An example of Video Conferencing in Texas Schools:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRQjYG4u-U
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
VideoConferencing 2
The Pilbara Secondary Schools VideoConferencing Project involved the installation of Polycom Viewstation 128 units with associated displays, video recorders, trolleys, document cameras etc at Tom Price, Newman, Port Hedland, Karratha Senior High schools and Exmouth District High School. Through an associated program via the WA State Telecentre Project, additional VC equipment was set up at Jigalong, Yandeyarra, Onslow, Marble Bar and Nulagine Remote 
Communities. In some of the latter sites, the local school was selected as the host venue.
Communities. In some of the latter sites, the local school was selected as the host venue.The Polycom Viewstation 128 was selected because its feature set most suited usage for educational purposes. This includes excellent audio and video quality, voice tracking camera and the ability to input content from a variety of sources such as laptops & Internet & document cameras. The voice tracking camera feature lends itself well to a teaching environment as it follows the presenter around the room. Preset camera positions can also be programmed enabling the presenter to lock in positions such as a whiteboard, projector screen or conference table. These units use a 128 Kb ISDN connection. More recent models also have IP connectivity. At the time of purchase the systems were around A$10,000 plus with the associated peripherals came to about A$16,000 per school. Both the affordability and functionality of dedicated VC systems have improved over the last five years.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
"96 percent of teens use social-networking tools".
Came across this article from eSchool News Online journal that I subscribe to:
Survey reveals schools have a huge opportunity to harness technology for instruction
Interestingly, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social-networking scene is education--suggesting that schools have a huge, but largely untapped, opportunity to harness these technologies in support of student learning.
The article can be found at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7304
I have generally found eSchool News Online a worthwhile read during the course of my study of eLearning.
Survey reveals schools have a huge opportunity to harness technology for instruction
Interestingly, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social-networking scene is education--suggesting that schools have a huge, but largely untapped, opportunity to harness these technologies in support of student learning.
The article can be found at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7304
I have generally found eSchool News Online a worthwhile read during the course of my study of eLearning.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Podcast Entry
Here is my first podcast with a brief statement of my education philosophy.
http://jverbeek.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-08-18T22_31_26-07_00
http://jverbeek.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-08-18T22_31_26-07_00
VideoConferencing
In my first post on the OET discussion board I mentioned one of my nouns being VideoConferencing.
Having worked in education in the remote Pilbara region of WA I became well aware of the tyranny of distance and its effect on provision of educational services. The Pilbara is a vast area of 500,000 sq km and my town of Karratha is 1600 kms north of Perth which is often regarded as the most remote capital city on the planet. The main towns within the region are hundreds of Kms apart. Whilst working as a District Curriculm ICT consultant for the WA Dept of Education and Training I was involved in providing professional development, training and consultancy services to the 30 Pilbara schools. I was fortunate to be asked by the District Director at the time to investigate the feasibility and use of videoconferencing in K-12 education and come up with a strategic plan for implementation. As a result of that work we set up VC units in all our senior highs schools and remote community schools in conjunction with the state telecentre network which resulted in 13 sites being established throughout the Pilbara. In addition to the provision of PD to education staff, the network has been used for job interviews, psychological counselling, meetings and most importantly learning activities for students such as the WA Flexible Learning in Schools Project. Although I have now left education, I am pleased to see the legacy of my work continue and develop as we initialled envisaged. This early work in technology enabled education spurred my subsequent interest and enrolment in the MITED.
Since that time the emergence of web enabled technologies has mushroomed and I look forward to investigating them throughout this course.
John
Having worked in education in the remote Pilbara region of WA I became well aware of the tyranny of distance and its effect on provision of educational services. The Pilbara is a vast area of 500,000 sq km and my town of Karratha is 1600 kms north of Perth which is often regarded as the most remote capital city on the planet. The main towns within the region are hundreds of Kms apart. Whilst working as a District Curriculm ICT consultant for the WA Dept of Education and Training I was involved in providing professional development, training and consultancy services to the 30 Pilbara schools. I was fortunate to be asked by the District Director at the time to investigate the feasibility and use of videoconferencing in K-12 education and come up with a strategic plan for implementation. As a result of that work we set up VC units in all our senior highs schools and remote community schools in conjunction with the state telecentre network which resulted in 13 sites being established throughout the Pilbara. In addition to the provision of PD to education staff, the network has been used for job interviews, psychological counselling, meetings and most importantly learning activities for students such as the WA Flexible Learning in Schools Project. Although I have now left education, I am pleased to see the legacy of my work continue and develop as we initialled envisaged. This early work in technology enabled education spurred my subsequent interest and enrolment in the MITED.
Since that time the emergence of web enabled technologies has mushroomed and I look forward to investigating them throughout this course.
John
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