: The Wired Classroom.

Contact information:
Rebecca Morrison
314.692.1274

Do you have a Best Experience, a Lesson Learned, and a Lingering Question?

Contact
Dawn Colavita
866-474-5226