Video Conferencing

Last week our whole class gathered in front of the large screen where a video conference would take place with Colin, a presenter from the Royal Tyrell Museum. He discussed with us the many types of video conferencing resources, how and where to find them. He demonstrated the interactivity of video conferencing, as well as some of the benefits and drawbacks associated. I have never seen, let alone taken part in a video conference like this so it was a very strange concept. I’ve never even used Skype before so I felt that I learned a lot from this presentation and VC is something I would definitely like to incorporate into my future classrooms!

Colin provided us with a number of favourite organizations who provide VC services which correspond with different areas of the Alberta curriculum, and took us to the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration website which was an awesome tool for anyone looking to use VC in their classroom, see http://www.cilc.org/c/education/content_provider_programs.aspx. You could search by provider or topics and read overviews of different programs related to see which would be a best fit. It provides the searcher with all the required information to make a session possible. I had no idea how simple and available a resource such as this is not to mention how beneficial and supplementary it can be in a classroom.

Initially, I assumed video conferencing to be a more passive method of learning where you sit and listen to the speaker on the screen but it turns out I was quite wrong. Especially for children in the early grades, there were many visually stimulating active learning activities to be played by interacting with Colin on the screen. He demonstrated how stimulating and engaging they can be and discussed the ability to hold young children’s attention for quite a long time span with use of these activities. For children in the older grades there are commonly worksheets associated with the presentation that are to be completed as you go along. It was really strange that as we got more comfortable, it felt less like talking to a screen and more like Colin was simply standing in the same room as us.

An avoidable but possible drawback to VC that Colin pointed out was miscommunication between the teacher and the class, or lack of information given to the class prior to the presentation. The students need to be prepared in terms of what sorts of questions would be appropriate to ask, how to stay on topic, and to try to keep disruptions to a minimum. Another obvious drawback is the inability to physically bring items into a classroom for the students to touch, smell, hold, etc. But on the flip side, the ability of lenses on the cameras provide a better picture of small objects better than the naked eye. For example, Colin was discussing the teeth of different dinosaurs and was able to zoom in on the very fine details of the ridges. This is something many students may not have been able to see even if they had the tooth in their hand. Using VC allowed us to “see” and tour the museum, something otherwise not possible with a presenter who is physically at the university.

Using VC in the classroom is an excellent way to have an expert describe concepts to your students. The information comes from a fresh perspective with access to many visuals that the teacher may not have. They really do offer an interactive experience and is something different and engaging that students don’t get to do on a daily basis in the classroom. Overall it’s a great way to have a presenter present without them physically travelling to your school. For a more extensive list of benefits and drawbacks with more elaboration as well as some methods for implimenting, see this website: http://archive.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/soos.php