Virtual Learning Center & Flickr Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Tech PD, VLC Programs.Tags: Creative Commons, Flickr, iTEA, Midwest Education Technology Conference, tele, videoconference, Virtual Learning Center
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To see pictures of the latest Virtual Learning Center activities, make sure to visit our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/virtuallearningcenter.
We have current and past photos of our academies, videoconferences, tele classes, the Midwest Education Technology Conference, and special events gathered in one place. The photos above are of the most recent Ritenour iTEA Cadre I meeting in October. All of the pictures are public and most can be found in Creative Commons!
Baikonur and the Soviet Space Race Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Collaboration, Distance Learning, Links, Videoconferencing.Tags: Baikonur, Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center, Kazakhstan, Soviet Union, Space Race, videoconference
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Recently, Lafayette High School in the Rockwood School District participated in Baikonur and the Soviet Space Race, offered by the Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center.
This free videoconference attempts to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the Space Race, as seen from the other side: namely, the Soviet Union. The content provider looks at both their successes and failures, as well as the modern reality of the Russian space program being located in the independent country of Kazakhstan.
I’d like to share some feedback I got from the school on this interactive videoconference from the Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center:
Our interaction today was one of the most educationally engaging and valuable that our school (read that, 48 videoconferences last year) has participated in. Your “product knowledge” was extensive and complex, and, truly, we would LOVE to spend another hour discussing this topic with you. As videoconference planner, I try so very hard to locate conference experiences of relevance and quality, such that the deviation from class lesson is no deviation but enrichment, and, wow, this presentation was off the charts. Thank you, sincerely, and thoroughly. If you could really speak with us again, please let us know. We don’t want to overextend our welcome, but, you and the information and passion you shared are the rare real deal.
Distance Learning Over Distance Learning Thursday, September 24, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Collaborations, Distance Learning, Tech PD, Videoconferencing, Web 2.0.Tags: Berrien RESA, H323, Janine Lim, Skype, videoconference
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Are you new to videoconferencing (Skype or H323?) Do you want to improve your support of videoconferencing in your school?
Consider taking one of Berrien Regional Education Service Agency’s online classes. Berrien RESA is an education service agency in southwest Michigan. Interested in the classes? Note that videoconference assignments are included in both classes. Click on the class titles to get more information about the course:
- Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections, October 5-30, 2009
- Kid2Kid Videoconference Connections, November 2–December 18, 2009 (Thanksgiving week off)
Videoconferences from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis & Cooperating School Districts Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Collaboration, Distance Learning, VLC Programs, Videoconferencing, Web 2.0.Tags: Cooperating School Districts, videoconference, Great Depression, Federal Reserve Bank
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This school year Cooperating School Districts’ New Links to New Learning is continuing our partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to bring students free videoconferences on the topics of economics, finance, and history.
On October 16, 2009, high school students can connect at 9 am CT, 10:30 am CT or 1 pm CT to learn about the First Bank of the United States.
Next semester, we have two different videoconference programs lined up:
In Plain English takes place January 15, 2010. High school students can connect at 9 am CT, 10:30 am CT or 1 pm CT to learn about the Federal Reserve Bank.
On April 6, 2010, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will present The Great Depression at 9 am CT or 10:30 am CT. Students will learn the facts of the Great Depression, and will see a website that features interviews and photographs.
Details on the 2010 videoconferences will be posted in the coming months. More information on the First Bank videoconference can be found here. To sign up for any of these free H323 videoconference events, contact Rebecca Morrison at CSD.
Explosive New Videoconference from RoundTrips! Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Collaboration, Distance Learning, Videoconferencing.Tags: videoconference, RoundTrips, Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri S&T
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Join RoundTrips live on Friday, October 9 from Rolla, and Macon Missouri. Be part of the action as explosives expert Dr. Paul Worsey (Professor of Mining Engineering, Missouri S&T) and engineers Dennis Brucks and Brian Haeffner from Missouri Department of Transportation walk us through the process of bringing down the Glasgow Bridge.
As part of its continual work to maintain and upgrade Missouri’s roads and bridges the Missouri Department of Transportation determined the need to replace the bridge crossing the Missouri River at Glasgow, Missouri. That new bridge is now set to open on October 16, but before that new bridge could be built, the old bridge needed to be removed to make way for construction of a new span connecting route 240 across the Missouri River. In this program your students will interact with the engineers who will give us technical aspects of the destruction and rebuilding of the bridge. Ask your questions about what it takes to safely destroy one bridge so you can begin to build another. You’ll see video excerpts of the bridge coming down, and explosives demonstrations by Dr. Worsey.
This program is the ninth of an ongoing series of ten programs that began during the 2008-2009 school year. It is 10/9/2009 at 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM and 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM. Register by October 2.
During this series of programs entitled Project MO-Bridge: Connecting Students to Their Future, your students will be able to learn what it takes to build a new bridge—from dream to design to construction to operation. Students will interact with experts in a wide variety of fields and learn how specific aspects of their science, social studies, and mathematics curriculum come to life in the construction of a new bridge. Archived versions of previous programs can be found at http://mobridge.more.net.
Author Visit with Jenny Sue this October Monday, August 24, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Collaborations, Distance Learning, VLC Programs, Videoconferencing, Web 2.0.Tags: author visit, Cooperating School Districts, Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, New Links to New Learning, videoconference
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“When I was in 2nd grade, my dad traveled all around the world, which inspired me to travel. In 2002, I lived with a family in Nepal and taught art and English at a grade school. [During the videoconference] I’ll share some of the students’ artwork that we did as a project to share their culture with my friends back home. This exchange inspired my next trip to Nepal and India in 2006 and my upcoming book, Same, Same But Different, due out in about a year. I’ll show parts of my process (photographs, sketches and research) and a sneak peak of the book, which will lead into more discussion and Q&A.” – author Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
New Links to New Learning is thrilled to bring back author/illustrator Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw for two free videoconferences on October 27. Jenny will start the interactive videoconference by reading from her wonderful first book, My Travelin’ Eye. We request that participating teachers get a copy of the book prior to the program and read it with students. Since the students will already be familiar with the book by the time we connect the videoconference, Jenny will talk briefly about the book itself, but will primarily focus on the idea of celebrating ALL of our differences, and how those differences make us unique: physical differences are just one; cultural, age, talents, beliefs (not strictly religious, but whether we butter our toast on the top or bottom as in Dr. Seuss’s Butter Battle Book). Jenny will ask the students for examples, keeping the dialog interactive and positive.
Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw conducted a videoconference live from CSD a couple years ago and we received nothing put positive feedback. Here’s your chance to connect with this Missouri native, though now New Mexico resident! Jenny Sue says on the last page of the book that her travelin’ eye still wanders, “but that’s the true nature of an artist, to see the world in her own unique way.”
On October 27, Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw will conduct two, 60-minute H323 videoconferences. Interactive Slots:
9:30 a.m. CT for Kindergarten & First Grade – full
10:45 a.m. CT for Second & Third Grades – 1 spot left
View-only option is also available. Contact Rebecca Morrison at Cooperating School Districts if you are interested: rmorrison@csd.org.
ACT Registration Deadline Approaching Thursday, August 20, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Distance Learning, VLC Programs, Videoconferencing.Tags: Cooperating School Districts, videoconference, The Princeton Review
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Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis has a partnership with The Princeton Review to bring inexpensive, quality ACT prep to students through distance learning. For just $140, a student gets three practice tests, 20 hours of interactive instruction over videoconference and access to online resources from The Princeton Review.
The registration deadline for the October 2009 test prep videoconference course is August 31. This is an interactive H323 videoconference where students meet in a classroom with the technology and connect to the instructor with the help of a v/c facilitator. For more info, click here.
Internal IP, Packet Loss, Endpoints, Oh My! Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Blogroll, Blogs, Links, Tech PD, Videoconferencing.Tags: videoconference, MOREnet, Janine Lim, Videoconferencing Out on a Lim, network address translation, codec
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I was reading Janine Lim’s blog, Videoconferencing Out on a Lim (see our blogroll) and came across a post entitled: A Little VC Technical Knowledge. I’d like to share an excerpt from her post with you- it’s very good, basic information for those interested in videoconferencing. For those of us who are “videoconferencing veterans” it’s good to read & remember what can trip people up as they start out. Thanks, Janine, for taking the time to put this together. To read her full post, click here.
“Some basic concepts (written in my [Janine's] lay language!) include:
- IP numbers that start with 10. are internal addresses and people outside can’t call them.
- Most videoconferences are at 384K. Compare that to the amount of available bandwidth on a typical day to know if you’ll be able to sustain a “good enough” videoconference.
- Packets are little pieces of info sent over the network. In email the packets eventually get there, get together, and give you an email. But in VC, if the packets don’t show up in time, they get thrown away. Hence, packet loss. Usually 2% packet loss or higher becomes intolerable.
- A NAT is network address translation, and both the codec/endpoint and the firewall/router need matching settings for NAT to work. This is because the endpoint/codec needs that info to set up the packets properly.
- An IP videoconference call is set up on port 1720. After that the two codecs negotiate which ports to use for the audio and video streaming. This is what’s going on when it rings & rings.
- If you’re using a gatekeeper, ports 1718 and 1719 are used to find and register with the gatekeeper. More on ports here.
- Two great resources to learn more about H323 and your network are: H323 and Firewalls from MOREnet in MO; and UKERNA/Janet Security Guide for H323 from the UK.”
new videoconferences from marine center Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Distance Learning, Videoconferencing.Tags: videoconference, carbon footprint, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Barkley Sound, ocean acidification
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Canada’s premier coastal and marine facility for teaching and research, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, recently listed three videoconferences on www.cilc.org. The programs are all available by request, and open for grade(s): 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
Subtidal Safari: Join the “hunt” for extraordinary underwater creatures of Barkley Sound. Program Format: Step into the water with our divers and watch them descend to the ocean floor. Divers will explain the physical effects of diving to students and will then discuss some physical and chemical properties of the ocean and how those properties affect life in the ocean including light attenuation and currents. Students will then be asked to “join the hunt” and look for interesting subtidal organisms.
Invertebrate Invasion: Explore the amazing diversity of marine invertebrates found in Barkley Sound. Program Format: Barkley Sound is home to an amazing diversity of marine invertebrates. Introduce students to some of the dominant invertebrate phyla found in the marine environment. This hour-long session takes students through the evolutionary pathway of the invertebrates discussing the Porifera, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Echinodermata. Students will learn what organisms comprise each phyla and interesting facts about the groups. BMSC instructors will also discuss where the different organisms live and what makes them unique.
Back to Base-ics: Learn about the pH chemistry and biology behind our world’s changing oceans. Program Format: Introduce students to BMSC and Barkley Sound using a variety of media. Students will brainstorm with BMSC instructors what they know about climate change and ocean acidification. Then there will be a discussion on the chemistry of the oceans and how it is changing. The presenter will link the chemistry and the biology by examining the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms. The videoconference closes with a quick recap of the main points and discuss what we can all do to help decrease our carbon footprint.
Two New Author Visit Videoconferences in the Works Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Morrison in Classroom Technology, Distance Learning, VLC Programs, Videoconferencing.Tags: videoconference, New Links to New Learning, author visit, Amy Sklansky
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St. Louis author and New Links to New Learning content provider Amy Sklansky is working on new videoconference offerings for the 2009-2010 school year!
In addition to her popular Egg-speriments programs, she planning to add two more videoconferences for elementary-age students. Stay tuned for further details!
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