November is going to be exciting month for the students and faculty of Greenville County Schools as we have approximately 25 videoconference programs scheduled already! The rate at which our videoconferencing program continues to grow is amazing. We definitely could not have accomplished all we have done thus far without the support from the Central Office.

Videoconferencing is only one facet of distance learning; however, I feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs of the equipment and programs. Limitations that were often in place due to school location have been diminished thanks to videoconferencing. Our students are participating in collaborative project with other students around the United States and are learning about subject matter from some of the finest experts around the world.

I also would like to thank all fo the participating sites and content providers for their efforts to ensure that all students have opportunities such as these.

Last week, AP Government students in Mrs. Williams class at Wade Hampton High School had the opportunity to speak with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) through videoconference.

The students generated a list of questions that they wanted to ask the Senator and eventually narrowed the list down to ten questions. Unfortunately, not all of the questions were able to be asked due to time constraints; however, the questions that were asked generated a lot of debate when the videoconference ended and the class resumed. Questions ranged on issues regarding immigration, the military, civil rights, economics and environmental issues.

An experience such as this provides students in Greenville County with a unique opportunity to have a one-on-one dialogue with the Senator. This is not the first the first time our students have participated in a videoconference with Senator Graham. Students from Riverside High School and Greer High School also participated last year. We have reached out to Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) as well.

A connection with an elected government official allows students to ask questions about issues that matter to them, something that may not always happen in a town hall meeting. This increased access provides real world connections students, bringing them into the political process as they learn the importance of phrasing questions appropriately.

While this increased access is great, it is not something that is always available to all students because of scheduling constraints with our elected officials. However, connecting with a United States Senator is only one of the benefits of videoconferencing in a high school government or social studies class. Some of the other projects that can be accomplished through videoconference are debate, mock congress and trials. Students from one school could connect with students across the district and debate current issues, mock bills and even participate in mock trials. All of these possibilities create a “new” audience for the students to prepare for and make the learning in the classroom more meaningful.

Our district is large enough to allow such projects to occur without most of the students actually “knowing” each other. However, we are always looking to expand our videoconference offerings outside of the district and are open to collaborations around the country and world. Please contact me if you are interested.

However, I feel that this is important. I have new focus. New vision. And will be posting bi-weekly…

Who doesn’t love a good field trip?

Field trips are vital to education, providing opportunities to see how the curriculum applies to the real world.

For example, in first grade, students learn about apples and pumpkins – how they grow, their uses, etc. Of course, it’s only logical for the students to visit an apple orchard at the end of the unit. This example makes it really easy to see the real world application, but what about geometry, or advanced biology? How can we show real world application for these subjects, while being practical and realistic?

The cost of travel makes it difficult, often impossible, to visit the museums, centers, etc. that reinforce the curriculum. Local venues are easier to attend, but the addition of meals, accommodations, and admission fees to venues at a distance cause the costs to increase dramatically. The cost of fuel is dropping rapidly while I write this post, but we have seen fuel prices soar in the past few years, a trend that is likely to continue as global demand increases.

This is where the Virtual Field Trip comes in. While it would be ideal to visit the museum, cultural center, etc. the Virtual Field Trip allows us the opportunity to experience the next best thing – an interactive visit to the venue while saving money and valuable instructional time.

In the past few weeks Greenville County Students have been to science centers in Ohio (CoSI) and Missouri (Discovery Center of Springfield), cultural centers in Georgia (Center for Puppetry Arts), as well as museums (National Baseball Hall of Fame). We are utilizing higher-end videoconferencing equipment from Tandberg to make these opportunities a reality. Some readers would probably wonder why we aren’t using Skype, but many content providers at museums and centers connect through dedicated ISDN lines or through IP, providing a higher quality call with superb audio and video.

WYFF, one of our local media outlets, featured Virtual Field Trips in a recent story, highlighting the reasons for the increase of these opportunities. Some of the reasons cited in the WYFF piece have already been discussed at length in this post, including the rising cost of fuel, and opportunities to reinforce the learning in the classroom.

There are great free Virtual Field Trips available, but there are costs associated with many others. However, these associated costs are minimal in comparison to actually attending the museum or center. For example, content providers may charge between $50-$250 per program. Additional fees may include the use of the ISDN lines and/or bridge that connects the school and the content provider. Overall, these associated costs are outweighed by the benefits of utilizing Virtual Field Trips within the curriculum as we provide our students opportunities that reinforce learning.

My goal as the Coordinator of Distance Learning for Greenville County Schools is to increase collaborative efforts in and out of our district.

We have great videoconferencing equipment already in Greenville County. We use Tandberg, arguably one of the best videoconferencing equipment providers in the world – governments, both local and national, as well as corporations worldwide use this equipment.

But this post is not meant to be a pitch for Tandberg – it’s a pitch for us as educators to find ways to connect with each other and provide our students opportunities through videoconferencing. We will continue to use our equipment, but I am willing to work with others using other forms of connection – maybe Skype?

Using Skype in the classroom would be optimal for districts that may not have an organized approach to distance learning, nor the funds to support such a program. The only costs incurred would be a webcam with a built-in microphone. Both Logitech and Microsoft offer quality webcams at an affordable price. The question remains though as to how you find contacts who are interested in this sort of collaboration, and more importantly ensure that you and your students will remain in a safe learning environment.

If I was going to use Skype for this situation, I would create an account for my class, of course keeping the password private and out of the hands of my students. Then I would only add contacts whom I knew from education – specifically classes that my class would collaborate with on various projects. Start with your friends who are teachers and only people you have met in a professional capacity. If you haven’t met in person, I would be hesitant to agree meeting online – what can I say, this is just good practice.

I plan on matching up teachers in my district with each other first and then finding our way out of county through networks and friends. If this interests you too, let me know…

The first session connected with the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Amon Carter houses an American Art collection with works from such greats as Remington, Russell, and O’Keefe. This virtual field trip exposes students to these great works of art, as well as incorporating lessons from the core content areas. During the virtual visit last Wednesday, participants discussed literary elements of Blips and Ifs by Stuart Davis. Information about distance learning opportunities with Amon Carter can be found here along with cost and technical requirements.

The Center for the Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia was the destination for the second session. The Center houses a large collection of marionette puppets and provides great hands-on activities for the participants. The sample program that the participants at UTC were involved in focused on life science – insects versus spiders. Participants created their own marionette spider puppet while learning about the different parts of the spider. This was great application for science and the arts. Cost and technical requirements for distance learning programs from The Center for Puppetry Arts can be found here.

It’s my goal to increase virtual field trip activity within Greenville County Schools this year. Funding for the field trips could be an issue, but I would hope that the opportunities that could be realized would be more important than the cost; however, I hope to find free opportunities as well.

Tandberg offers resources for its customers, including the free virtual field trips (first come, first served) in the Connections Program. Tandberg also links out to the CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration) where field trips and content can be sought out.

So what about people who do not have access to Tandberg equipment? Why not Skype? Skype is free, great for chat and audio, but with a simple webcam that video element can be added. I guess the question is who is using Skype for virtual field trips?

The third grade students in Mrs. Presnell’s class at Berea Elementary School were successful on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 in their e-Mission: Moon, Mars and Beyond!

The Moon, Mars and Beyond! mission engages students in a live simulation. Students are a group of scientists/astronauts working to find a disabled spacecraft somewhere in the solar system.

Students were broken up into six teams; five of the teams had three participants, all with a different role – Cargo Specialists, Navigation Specialists, and Transmission Specialists, and the last team was the Communications Team.

Cargo Specialists had to calculate the amount of food, water, and oxygen that would be needed to reach the lost spacecraft. Navigation Specialists had to plot unidentified objects on a grid using X,Y coordinates. The Transmission Specialists decoded messages that helped to identify which of the unidentified objects was actually the disabled spacecraft. Lastly, the Communications Team was responsible for relaying the findings from each of the teams back to Mission Control at the Challenger Learning Center.

The students were able to locate the disabled spacecraft, saving the lives of the crew on board.

Mrs. Presnell’s class worked diligently and enjoyed the opportunity, as was apparent in the debriefing session that followed as the students discussed their roles and responsibilities, what they liked the most about their assigned role, and what was the most challenging aspect of that role.

Live simulation through the use of videoconferencing is a great project-based learning opportunity, benefiting the students as they apply their knowledge gained in the classroom to real life.

It may be the end of school, but the students of Mrs. Presnell’s Third Grade Class at Berea Elementary School will be working hard with the Challenger Learning Center out of Paducah, Kentucky this Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

Moon, Mars and Beyond! is a virtual e-mission with students acting as astronauts in search of a missing spacecraft in the outer solar system. This program is designed for students in grades 3-5, and is one of the many programs offered by the Challenger Learning Centers around the nation that focuses on science and mathematics.

This event is just one of the many ways we are currently using videoconferencing in The School District of Greenville County. We are excited for the students in Mrs. Presnell’s class, and look forward to Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

For those of you outside of Greenville County, we are located in the upstate of South Carolina.

We are very fortunate to have the support of our distance learning program from the board and administration.

The purpose of our blog is to share the opportunities we have with our teachers, as well as to seek out collaboration with those out-of-district.

Collaboration between two classes with the same content isn’t always easy either.

Collaboration between two classes with the same content from different schools really isn’t easy at all… or is it?

Recently the Greenville News ran an article about some of the collaborative efforts that are being realized within the district in our foreign language classrooms. The article, Virtual Classroom Connects Blue Ridge, Hillcrest, focused on two of our schools that are using videoconferencing in an effort to provide Latin to students in a school that does not have a Latin teacher. The article also mentioned the efforts of two of our other schools that are doing the same thing with a German class.

These opportunities are made possible with our Tandberg 770 MXP units. Each classroom that is participating in these opportunities has one of these units. The camera can be controlled by either the class that is receiving, or the class that is presenting – including the options to pan and zoom. The external microphone is highly sensitive and makes the two-way verbal communication possible. We have been very pleased with these solutions that are offered by Tandberg.

Is this limited to foreign language classrooms? Absolutely not, in the coming weeks one of our third grade classrooms will be involved in a videoconferencing activity, e-Mission: Moon, Mars and Beyond! Our students will participate in this exciting program that focuses on math and science skills with the Challenger Learning Center in Kentucky.

Videoconferencing is a great way to bring students together from across the county, and even from across the country. One of goals for the 2008-2009 school year is to increase the videoconferencing opportunities that are available to our students.